I read Justin A. Young’s article in Sustainable Learrning Spaces: Design, Infrastructure and Technology about the integration of The Writers’ Center at Eastern Washington University into a Learning Commons that also encompassed the library.  I work as a professional writing tutor at Suffolk County Community College.  Young’s situation is similar to the move that we made at the Grant Campus Writing Studio in the Fall of 2017.  Like Young’s Writers’ Center, we were invisible, but have a student centered pedagogy.  Our Studio was also not very visible; it was a small physical space at the edge of campus.  Our move to the new Learning Resource Center, which now also houses the campus library, computer lab, and other subject area tutoring center, was the end of a process that allowed our Studio to better serve the students and collaborate better with out colleagues.

Young stated, “The move to an open, decentralized space has already begun to help the Writers’ Center challenge the narrative of marginalization common to writing centers, by disrupting the perception that such centers are spaces for remediation alone. The shared space of the Commons has resulted in the literal manifestation of the oft-repeated (and little-heard) message from writing centers to students and faculty that the space of the writing center is for everyone: strong writers and developing writers, those studying the humanities and those studying the sciences, should visit the writing center.”  The Grant Campus Writing Studio was opened in 2011 using funds from a Title III Grant with this philosophy in mind.  The space, however, was pushed to a building a significant distance away from the student center, the library, the other tutoring centers on campus, even the cafeteria.  The space was small and we were constantly talking over each other.  We had a small computer lab in a separate alcove, blocked off by a glass partition, but this made the space cramped.  After the Title III Grant ran out, the College continued to fund the Studio and when designing the new learning center, everyone from our director to the tutors had some input in the creation of the new Learning Resource Center.

Young mentioned that sustainability of a learning space and program comes from following four principles: collaboration, openness, flexibility, and visibility.  I will add that these principles should be built into the program first; the program fosters a culture that adapts to its circumstances and physical space.  While a substandard physical space will hamper sustainability, working through this type of adversity with college administrators that see value in a program will give that program a better chance of getting a space that matches its needs.

Collaboration, for instance, was not only important among the tutors and our director, but between students and tutors, and students with other students as well.  Joe Gansrow encouraged us to see ourselves as partners with the students and not just tutors who gave information from on high.  We weren’t just editors or professors.  We worked with the students and sometimes, even the classroom professors, to improve not just the writing, but the writer as well.  Beyond that, Joe encouraged other department heads to sit in on our training meetings so we could learn about what the needs of students in their particular discipline.  I remember one meeting when the director of the nursing program told us about the type of help her students needed; now, we understand as tutors that when a nursing student comes in, they’ll need help on an article summary or with observation notes.

Openness and flexibility are also important in our program.  We don’t just tutor students in Developmental English or Freshman Composition.  We have access to technology to work on other forms of writing and communication, including PowerPoint and Excel (for charts and graphs).  However, when I was working with other students, I would sometimes observe students in the computer lab helping each other use the library database or search for information.  Further, we tried to employ “studio days” when we didn’t have set appointments and we only allowed walk-ins.  This helped us to serve more students and give students help as needed.  Instead of just sitting down for a half hour for an appointment, a student could sit down with a tutor for ten minutes, go work in the computer lab, wait until a tutor is free, and work for another ten minutes.  This had mixed results as many tutors didn’t like it.  I thought is was helpful because it allowed me to work with multiple students at once while allowing them to improve their writing through practice and directed, immediate feedback.

Finally, we had visibility because Joe did his best to go to meetings held by other departments to explain, as Young did, that we aren’t just a remedial service.  We help with all phases of the writing process across all disciplines.  Students could come in and work in our lab even without an appointment so if they decided they wanted one, they could have a session on the spot if a tutor was available.  Even then, during down time, tutors would go look in on the students working on their writing.  We also had open houses when we’d invite professors to bring their classes to see the studio, or we’d go to their classes and give a presentation.  Finally, we have workshops on issues like grammar improvement, avoiding plagiarism, and research paper writing (I actually collaborated with Joe and another tutor, Trisha Mohn, who has her Masters in Library Science in developing the research paper writing workshop).  These opportunities allow us to not only help the students, but provide us publicity as well.

With these systems in place, moving in to the Learning Resource Center allowed us to take full advantage of the new technology and resources available.  If a student is having a problem with researching a paper, the library is right down the hall.  Our computer lab is not at capacity anymore because we have more computers available.  Better Wi-Fi and outlets at our tables allow us to use technology immediately, especially when tutors use tablets.  Our Studio can now also collaborate with tutors from other disciplines for ease of referring a student for other services.  This is especially important in a community college setting as students are commuters and have many outside commitments.  And we finally have a huge space where we don’t feel we’re tutoring on top of one another.

I can’t imagine being put in a situation like this without the systems we’ve put in place for the program.  We can add other tutoring programs to the list of stakeholders we collaborate with because we are used to collaborating.  We are already open and flexible to our students’ needs so we now have the resources they deserve.  And we’ve worked to be visible and relevant in the campus community so our new location will only improve that.  With these systems in place, acclamation to better resources becomes easier for all stakeholders involved.

Work Cited

Young, Justin A.  “Composing New Narratives, Creating New Spaces: Constructing a Learning Commons with a Wide and Lasting Impact.”  Sustainable Learning Spaces: Design, Infrastructure, and Technology.  Russell Carpenter, Richard Selfe, Shawn Apostel, and Kristi Apostel, eds.  Logan, UT: Computers and Composition Digital Press/Utah State University Press, 2015. Web.