Writing Centers Today

Our present decade has seen many changes in writing centers. Although some are still connected to the English department, others are under the direction of Student Services or other campus departments. Many schools hire full-time directors to oversee the centers, and tutors are now faculty members, graduate students, and undergraduate students. Centers presently provide services such as one-on-one tutoring, a variety of workshops, helpful handouts, assistance with resume writing, English as a Second Language (ESL) instruction, Internet tutoring, and grammar hotlines. Some writing centers employ additional support staff such as secretaries. Many are seen as integral parts of their campus communities. However, on some campuses, the Writing Center Director is not viewed as a full faculty member and is not part of the tenure and promotion process. Some writing centers battle for funding and staff.

Perhaps the most important shift that has occurred in the writing center concerns the clientele addressed. In the past, writing centers directed their attention to remedial students. Today, they tend to reach a wider audience by aiding writers in all disciplines and by fostering an understanding of the writer-audience relationship. Now students can receive remedial instruction, but they can also go beyond that assistance to achieve higher levels of writing proficiency. And with more schools adopting Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) principles, writing centers are more involved with writing in all disciplines, not just English.