Staff Shortage Closes Writing Center Program
Due to staffing difficulties, the Writing Center, a three-year pilot program that provided writing support through individual student-teacher conferences, will not continue into the 2019-20 school year.
Beginning in 2016, the Writing Center gave students access to scheduled workshop sessions during most daily class formats and evenings with English, History or Religion department volunteers. Last year alone, the Center facilitated more than 700 meetings, according to English Department Chair Nathaniel Hawkins, helping students with writing assignments across disciplines, college essays and other literary projects.
Participating faculty were allowed a one-course reduction for one term per school year to compensate for the additional time commitment. Despite this accommodation, increased workloads still posed a challenge for many volunteers, such as History Instructor Betty Luther-Hillman, who described her hours with the Center as “difficult” atop her existing duties advising the Debate Club, manning dorm duty and teaching a full course-load.
Discouraged by their strained schedules, many instructors, particularly in non-English departments, discontinued their involvement in the program. “Last year, only one faculty member from outside the English department agreed to work in the Center, which was problematic because the Writing Center pilot was created as a cross-disciplinary program,” Hawkins said.
Despite demonstrated value and student demand, Hawkins explained that the staffing shortage compromised the original vision behind the Center and mandated its closure. “To continue the Writing Center pilot, we would need more stable, regular and interdepartmental staffing, which would likely involve revised workload compensation or additional faculty, neither of which is within any department’s control,” he said.
English Instructor Christina Breen elaborated that the Center “possibly lacked institutional support,” which she specified as “providing proper software for signing up, proper time, space and number of volunteers and tutors from multiple departments, not just English.”
Many instructors were disheartened by the Center’s discontinuation, having firmly believed in its benefits as a student resource. “I have been involved in writing centers since graduate school, and I really believe that writing is best taught one-on-one, in a space free from the pressure of grading, with time to focus on the individual needs of the writer and the piece,” English Instructor and Writing Center coordinator Alex Myers said.
Upper Nahla Owens similarly noted the advantages of receiving comments from an additional instructor prior to submitting an assignment. “Having a fresh set of eyes was great, and the fact that actual instructors were providing feedback was even better,” she said.
The Writing Center proved especially helpful for students like upper Rachael Kim, who was less confident in her writing as a new lower and international student last year. “Since I am not a native English speaker, my grammar was imperfect and getting a final check on my work from the Writing Center before the submission was a crucial step for me,” she said.
With daunting upper-year papers such as the notorious 333 swiftly approaching, Kim feels that “the school is throwing [her] another huge task by eliminating the Writing Center.”
The senior class is another demographic that may be especially affected by the Center’s closure. According to English Instructor Duncan Holcomb, the Center read 100 college essays last October alone. “English teacher[s] may not have much time to help with college work, and Admissions folks say they can look at only one draft,” Holcomb said, noting that the Center has offered much-needed support to seniors burdened both by college applications and meditations.
For senior Asha Alla, a student who has used the center throughout her years at Exeter, the closure of the center on the cusp of her Senior year was “disappointing.” Alla was planning to attend the center to polish her common app essay and other supplementals with professionals that gave “direct advice about what teachers were expecting from [her] and how to improve.”
While some view peer tutoring as an alternative to the Writing Center, upper and Head Peer Tutor Sophie Liu believes the two programs served different purposes. “Students primarily go to peer tutoring for STEM help,” Liu said. “The Writing Center actually paired students with English and history faculty who have so much experience in their respective fields … Us peer tutors are still very much in the learning process and probably go to these teachers for help as well. I wouldn’t say you can replace one with the other.”
Natalie Pang ’19, a Head Peer Tutor last year, confirmed that her expectation of a continued relationship between peer tutoring and the Writing Center had factored into her choices for the 2019-20 peer tutoring board. “Had I known that the Writing Center would be closing, perhaps I would have selected one more humanities tutor to serve the students who would have used the Writing Center,” Pang said.
The Writing Center’s absence will be keenly felt this year by many students who were frequent visitors. “I was able to dramatically change the way I write as well as broaden my understanding of the writing process,” lower Otto Do said, attesting to the Center’s success during its pilot run.
Breen hopes this will not be the last students see of the program and advocated for the future renewal of “a proper writing center, staffed and supported, with a designated space.”
In the meantime, Religion Instructor Hannah Hofheinz trusts the Academy will develop a comparable academic resource for students in lieu of the Center. “The work the Writing Center did with students at all levels was very important,” Hofheinz said. “I hope that the school will find alternate ways to offer support for students as they are learning to write across disciplines.”