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Speaking and Writing Center combined
“It was really cool sometimes on night shifts seeing everyone from all sides of the center ... sitting on the couch and the floor and just hanging out,” she said. “Part of that was because we didn’t have appointments, which sucks, but it was really nice to see that community aspect come back together.”
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Changes to the center’s operations will be a gradual process.
“The campus community should not see any reduction in the level of service our Speaking and Writing Center offers,” Hillyard said. “Over the coming months, they will see a more consistent and easier process to schedule appointments with any of our support centers including the Speaking and Writing Center, Peer Tutoring, Peer Academic Consultants, and the Digital Knowledge Center.”
In an effort to make the centers more cohesive, future consultants will also be cross-trained to conduct both speaking and writing appointments and will be able to work with students on any “speaking, writing and even multimodal projects,” Schweitzer said.
“This will provide greater schedule flexibility as well as a deeper experience for our clients given that speaking and writing frequently overlap in the classroom and on assignments,” said Hillyard.
The newly-merged center is also holding a design contest for a new logo, and the winner will receive a Panera gift card.
“Because we have merged, we need a new, combined graphic for the Speaking and Writing Center,” Schweitzer said. “We’re asking for submissions of new icons by March 6 at 5 p.m. to umwspeakingandwritingcenter@gmail.com.”
Schweitzer encourages students to visit throughout the process of working on their projects.
“We’re not just here to help put the final polish on projects, but to assist no matter where you are in the process, even if you haven’t begun yet,” she said. “The more in advance of a due date you schedule an appointment, the more helpful we can be.”
Consultants are hopeful that the changes will be helpful for students.
“While I’m sad to see the old centers go, the merged center will have a lot more benefits for both students and consultants,” said lead speaking consultant Brian Wolf, a senior computer science and communication and digital studies double major. “Students will benefit from the increased flexibility that the center will offer, while the consultants will benefit from having a wider skill set to develop and help their peers with.”
