Center for Academic Writing and Reading
Dean for the School of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Center Coordinator, Center staff, students
Project Purpose
In response to multiple requests made by faculty during the program review process, the M State Writing Centers Project was identified with an aim to provide valuable resources, guidance, and support to students, faculty, and staff to enhance reading and writing skills. The center will offer a range of resources and programs designed to cater to the diverse needs and interests of M State. In doing so, it will foster a culture of literacy and academic excellence and increase competence and confidence in its users.
Additionally, college writing centers provide a valuable resource for multilingual students by giving them opportunities and support to practice and improve language skills in an anonymous and unstigmatized atmosphere. By recognizing the strengths of multilingual learners and providing cultural guidance related to academic English, writing centers serve to build confidence and increase measures of academic success in multi-language learners.
Deliverables
- Develop Centers for Academic Writing and Reading to support student success
- Develop a proposal
- Identify space on each campus for the centers
- Recruit faculty to work in the centers
- Communicate resource with students
- Establish data collection and review schedule (e.g. number and types of visits, student satisfaction survey, etc.)
- Establish a taskforce to guide the development and implementation of the centers
- Determine budget allocation to provide staffing, training and resources
- Establish a center coordinator and staffing model
- Identify space on each campus for the centers
- Determine a schedule of availability for each campus and modality (e.g. zoom/virtual)
- Provide training to center staff
- Collaborate with various departments to integrate services into various curricula
- Develop a marketing and outreach plan to raise awareness and encourage utilization of the center’s resources, including making visits to classrooms
- Evaluate the effectiveness of the center through ongoing assessment and feedback from users
- Develop a long-term sustainability plan to institutionalize the Centers for Academic Writing and Reading, value to the college and budgeting request
Project Scope
In Scope
Faculty tutoring, peer tutoring
Out of Scope
Space
Effectiveness Measures
Goals
- Provide individualized support to students in improving reading and writing skills
- Develop reading comprehension strategies and critical thinking skills
- Assist faculty and staff in developing effective instructional approaches to reading and writing
- Encourage collaboration among students and foster peer learning opportunities
- Provide workshops, seminars and tutoring sessions to enhance writing proficiency
- In addition to the faculty staffing, explore a peer tutoring model
Key Performance Indicators/Metrics
- Center usage – number of students utilizing center, number of one-on-one sessions completed, courses/majors of students utilizing the center
- Comparison of draft vs. revised papers
- Student and faculty surveys
- Surveys once per semester
- Number of visits to classrooms to share Center information
Metric Review Schedule
- Daily logs
- Survey data will be reviewed fall and spring semester
Reporting Results
- Results will be shared via written reports to Cabinet and academic leadership
Constraints
Unions, release time, operating budget, length of time students are with the college.
Financial Impact
If the college increases retention, it will be a net positive financial gain for the institution.
Summary of Results
- The Center for Academic Writing and Reading opened fall 2023
- Student visits: 73 fall 2023; 95 spring 2024
- A video was shared with faculty informing them what services can be provided to students and what to expect
- Center faculty collaborated with Student Support Services to offer coaching online through the Virtual Zoom room
- Academic Support Surveys were conducted fall and spring semester, but the number of responses from students using the Center was low
- Faculty were surveyed asking if they had referred students and if students in their classes had visited the Center
- Training sessions for faculty were offered, focusing on how to embed reading strategies in their content courses
- Center hours were expanded the week before finals and spring semester 2024
- Weekend hours were tried, but no students opted for online weekend hours
Future Direction
- Work with Student Support Services to offer workshops for students during weeks four and nine to coincide with Early Alerts, i.e. so students could be directed to attend if on academic alert
