Contents
The Writing Associate's Time Commitment
Appendices
What Your WA Wants You to Know
How to Prepare for a Conference with Your WA
This booklet is designed to give you a sense of the Writing
Associate's role--your role--in the College Writing Program at Lafayette
College.
--Writing Associates function as trained readers
of work-in-process, not graders, proofreaders or editors;
--Writing Associates work with the same 15-20 student writers all semester;
--Writing Associates meet regularly with assigned faculty to discuss writing assignments and criteria for evaluating students' written work;
--students in an affiliated course are required to meet with their designated Writing Associate for four 30-minute conferences, usually scheduled 5-7 days before an assignment is due;
--courses affiliated with the program require at
least 20 typed pages of writing, distributed throughout the semester.
| Patricia Donahue | Beth Seetch | Bianca Falbo | William Carpenter |
| 311 Pardee | 302 Pardee | 310 Pardee | 311 Pardee |
| x5242 | x5233 | x5243 | x5227 |
| donahuep | seetchm | falbob | carpentw |
The comprehensive nature of Lafayette's writing program means that it aims to affect all departments, class years, and levels of student writing. Thus, we should point out what our program is not: It is not a Writing Center, even though we have a room (Pardee 319) where Writing Associates meet for staff sessions and writer appointments. Instead, the writing program is centered wherever a Writing Associate confers with another writer, wherever a professor brainstorms with a WA to design a schedule, wherever a student writer prepares a draft for a WA meeting. All these loci of writing and reading activity comprise the program.
Nor is the program a remedial one. We are convinced that all writers, whether beginners or sophisticates in a given discipline, benefit from the occasion to consider their work from the viewpoint of an intelligent, other reader-writer; that occasion is what a series of WA conferences intends to provide.
The College Writing Program is neither an editing nor a proofreading service; its aim is not (necessarily) to produce "perfect" pieces of writing, but rather to develop better writers who are aware of different writing situations, audiences, and their own maturing strengths which may in fact include learning different editing and proofreading strategies.
As you know, Pardee 319 has been assigned to the Program as our meeting room. Weekly staff meetings are held there, and each WA has a labeled mailslot. Occasionally, WAs will arrange to hold a conference elsewhere to accommodate crowded schedules, but please try to conduct your conferences in the official room--we worked very hard to acquire it. By the way, faculty, too, are welcome to meet you in 319; it is your office.
Writing Associates are intelligent, informed readers whose job is to engage other writers in serious conversation about their work. They prompt students to consider such issues as audience, context, focus, evidence, organization, and standards of usage, encouraging writers to think critically about their writing choices and thus to gain control over their writing. WAs observe, question, comment, and listen to other writers.
You may wonder why you are not called tutors, or, at least peer tutors. Tutor denotes someone who is a private teacher charged with the instruction and guidance of another, and it implies that the goal of that instruction is remedial. None of that describes your role. Rather, you are an associate to the group of students and to the professor to whom we have assigned you. Associate carries with it the sense of equality and cooperation the program is founded upon; and your association with these other people is based upon your interest and skill in writing, reading, and conversation. Such give and take between reader and writer is activity in which all writers need to engage.
WAs do all they can to ensure timely and productive conferences with students in their designated course. Thus, WAs must manage their own time efficiently, as well as advise professors on conference scheduling and cooperate with other students' schedules--to the extent that this is possible.
Being a Writing Associate is a professional activity which requires both responsibility and trust; therefore WAs must observe certain principles of conduct in their relationships with students, professors, and other Writing Associates.
As a WA, you will work with many diligent, friendly, cooperative members of the college community, and you will be exhilarated by this work. But you will also encounter difficult situations: students who expect you to do the work on a paper, for example, or to conceal information about missed appointments; professors who ask you to evaluate students' writing (that is the faculty's job) or who are themselves difficult to reach. The following principles will help you to handle such situations.
1. Maintain a welcoming and courteous atmosphere in the WA-Room. If a visitor is not recognized and greeted right away by her WA, greet her yourself and see if she needs information. Direct students to the ESL or Drop-In carrels, as needed. Although you may intend it as a gesture of good will, some already anxious students may be put off by a flippant or sarcastic remark. And, while the chalkboard is a wonderfully useful and entertaining resource (let's keep it that way), remember that anyone can stroll in to see it.
2. Honor the confidentiality of the WA-writer relationship. Idle comments-- whether praise or complaint--made about a student to others may get back to that student, (just as comments may get back to professors). Or the comments may be overheard by others using P319, making them wonder what will be said about them when they leave. At staff meetings, you are often encouraged to use anecdotes and examples from your WA work to illustrate the ideas we are studying; those present should understand that we share those tales and remarks among ourselves only. When you write descriptive comments on your Conference Record Forms, keep in mind your intended audience: are they for your eyes only? will the professor receive copies? will the writer take a copy for future reference?
3. Never suggest a grade for a paper to either student or professor. Students may ask leading questions like "Do you think this paper is good enough to earn a B?" Professors may ask you to rank your 16 students' drafts in batches of 1's, 2's, 3's, and 4's, or to choose the best three writers for exemption from English 110. Assigning grades, however, is the teacher's job, not the WAs. Evaluating writing is in part a subjective matter, and your assessment may not match someone else's. Remember, too, that you can't know all that has been discussed or explained in class. Even if a paper seems well-written, it is wise to be judicious with your praise, for a writer may interpret your compliments to mean that a paper deserves an A.
4. Never criticize the grade a teacher has given a paper. Just as suggesting a grade for a paper can lead to trouble, so too can acknowledging to a student your disagreement with a grade. Such discrepancies between your judgment and the professor's, however, should form the basis of a discussion between you and the professor. Make a practice of interviewing your professor regularly after he or she has reviewed a group of student papers. Sometimes a student unhappy with a grade will actively seek to blame or gain support from his WA. Students should first try to resolve concerns about grades with the teacher, and then, if necessary, talk with other appropriate people.
5. Never comment negatively to students about a teacher's teaching methods, assignments, personality, or grading policies. As a WA, you will naturally hear students' comments about instructors, assignments, and grading policies. And it is quite useful for WAs to apply their natural sympathies to understanding writers' predicaments. Remember, however, that no matter how much you know about the professor and students in question, you cannot know the whole story. So be tactful, and if you truly can't understand an assignment or grading policy, then refer the question to the professor.
6. Respect the fact that you represent the College Writing Program to the entire Lafayette community. If you have difficulties or disagreements with CWP policies, we want to hear about them. Veteran WAs know that we ask for your input regularly to review and revise the workings of the Program. If faculty, students, or other Lafayette folk want to engage you in a critique of the Program ("isn't it just a crutch?" "I'm already a good writer, let me skip my appointment"), we expect you to respond professionally. If you don't respect the Program, you shouldn't wish to be associated with it.
Finally, when these principles are not enough, please turn to the Mentors or administrators of the Program for assistance.
WAs have their own web page linked to the CWP site (www.lafayette.edu/~writprog/cwp.htm). This page lists names of the current WA staff as well as news about recent WA-related events and activities. In addition, each WA has an individual page linked to this main WA page. Students in the class to which you are assigned can easily find information about how to reach you by clicking on your name from the list on the main WA page. They can also e-mail you directly from your page. Besides providing contact information, you can personalize your page with your photograph or another graphic image, a statement about your experience as a WA, or a favorite quote.
We will give you web-page "template" forms to fill out at the WA Orientation, so do some thinking over the summer about what else you'd like to include on your page in addition to the basic contact information. New WAs should look at some of the current WA pages for inspiration. Returning WAs will need to update the contact information on their pages, and they can also change other features-add a photograph, for example, or revise their personal statements.
Professor Falbo (X5243) maintains and updates the CWP site. Give her your web-page information, and contact her with any questions you may have regarding WAs on the web.
Veteran Writing Associates agree that active support from faculty is key to a successful WA experience; there are many things a WA can do to encourage that support.
Meet early in the semester and frequently thereafter to set the tone for the work you and your assigned professor hope to accomplish. The more you can learn about the professor's reasons for using writing in this class and his criteria for evaluating student writing, the more helpful you can be to his students. And the more a professor is prompted to consider the why and how of assigning writing, the more effective her writing assignments and support of her WA can be. Faculty who are relatively new to the Program are especially likely to need a WA / student point of view on how best to systematize and schedule conferences. Don't be surprised when you are asked for suggestions.
You should arrange to see your faculty member as soon as you arrive on campus, if only to break the initial ice. Although some professors may not have first assignments or complete syllabi ready to discuss with you, you can still accomplish a great deal by discussing that professor's expectations of the Program and by answering his or her questions. Try to accomplish this no later than the beginning of the second week of class.
If the course is one to which several WAs are assigned, then all of you should meet together. (This may be difficult to schedule, but worth it.)
Prepare some notes before meeting, and bring
along a copy of "What Your WA Wants You To Know" for the professor. Here
are some subjects you would be wise to bring up early (and repeatedly)
in the semester:
-what difficulties the professor expects
students to have with writing in this course (press for specifics; ask
for examples)
-how a Writing Associate can help writers in this course
-the syllabus and course goals
-the writing assignments and their goals
-the instructor's missed conference policy (students will miss), and how you can protect yourself against wasted time or being taken advantage of
-the instructor's late paper policy, and how it might affect your work
-procedures for scheduling conferences; brainstorm several
-ways to incorporate four (not two or three)
Student-WA conferences into a semester (WAs are not expected to work during
finals week)
Because the rule of thumb for a course using a WA is four conferences with each student, you should realize that courses where four distinct papers are not assigned can still use all four sessions productively; a four-to-four symmetry is not necessary. In fact, it is in repeat meetings on revised projects where many WAs are able to help writers do their best work. So remind professors that you could, for example, see students several times for different aspects of just one project; you might see some students in peer review groups; and a professor might like to see the first batch, or roughest drafts, of student work herself, without benefit of WA, as a way of testing the waters and setting goals for WA-sessions.
Schedule regular meetings with the professor around the rhythm of the course--to discuss assignments after they are distributed (to determine the faculty member's expectations, gather the purpose and scope of the assignment, and offer a student's perspective)--to review your impressions after a round of conferences (so that scheduling methods can be enhanced, so that the professor can learn how students are addressing the assignment in drafts, and so on)--or to hear how final papers were evaluated (when you might solicit comments on your work or consider the effect of that assignment on future ones). Be aggressive about keeping in touch with the professor; faculty are busy, but the Program works best when contact between you is frequent.
As for scheduling the conferences themselves, WAs and faculty have employed several methods in the past and will probably devise others. You will need to know what, exactly, the professor expects his students to bring to conferences and what his policy is should they neglect to do so. The scheduling device used should be the one which best serves the designated course, and so it must first be discussed with the faculty member. You and the instructor should keep one another aware of any changes in sign-up method or timing (sometimes the WA is the last to hear of a deadline extension!) so that students can sign up realistically. The following systems have proven successful, often in combination with one another:
--posting the sign-up sheet where students
have convenient access to it (making sure, however, to prevent last-minute
changes);
--having students bring typed drafts of a certain length (not outlines) with them to the conference, which the WA might sign or initial before they are handed in with the final paper;
--having the professor collect drafts in class,
check them in, and pass them on to her WA.
WAs are not auditors of the course to which they are assigned, though professors sometimes wish they were. You are not required to do the reading for the course, to attend co-curricular events, or to attend the class itself. While you are not content tutors, you are expected to be familiar with the conventions of writing for that class. When possible, you and the professor may decide that visiting the class is indeed a good idea. Some benefits of an occasional in-class visit are these: to put a human face on the Program when it is introduced to the class; to facilitate sign-up (saves time and misunderstandings); to cover a writing problem common among writers in the class; to hear how an instructor presents an assignment to the class and how he or she responds to students questions; and, always, to meet the class with the visible support of the instructor.
Finally, remember that for many faculty working with
a Writing Associate is a new style of cooperation, one for which they have
no models. This novelty accounts for the frequency with which Writing Associates
are asked to do tasks that run counter to the Program, such as evaluating
student writing, or marking papers instead of meeting with writers. Naturally
WAs want to please their assigned faculty, to cooperate, but whenever you
suffer from divided loyalties between the Program and the professor, we
ask you to bring the matter to the attention of one of the Program administrators.
It is our job to assist faculty as they learn to function within
the College Writing Program. Letting us know when difficulties arise will
help us to do that job better.
The College Writing Program is structured upon a standard WA responsibility for fifteen-to-twenty students, depending on such variables as the amount of writing in and the structure of a particular course, plus the other demands the Program may make on individual WAs. For example, a WA who is assigned to a relatively small course (say, thirteen students) could be assigned extra Drop-In duties for the benefit of all. Another WA working with a group of fourteen seniors, all writing 50-page projects, would have plenty to handle right there. Each WA is expected to meet every student four times for thirty-minute conferences.
In preparing your sign-up plan, you should allow thirty minutes for each student, plus a percentage to accommodate schedule conflicts, no-shows, and the occasional enthusiasm of a student who requests extra time. A good rule of thumb is to allow 20-25% over the minimum hours needed, so that a WA responsible for twenty students would list 12-13 hours of conferences during a meeting week. Make sure, however, you don't make unreasonable demands on yourself; after four conferences in a row, most of us need to step out for some air.
Your first encounters with students will likely occur three or even four weeks into the semester, depending on when the first assignment is due. (More and more professors, however, are seeing the value in sending students to WAs earlier.) Of course, you are not relegated to weekdays for your conferences. Pardee 319 is open evenings and on weekends--Saturdays 12 noon to 6 p.m., and Sundays 12 noon to 10 p.m.
What will you do when students miss their conferences? It depends. Several principles should inform your decision. WAs are not paid by the hour. They are paid to get the job done--and doing so will take initiative. The heart of a Writing Associate's job is centered in that conference, so you want to make it happen if at all possible. Contact the student who misses a conference right away; don't wait to hear from her. The sooner the conference is rescheduled, the less juggling you will have to do at the end of the conference week, and the sooner the student will learn that you really are here to help. This is particularly true early in the semester, when the program is less known and more intimidating to students in general. Phone calls, notes in mailboxes, chalkboard messages, e-mail, quick visits to class--use whatever back-up systems you need. As the semester goes on, however, more responsibility shifts to the students, and you have the option to institute a no-rescheduling policy, particularly when rescheduling threatens your own academic performance.
Whatever you decide, make sure that your action is consistent with the professor's policy, and keep the professor informed about this aspect of her students' performance. The consequences of a missed conference will vary from course to course, but a missed conference is always a missed opportunity to help a writer.
It is wise to bring some of your own work with you when you have conferences scheduled, since you may have to wait a few minutes for a student who runs late. Unless you know that a student will be late, however, you need wait no longer than 15 minutes for a no-show. The phone in 319 can save you some time, but please restrict its use to CWP business.
Once in a great while, a WA is overwhelmed with demands on his time. Should this happen to you, please let the Coordinator know right away, so that help can be offered.
What will you do in conferences? Well, our training sessions will provide you with a repertoire of activities, but it is not too soon for you to imagine yourself doing something.
As the informed reader of work-in-progress, your first concerns will be the writer's central idea, purpose, and organization of the piece--not the spelling or grammar, which become more important in later drafts. You will need to resist the temptation merely to proofread, to provide safe "correct answers." Instead, after reading a draft, you might call the writer's attention to crucial aspects of the writing by posing questions (what's the point of this paragraph? how does it relate to the main idea? what is the main idea?) and by listening carefully to the writer's remarks, prompting more observations from the writer. Keep in mind, however, that many writers, given the chance, will raise these issues themselves to you, before you articulate them yourself. A significant portion of your training should offer you ways to let writers set the conference agenda, to give writers that chance. Those of us who pass in the hall outside 319 should hear writers doing most of the talking and WAs most of the listening.
You will perceive patterns among the writers you meet, but be sensitive to shades of difference. Some difficulties for which you need to be prepared are the writer who seems to write better than you do, the unresponsive writer, and the "writer" who shows up with no writing at all. New WAs are commonly surprised to find sloppy work habits and dull writing among their peers, and they respond to this phenomenon with renewed commitment to their work as WAs. Oddly enough, however, it is the sophisticated writer and polished piece of writing that can intimidate WAs of any age into withdrawal from their work. But imagine yourself in that student's position: when you (or any writer) bring in a well-wrought draft, you deserve time and attention paid to it--not ten minutes of just going through the motions. In fact, a common remark on student evaluations of the Program is the wish that the WA had been "more critical"!
So, it bears repeating: the College Writing Program is NOT a remedial Program. Writing Associates themselves talk about how being a WA makes them better, more self-critical writers. Thus, the question is, how can you offer these same benefits to other fine student writers? How do WAs help one another, for example?
Such writers seldom get the same amount of feedback that poor writers do. Compliments are as useful to a writer as criticism, but, more than that, all writers need the occasion to reflect on their writing process, to become aware of which practices and choices help their writing succeed. And as self-conscious writers, we are constantly encountering different writing occasions, from course to course, audience to audience.
As an informed reader, ask yourself what you admire in this writer's work. Invite her to explain the writing process that produced it. Though the student is a good writer, she will still have fears or problems with writing. Thinking about their writing can help writers to understand how they do it and thus help them to continue to develop.
When a writer of any sort is unresponsive in a conference, try to learn why, or release the tension with some humor. It's not uncommon for people to resent something that's required or to resist even the most promising help when it comes to writing. If you can clear the air, or just get the student talking, you will have helped. You will be seeing this writer again, so lay some important groundwork for future conferences. This is a writer who needs an informed reader.
As for the writer sans writing, first abide by the professor's policy governing the situation. If you have the option of continuing, here are some ways to proceed. Consider whether this time can still be used profitably; if the student is ill or exhausted, for example, his time would be better spent at the Health Center. If he can be directed to start thinking about the assignment through prewriting, and might benefit from your response and support, then you might go on. Such a conference can be useful in allowing both you and the student to learn what his attitude is toward writing, and future meetings can benefit from that knowledge. On the other hand, if the student is "clueless" about the assignment or lacks knowledge of the course content, perhaps he should spend this time reading course materials or meeting with the professor. As the semester progresses, your acquaintance with these writers and their needs, as well as your growing skill in handling various conference situations, will allow you to judge these situations with more confidence.
Once you have gained confidence in meeting all levels of writers, you should find that thirty minutes is ordinarily too little time, not too much!
Finally, resist that police officer feeling that can come over you when you find yourself cast in the role of "enforcing" the conference. Writers, having once met you, should take responsibility for their own showing-up. You are not a cop, but a fellow-writer--ideally the friend on whose door we knock in the middle of the night hoping to hear how something we are writing really sounds.
There are two other conferencing activities for WAs outside of their assigned courses. The Drop-In Service uses all Writing Associates on a rotating basis, while the ESL (English as a Second Language) service is administered through the Office of the Dean of Studies and employs a handful of WAs trained and paid independently of the College Writing Program. The ESL WAs are referred to the Dean's office through our program, and they use P319. If you would like to know more about participating in this extra service, ask one of the CWP administrators about it, or contact Prof. Camille Qualtere of the Foreign Language Department.
In the early weeks of the semester, you will be asked to schedule yourselves into the Drop-In Service. Drop-in hours are just that--a service for students who wish to see a WA on an occasional basis. Each of you will contribute about seven drop-in hours per semester, and the Coordinator will organize a schedule offering the service approximately twelve hours per week, based upon WA availability.
The WAs on duty station themselves in the designated Drop-In corner in Pardee 319, making themselves available to drop-in writers on a first-come first-served basis. However, the drop-in is not a conference substitute for writers working in a course with an assigned WA. Ideally, drop-in writers bring with them some writing, a copy of the assignment, and a sense of which aspects of their piece they would like to work on. Since the WA on duty is ordinarily not acquainted with the writer or her writing, and since the writer has elected to visit the service, drop-in conferences often last longer than pre-arranged conferences. Make sure to fill out the drop-in log whenever you are on duty. If you have time, use Conference Record Forms to record drop-in conferences as well, so that we can track the use of this service.
Be considerate of the other WAs; if you trade drop-in hours with one another, make sure to live up to your end of the bargain. Delinquency or carelessness on your part might make someone else's job more difficult. Being professional means reporting for work on time or calling beforehand if something prevents you from being there as scheduled. The busyness of the drop-in service vacillates according to the semester's flow, so some weeks are naturally busier than others; be sure to bring some of your own work with you when you are on duty, but don't count on finishing it. If several of you are in drop-in during a low-activity period, it's fair to reduce the number on duty, if the group agrees.
The Program requires that all Writing Associates use the Conference Record Forms to keep track of meetings with students in their assigned courses (see Appendix). Occasionally, the Coordinator will look over samples of your notes on these forms in order to get a sense of how your work is going. Beyond this, use of the forms may vary greatly from one WA to the next.
As you can see by reviewing the form, at its simplest level it records the who, when, and where of each conference. WAs are encouraged to make notes that will help them to remember and build upon each writer's characteristics and to use the forms systematically to help prepare for subsequent conferences. The second attached copy has several uses. It can be torn off and sent to faculty to use as a window into the workings of the program. Discussing them with faculty can help to organize your sessions with them, and the forms provide a kind of evidence for patterns you perceive in students' work. That evidence will help you convey your impressions to a professor. However, the form has one basic use if no other: to record WAs conferences as evidence of their work.
Perhaps the most obvious, yet least used, application of the form is making it the property of the writer himself. There is no reason not to allow the writer to fill out much of this form; certainly it can be used to record brainstorming, notes for revision, and future meeting times. Here is a concrete way of giving the writer possession of the conference and sharing responsibility for it with the WA. Usually the white original is the one kept by the WA, in case it must later be photocopied, and certainly the WA is free to make later notes on the original as needed.
If you keep a professional attitude with a sense of who the audience is for your CRF's, you will probably not encounter any threats to your sense of confidentiality as you use these forms. WAs are encouraged to keep more personal journals in which to reflect on their work, and there is where private reflections about conferences can be productive and confidential.
At staff meetings, WAs should feel (just as the Coordinator does) that they can speak freely about the most challenging, difficult aspects of their work, and that they can share amusing or rewarding WA experiences with an audience who can well appreciate them. Readings and writing exercises are sometimes assigned to prepare for staff meetings, and while there is a core of activities that is repeated every semester or every year, the Coordinator tries to leave flexibility in the meeting schedule to address issues relevant to the experience of current WAs. You are encouraged to make suggestions (to either the Coordinator or a Mentor) for profitable use of staff meeting time.
At staff meetings, organizational details are explained, schedules ironed out, complaints aired, solutions offered, morale boosted. WAs need the support of one another; your generous participation (listening, thinking, and speaking) at meetings profits all of us.
Attendance at weekly staff meetings is mandatory; it is a condition of your employment. Do not schedule work for other employers during your staff meeting time. Illness and academic commitments are reasonable excuses for absence.
Your "Mentors" are proven Writing Associates designated by the College Writing Program primarily as a resource for other WAs. They advise other WAs as mentors do and are called upon to speak for the other WAs on occasion. The Mentor WAs advocate for the interests of their peers. Among their duties are addressing your concerns about how to negotiate the sometimes conflicting demands placed on you, suggesting varied solutions to typical problems that confront WAs, lending moral support, offering feedback based on observations of WA conferences, and advocating the WA's viewpoint to CWP administrators and in public forums, particularly where skeptics might doubt the worth of the Program. Mentors also serve as liaisons among the Program administrators, faculty, and Writing Associates in general, as well as conduct the occasional staff meeting.
The administrators of the Program trust WAs to solve many problems on their own, but believe it is essential to hear from you regularly. The presence of the Mentors should not prevent your telling us directly whatever you think we need to hear.
If you think you might like to work as a Mentor next year, make your wish known to one of the administrators of the Program.
Becoming a WA is a competitive endeavor, as the sheer numbers of applicants attest. Numbers notwithstanding, however, the College Writing Program wants to retain the staff it hires; the potential in the current group is downright exhilarating. Your reliability for drop-in, professional conduct of all writer conferences, participation in staff meetings, and cooperation with faculty are cornerstones of your performance. These are some features of your work where you should be able to assess your own progress.
On paper, we will occasionally review your writing exercises and CRF's and give you feedback on them; we will receive end- of-semester evaluations from your assigned faculty and students. But your regular meetings with faculty will be important indicators to you of the professor's impression of your work--pay attention to them, build on them, and if ever the expectations seem to you to be unreasonable, let an administrator know right away.
You will become more self-reflexive in your conference work, and you will be asked to evaluate yourself periodically. At semester's end, you, too, will complete a lengthy questionnaire. In the meantime, conferences overheard by your peers might be good occasions for you to solicit their feedback, as should casual conversations and exchanges in staff meetings.
It is understood that reliability and responsibility are crucial elements in a WA's performance; lateness or absence at your appointed rounds will give a negative impression to everyone involved with the program. Your students may be irresponsible about their conferences, but the Program values your being there nevertheless.
Finally . . .
It is important that you keep in mind at all times the nature of your position as a Writing Associate. Your role is to serve as an informed, intelligent reader; and any authority you have derives from your own experience with the conventions of academic prose. You are not a professor-in-training (as if you would want to be!).
Therefore, the relationship you establish with the writers you meet regularly (and we think it best that you regard them as writers, not students) should be a symmetrical one, based on respect for each other's skills and characterized by active listening, on your part especially. Don't impose your ideas on others. Don't dominate the sessions. Do be frank about writer errors that clash with standards of proper English, but don't criticize other writers for failing to meet your personal standards; sometimes they will, sometimes they won't, but what is important is that they improve in some way, however modest.
The credo of the Writing Associate should be as follows: to assist, enable, facilitate, and, above all, to do no harm.
Here's to a productive and satisfying semester.
Appendices
To Faculty: What
Your WA Wants You to Know
| WA NAME: | PHONE: |
NOTE:*Record and remember your appointment time and relevant phone numbers carefully. Writing Associates have academic responsibilities just as you do, and WAs are not required to reschedule missed or unprepared-for conferences.
*All conferences meet in Pardee 319 (phone 559-4190)
unless otherwise specified.
| Date & Time | Name | Phone |
To Students: How To Prepare For a Conference With Your WA
Before the Conference:
Student's Name:
WA's Name:
Conference Date:
Conference Length:
b. In terms of participation and attitude
| THESIS | STYLE | STRUCTURE | CLARITY | GRAMMAR |
| THESIS | STYLE | STRUCTURE | CLARITY | GRAMMAR |
NOTES: