It’s been two weeks since a professor assigned a two-page essay. Several days later, many college students find themselves struggling to write the first sentence of their paper.
Did the students get writers block or is it a simple case of college procrastination?
According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, 40 percent of those who took the ACT writing exam in the high school class of 2016 lacked the reading and writing skills necessary to successfully complete a college-level English composition class.
Many universities wonder if there’s a way they can help their students become better writers. The Center for Student Success (CFSS) at Texas A&M University-Kingsville (TAMUK) thinks they’ve found an answer.
In mid-September, the University Writing Center became a branch of the CFSS. The Writing Center has 15 active writing tutors who help students with any part of the writing process. This includes helping students with citations, grammar, corrections or brainstorming ideas for their writing prompts. All Writing Center services are free of charge to TAMUK students.
“I know that many students experience great anxiety about writing, and so I like that the Writing Center helps students overcome their fears to enable them to live up to their full potential,” said Shannon Baker, interim associate vice president for Student Success and assistant dean of the College of Arts and Science.
Before becoming a branch for the CFSS, the Writing Center was under the Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs. Currently, the CFSS doesn’t plan to make any changes to the structure of the Writing Center. However, some of the Writing Center tutors do see a change in leadership. Alejandra Moz, environmental engineer, has been a writing tutor for two years. She believes there is greater leadership from Steven Corbett, director of the Writing Center.
“As far as leadership goes, there’s definitely a lot more people stepping up. It’s a lot more structured than when I first started. I think there’s more involvement with students. For example, next week we have UNIV students coming in. Corbett has definitely pushed not just for English professors, but UNIV professors and business students… We’re definitely going to see a lot more students,” Moz said.
UNIV is an introductory course for all first-time students at TAMUK and is also a branch of the CFSS. It introduces students to different resources around campus, such as advisors, the Pathways Academic Assistance Center (PAAC), and most recently, the Writing Center.
“The Writing Center represents best practices in tutoring; it does not edit students’ papers. Instead tutors works with students to help students learn how to build their own papers successfully,” Baker said.
The Writing Center accepts walk-ins, face-to-face appointments and online appointments. However, Corbett states on the Writing Center website that it is best for students to make appointments as soon as possible and visit the center on a weekly basis to practice writing strategies, research strategies and so on. Moz explains that students are able to make appointments with the tutor they feel most comfortable with.
“We just try to help you become a better writer for yourself. It’s not just us helping them, but them helping us. Helping us understand different types of writing,” Moz said.
The Writing Center is not the only new addition to the CFSS. Recently, Career Services has been added as a new branch to the CFSS. Career Services helps TAMUK students look for potential jobs, internships and construct resumes.
“We are also happy to announce that Career Services has moved over to CFSS. This will help Career Services better reach out to students at all stages of their academic careers,” Baker said.
