About the Writing Center

Our Vision

We believe that writing is simultaneously a deeply personal and deeply social process. In our one-on-one tutoring sessions, we engage students in a dialogue about their work that will meet not only their immediate needs in relation to a specific writing project, but also help them develop as writers. In the process, we create an experience that promotes personal and intellectual development for both tutor and writer.

Our Mission

This statement was created by the Writing Center tutors.

At the Writing Center, our mission is to help members of the UVM community discover writing as both a fulfilling activity and a tool for effectively creating and communicating ideas—a tool that will help them excel while at UVM and after they graduate.

To Accomplish Our Mission, We Are Committed To:

• Creating a space that is welcoming, accessible, and comfortable to all members of the community. (For our approach to disability, see Disability and the UVM Writing Center)
• Recognizing that difference provides a powerful tool for learning (including differences in literacy and cultural backgrounds, learning and composing styles, ability/disability, race, class, gender, sexual orientation, and personality)
• Promoting academic excellence through the collaborative analysis and questioning of student, faculty, and institutional expectations for writing
• Maintaining a dynamic staff well-versed in the tenets of academic writing who are open to and curious about the creative interpretation of those tenets, and informed and competent in the tools and technologies available to bring writing assistance to the UVM community

Diversity Statement

The Writing Center hopes to provide an inclusive, respectful, and socially just environment for all members of the University of Vermont community. We are committed to upholding the University of Vermont’s policy of equal educational opportunity. We embrace diversity in all its forms, including but not limited to race, sex, gender, gender identity expression, sexual orientation, ability, age, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, nationality, religion, spirituality, marital status, and veteran status.

We aim to:

• Recruit tutors with diverse backgrounds and identities
• Employ tutors who are committed to diversity and social justice
• Provide opportunities for personal and professional education and reflection through tutor training in the areas of diversity and social justice
• Work against the unjust imposition or reinforcement of power and privilege in the Writing Center and the University

History

The UVM Writing Center was created in 1982 by English Department faculty member Kathy Skubikowski as a Living/Learning Program, and served fewer than twenty students that first year. It now serves more than 1,000 students a year through its one-on-one tutoring sessions and workshops in classes. Since 1983 the Writing Center has been directed or co-directed by English Department faculty members Sue Dinitz and/or Jean Kiedaisch (now retired). In 1984, the Writing Center joined with the TRIO/Student Services Program to become part of the Learning Cooperative, an academic support center for all UVM students. A second Writing Center location opened in Bailey/Howe Library in 2000, and in 2009 the Writing Center moved entirely to the library to be located with the new Writing in the Disciplines Program.

Last modified July 02 2012 03:21 PM