Writing Associates program

[interesteddad]

<p>One of the coolest programs at Swarthmore is the Writing Associates program. As many as 70 students are nominate to become WAs. They take a special full-semester advanced writing course (for credit), taught by the head of the writing program, during first semester of sophmore year. They get paid for being WAs.</p>

<p>WAs are available to review student papers. Either drop by the writing center or e-mail the paper, then go meet with the WA for suggestions. This can either be for a first draft or even earlier, just to kick around ideas. In addition, some courses have WAs assigned to the class with mandatory WA review of the papers. The WA program is widely used. There are Swatties who get all of their papers WA’d.</p>

<p>Many colleges have such programs. I found this interesting recommendation from a recent Amherst College faculty curriculum committee:</p>

<p>

Enhancing and evaluating the work of the Writing Center; a semester-long credit-bearing course in composition and rhetoric:</p>

<p>Over the last twenty-one years, the Writing Counselor and then the Writing Center has put forth the message that everyone can benefit from help with writing and that all students are welcome to visit to help make sense of their work. Under the direction of Susan Snively, Amherst?s Writing Center was expanded after 1993 to include a Writing Fellow and ten peer tutors. Students can go to the Writing Center for editorial assistance with writing assignments or to brainstorm about a variety of compositional tasks and approaches to writing. The Center worked with 425 students in the academic year 2001-2002, including 22 thesis writers. Amherst?s system of peer tutors is modeled on the program in use at Swarthmore College. However, the Director has pointed out that ten years after its inception the expanded program has yet to undergo any systematic review or evaluation and that several of the more expensive features of the Swarthmore model on which it is based have yet to be implemented. Amherst?s peer tutors do not receive the semester-long preparation within an accredited college course such as Swarthmore gives to its Writing Assistants. Nor does our program have anything close to the 35 WAs that Swarthmore, a smaller school than Amherst, employs. Very few professors mandate that their students work regularly with tutors dedicated to their courses, although the Writing Center is always happy to facilitate such arrangements.</p>

<p>Such constraints limit the partnership between tutors and professors at Amherst. Members of the Faculty report mixed experiences in working with tutors. Many appreciate the help with basic writing skills that tutors provide for their peers. Some professors worried that tutors? interventions may be merely cosmetic, making it difficult for teachers to diagnose underlying problems with grammar and comprehension. A few felt uneasy about the amount of assistance students receive from peer tutors before their assignments are graded. If Amherst embarks on a series of reforms in the way that writing is taught across the curriculum, it will be essential for the College to review the role and work of the Writing Center. The time may also be ripe for introducing a semester-long course similar to the one offered at Swarthmore which aspiring tutors could take for academic credit. That course, like others we have recommended, should be open to all students and should carry full Amherst College credit.

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[PurpoisePal]

<p>Barnard has one, too.</p>

[tommybill]

<p>My daughter will be a sophomore at Swarthmore next year and was chosen to be a Writing Associate (WA), she is thrilled. She will be taking the advanced writing course, during first semester of sophomore year. The students taking this course are known as WAITs, for Writing Associates In Training.</p>

[nngmm]

<p>Congrats! It’s a great experience.</p>

[interesteddad]

<p>And, they get paid pretty nicely, too…I think.</p>

[tommybill]

<p>The pay is good…one of the many things I like about Swarthmore is the way they make sure everyone who is admitted can afford to go and once the students get to school they don’t have to worry about money. Swarthmore really takes care of their students.</p>