Announcements
1. Penn State Learning. The Center for Excellence in Writing is in the process of blending its undergraduate programs with the Laboratory for Public Scholarship and Democracy and with select programs of the University Learning Centers to form a single entity called Penn State Learning. During the 2009-10 school year, the features of this site will move to www.PennStateLearning.psu.edu.
Penn State Learning has this vision: "Penn State Learning promotes inclusive communities of practice that encourage academic excellence. Our communities recognize that discoveries of what has come before lead to new ideas, new theories, and new approaches in the arts, sciences, and professions and that learning is sustained when students accept responsibility for themselves and for their role as active partners in communities of excellence."
2. A new schedule of 3pm Friday "Tea Topic" discussions in 219 Boucke are posted on the Writing Across the Curriculum page for Sept. 25, Oct. 9, Oct. 23, and Nov. 6.
3. A new and expanded edition of Joe Schall's book Style for Students is available as a free online text (the book will no longer be available in hard copy). Features of the online text include a search engine, frequent links to other websites with additional recommended lessons, and downloadable pdfs of sample documents.
4. Schall's book Writing Personal Statements and Scholarship Application Essays is also available as a free online text. It features an internal search engine, and most lessons include a "Self Study" box where students can go for further study on a particular topic.
WAC Program Endorsement from the Provost:
"Integrating writing into classrooms across the curriculum is important to Penn State’s mission of improving 'the lives of the people of Pennsylvania, the nation, and the world through integrated, high-quality programs in teaching . . . . informed by scholarship and research.' The Center for Excellence in Writing, together with the Human Resource Development Center, offers seminars to help faculty understand the scholarship and practice of writing-intensive teaching across the disciplines. I urge departments to support interested faculty in attending these programs." Rodney A. Erickson, Executive Vice President and Provost, May 21, 2008
Of Historical Interest
1. Conference The CEW hosted the 2007 National Conference on Peer Tutoring in Writing at University Park October 19-21 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of peer tutoring in writing at Penn State's UP campus. Flyer.
2. Oral History See an oral-history interview of Ron Maxwell on the right side bar of this Web page. Maxwell brought peer tutoring in writing to Penn State in 1982 and directed the Writing Center from 1987 to 1997.
3. Maxwell Leadership Award Also on the right side bar of this Web page, see podcast presentations of the NCPTW Ron Maxwell Award for Distinguished Leadership in Promoting the Collaborative Learning Practices of Peer Tutors in Writing. A plaque and cash prize are funded by Ron and Mary Maxwell.
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Undergraduate Writing Center (UWC) 814-863-3240
Undergraduate peer tutors discuss writing with students on campus during drop-in hours or by appointment either face-to-face (locations and hours) or electronically, conduct class visits or writing workshops, link to specific classes upon request, workshop writing in a Writing Circle for creative writers, and host open mic nights for all writers. The UWC works closely with the University Learning Centers. Visit the UWC with this two-minute informational video.
Graduate teaching assistants and lecturers conduct one-credit tutorials with students registered for English 005.
Students applying for fellowships, graduate school, or jobs may schedule an appointment to meet with a tutor who has special training in the writing of personal-statement essays by writing to l-personalstatements.
The UWC's tutors also perform public scholarship through the Public Writing Initiative (see below) and through the Mid-State Literacy Council's Annual Corporate Spelling Bee. A designated tutor each year is the Green Coordinator who helps the UWC behave according to ecological ethics.
Graduate Writing Center (GWC) 814-865-8021
Graduate peer consultants work one-to-one by appointment with graduate students of all disciplines on their writing and also conduct writing workshops every semester.
Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) 814-863-9243
Faculty peer consultants offer one-to-one consultations, group discussions, workshops, and seminars for faculty across the disciplines who teach writing-intensive "W" courses or who integrate writing into regular classes to help students learn course content.
Public Writing Initiative (PWI) Pilot 814-865-6383
Students in writing-across-the-curriculum classes (ENGL 202), with assistance from UWC writing fellows, complete commissioned assignments of public scholarship and civic engagement.
An international newsletter by and for peer tutors in writing, produced in association with the National Conference on Peer Tutoring in Writing, published by an editorial board of the CEW's undergraduate peer tutors.
