By Kelline Linton, Staff Writer
Up one flight of stairs, down two more flights, and through a maze of gray cubicals, students can follow orange arrows to the campus Writing Center.
Directors of the Writing Center, located in the basement of the library, had hoped to be moved to the new Library Commons by the end of last semester.
“Delays in construction have got us behind schedule,” said Lauren Dowdy, assistant director to the Writing Center and second-year graduate student from Atlanta.
Once moved, the Center will be located in the previous director’s office on the first floor, next to the new coffee shop. Until the move, however, the Writing Center will remain hidden away at the center of numerous twists and turns on the bottom level of the library, where asking for directions is essential.
“It’s a dungeon down here,” said tutor Joel Overall, English graduate student from Abilene. “I’m excited about the coffee and the move. The new Center will be very aesthetically pleasing.”
The Writing Center currently employs 10 tutors, five of whom are graduate students. Writing Director Cole Bennett also helps with tutoring; however, he is teaching in Oxford, England, this semester.
The Writing Center assists with any part of the writing process and is free of charge for ACU students and the Abilene community.
“You can come in with any paper from any class at any stage, even resumes and job applications,” Dowdy said.
The Center aids the invention, development, revision, pre-writing, editing and final stages of a paper, including help with scholarship essays and fellowship applications. The Writing Center is not a tutoring session for remedial students and is not associated with the Learning Enhancement Center. The tutors available assist the writer and make helpful suggestions; they do not teach basic grammar structures.
The basement location has not hurt the Center’s clientele.
“We have quite a few clients, surprisingly,” Overall said. “Once they find us, they tend to come and use our services frequently, since it is so valuable.”
The upcoming move will build on the existing list of clients.
The Writing Center is open Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday from 9 a.m. until 8 p.m.; on Wednesday and Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and on Saturday from noon to 4 p.m. Walk-ins are welcome, but tutors encourage appointments. Sessions usually last from half an hour to an hour.
