A TUTOR'S GUIDE
Basic Writing Program philosophy
Writing center work is complicated work. "A Guide to Helping Writers Help Themselves" is designed to introduce you to our Writing Center and the complex, mutlifaceted job of the tutor so you can negotiate it as effectively as possible. In this guide, you will find practical suggests and helpful information regarding the theoretical, practical, and political complexities of literacy education that influence and guide all writing center work.
As a tutor here, you will be working with students from a variety of disciplines and with a variety of reading and writing tasks at various stages of completion. You may be tutoring some of these students online. You may be working with students in one of our "labs," a component of our Basic Writing Program. You may be involved with one of our many other research, promotional, or outreach activities.
Whatever you do, please know that your work is important and appreciated. The university, this department, and the faculty here are committed to the Writing Center. We have a great location, a strong reputation, and an excellent history of support. I am committed to the Writing Center, our students, and especially our tutors. you will work hard here, but I assure you that our work here is rewarding. Read this guide; reflect upon your reading, writing, learning, and teaching experiences; get everything you can out of our Annual Orientation and our Weekly Tutor-Training meetings; ask questions of me and your fellow tutors; join the larger writing center community; and do anything else you can to engage with this complex, fascinating work. If you do, I am certain you will find excitement, pleasure, inspiration, and intellectual-stimulation at nearly every turn. I've been at this for several years now, and I just keep finding more and more to investigate, learn about, and get excited about. You