Bang For Your Buck: Maximizing Writing center budgets from a tutor perspective

1. Bang For Your Buck: Maximizing Writing center budgets from a tutor perspective Presentation by Elizabeth Brownlow

2. Facets of institutional reconfiguration (Ede & Lunsford, 2000) • Institutional space • Physical Space • Online Space • 2) Concepts of knowledge production and intellectual property • Knowledge of various citation formats in each department • Availability of sources on these format • 3) Research paradigms and rewards • Contests for handouts/research-bases helps • Recognition within writing center staff • 4) Budget allocations • Student Outreach • Tutor allocation in a variety of spaces and services, based on strengths

3. Institutional space • Maximizing Physical Spaces • Bulletin Boards • Bookshelves • Dictionary drive (geared toward special dictionaries for non-native speakers) • White board tables • Tutor placement • Collaborative computer arrangement • “The tutors utilize all of the space in the Writing Center. Though the space ostensibly belongs to the students we serve, the tutors are the ones who spend the most time in the space” (Mageebon, 2008).

4. Institutional space • Maximizing online spaces • Tutor-created online sources (model essays, tutorials, virtual tours) • Virtual tutor (Susie Queue) • Creation of and links to grammar games & worksheets • Utilization of affordable online tutoring and communication tools (email, IM, collaboration tools) • - Showdocument • - Twiddla • - Mindmeister & Spinscape • - WCOnline online • consultation • module • - Google Wave Online resources linked to face-to-face sessions significantly related to overall performance outcomes (Perera & Richardson, 2010).

5. Concepts of knowledge production and intellectual property • Knowledge and availability of citation formats • In-house peer workshops on various citation styles (during staff meetings/practicums) • Communication with departments & faculty regarding preferred citation styles • Comprehensive list of citation styles for each department and links to tutorials/examples online

6. Research paradigms and rewards • Recognition within Writing Center staff • Increases morale and, therefore, motivation • Voting for “Tutor of the…” • Displays of comments (both from students and from other tutors) • Designation of specific tutors for help on various topics (recognizes their contribution and special set of skills) • Contests for research-based helps • Encourages individual research • Tutor-donated rewards • Voluntary basis • Contests for: • - Most handouts • - Most online resources • - Most comprehensive resources • - Most in-depth research-based contribution (handouts, online resource, methodology, in-house workshopping, etc)

7. Budget allocations • Student Outreach • Communication with IT about links through Blackboard and main website • Presence at all orientations and fairs • Brochures for non-native speakers • Student writing contests & publications • Display of student artwork

8. Budget allocations • Tutor Allocation in a variety of spaces • Volunteer to work in various areas and spaces • Based on personal preferences and strengths • Workshops, extended hours, handouts, online resources, faculty communication, website upkeep and design, student contests & publications etc. (the options are varied and wide!) • Time is money. • Preferences for time management and the relationship of workers with the concept of multitasking has a direct effect on their job performance (Kantrowitz, Grelle, & Beaty, 2012). • Therefore, the best way to maximize our own potential and, therefore, gain more “bang for our buck,” is to identify our own attitudes toward time management and multitasking, and volunteer to use our work hours in a way that we are comfortable with and, therefore, will perform to the best of our abilities.

9. References • Ede, L. & Lunsford, A. (2000). Some millennial thoughts about the future of writing centers. The Writing Center Journal, 20(2), 32-38. Retrieved from http://casebuilder.rhet.ualr.edu/wcrp/publications/wcj/wcj20.2/wcj20.2_ede.pdf • Kantrowitz, T. M., Grelle, D. M., Beaty, J. C., & Wolf, M. B. (2012). Time is money: Polychronicity as a predictor of performance across job levels. Human Performance, 25(2), 114-137. doi:10.1080/08959285.2012.658926 • Kugler, L. (2010). Online collaboration on the cheap: 20 free and low-cost tools. Retrieved from http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9177575/Online_ • collaboration_on_the_cheap_20_free_and_low_cost_tools?taxonomyId=169&pageNumber=5 • Mageebon, A. (2008, December). Whose space is it anyway? A new writing center’s reflection on negotiating space. The Writing Lab Newsletter, 33(4), 9-12. Retrieved from https://writinglabnewsletter.org/archives/v33/33.4.pdf • Perera, L. & Richardson, P. (2010). Students' use of online academic resources within a course web site and its relationship with their course performance: An exploratory study. Accounting Education, 19(6), 587-600. • doi:10.1080/09639284.2010.529639 • Plans (n.d.) Retrieved from http://www.showdocument.com/plans.jsf • University of Houston-Clear Lake (2011). WC annual report 2010-2011. Retrieved from  http://prtl.uhcl.edu/portal/page/portal/SSO/Files/WCAnnualReport_2010-2011.doc • University of North Texas (n.d.) Linguistic and technical communications: labs. Retrieved from http://ltc.unt.edu/node/362 • University of Texas at Austin (n.d.) Undergraduate writing center. • Retrieved from http://uwc.utexas.edu/