Writing Center moves to library after 15 years in Satterfield Hall

Aaron Kaufman

The Writing Center relocated to the University Library Sunday after spending 15 years in Satterfield Hall.

The move has been “10 years in the making,” said Bethany Schlotterer, sophomore marketing major and Writing Center employee.

The new center is located on the fourth floor of the library and is the first structure that has been specifically constructed to house the Writing Center. According to Writing Center Director Jeanne Smith, the Writing Center was “a cart that we wheeled to different locations” in 1975. In 1990, it moved to a hallway, and in 1993, to Room 318 in Satterfield Hall, where it remained until Sunday.

“As you can see, we’ve come a long way,” Smith said.

The new space has private tutoring rooms, as well as offices for staff. It was built where the group study area had been located. The staff had to wait for a final construction inspection before it could open its doors to students.

“This is the first time in the history of the Writing Center that we have had Sunday hours,” Smith said.

New hours are just one of the improvements the Writing Center hopes to offer with the new location. It plans to implement a digital scheduling service in the near future, where students could sign up for tutoring hours online. This system would also help to pair students up with tutors of similar educational backgrounds and majors.

“We’re not just for weak writers,” Smith said, adding that this is a common misconception.

She believes everyone, no matter their writing ability, can use a person to bounce ideas off of.

“We work with people, not papers,” she added.

The center is open from 10 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. today. Tutoring sessions last up to 45 minutes. The Writing Center also offers workshops, seminars and online resources that can be found on its Web site, http://dept.kent.edu/english/WritingCent.

Contact library and information services reporter Aaron Kaufman at [email protected].