Upon reading "Tutoring in Unfamiliar Subjects" by Alexis Greiner, I feel that I shall no longer be known as a WORD Studio tutor, but instead a consultant. Greiner makes a point in saying that it is a consultant that "help{s} by provoking thought through conversation, posing questions, and engaging writers in the work of writing" (115). The term tutor implies that the tutor has the ability to teach others to write well. I feel that it is not the case at Saint Lawrence because the application process simply asks for a written piece of work, not a resume showing one's ability to help others.
Epiphany: We as a writing center should stop even advertising ourselves as "the one's who can help with papers." Think about it: The ideal writing center should help students how to write better; we should not only help students when they have an assignment due soon. In order to do so, all of the "consultants" employeed should take a class *cough* English 229 Rhetoric and Communication Theory and Practice, with Professor Hillory Oakes on Tuesdays from 2:20 - 3:50pm *cough* that will enhance their ability to tutor others in writing. Only then should we be called tutors.
Professor Oakes, how do you feel about the WORD Studio changing not only its name but its mode of operation?
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Richard, you've hit on a long-running debate among writing center professionals. Two naming issues arise again and again in this field: First, what to call the places in which this work takes place (there's a pretty even split between "writing center" and "writing lab," with proponents of each term seeming to harbor deep dislike for the other term; in the past few years, some places have been looking at other terms--hence our local idea of "studio").
The second argument about naming that arises is what to call the people who work with writers/speakers/etc. Are they tutors? mentors? consultants? coaches? I can agree with you that there are some drawbacks to the word "tutoring"--and indeed I think that perhaps some of the misconceptions students have about what we do in the Munn Center arise from the idea that if you need to be "tutored" in something, you must be bad at it. "Consultants" is an interesting term, though I have to admit that there's something about it that, to me, smacks of the business world in a way I don't like. I do like "mentors" and might be interested in taking the term beyond the FYP Mentor program and into our center work, too. This would be an interesting question to research for a conference paper...hint hint.
I should also mention another possibility: "fellows." Some schools that have programs similar to our FYP Mentors program call the "tutors" "writing fellows." What I like about that is the air of scholarship that it gives to the title.
How about Yoda's? And we can have Jedi's?
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