2014

ANNUAL REPORT

The KU Writing Center is a writing support resource for KU students, faculty, and staff. Since June 2007, we have worked one-on-one with 12,635 individuals in 46,574 sessions

and many thousand more during class visits, workshops, writing groups and events.

Create. Compose. Communicate.

2014

ANNUAL REPORT

In the 2015-2016 academic year the KU Writing Center continued to serve graduate students across the KU campus in a variety of ways, through one-on-one graduate consultations, writing groups, graduate/research write-ins, and in-class and campus-wide graduate writing workshops. KU Writing Cen-ter staff facilitated 21 writing groups for 101 graduate students and success-fully piloted groups specifically for multilingual graduate students. The Grad-uate Writing Specialist, Claire McMurray, implemented a new training pro-gram and support network for all consultants working as graduate writing group facilitators. In addition, nine graduate/research write-ins were held at the Lawrence and Edwards campuses for 194 graduate student participants. Dr. McMurray also created new workshops focusing on effective Power Point presentations and publishing journal articles, which she presented in collaboration with Graduate Studies.

A unit of KU Undergraduate Studies, the Writing Center shares it goals of enabling students to build foundational intellectual skills and access aca-demic services that support and challenge them. In particular, we aimed to contribute to retention and graduation. For the second year, we col-laborated with First-Year Experience by presenting UNIV 101 workshops and with the Office of Multicultural Affairs by embedding Writing Fellows in HawkLink sections. From an assessment done by the Office of Institu-tional Research and Planning, we learned that 50% of first-time freshmen visited the Writing Center between 2006-2013. During the same period, the GPAs of ENGL 101 students who used KUWC services averaged 2.9, compared to 2.5 among non-users. The gap was more pronounced among males. In 2016-2017, in collaboration with the Department of Stu-dent Housing, we plan to inaugurate undergraduate writing groups with ENGL 101 students to provide ongoing support across each semester.

SUPPORT FOR...

GRADUATE STUDENTS

FACULTY AND STAFF

2

UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS

Funded by a generous Educational Opportunity Fund grant from the Student Senate, undergraduate writing fellows (WFs) offered course embedded writ-ing tutoring for 16 classes ranging from REES 110 (Understanding Russia and Eastern Europe) to GEOL 565 (From DNA to Dinos) to HA 665 (Introduction to Modern Art). The total number of undergraduate students supported was 949. Our undergraduate WFs this year were Ellen Bertels, Megan Dennis, Brittany Heppler, Colin Karr, Joy Mosier-Dubinsky, and Amy Putman. The Graduate Writing Fellows Program at the KU Edwards Campus employed WF Adam Miller, who supported student writing in graduate courses in Com-munication Studies, Social Welfare, Educational Technology, and Public Management/Engineering Management. The total number of graduate students supported was 55.

2014

ANNUAL REPORT

3

EVENTS AND OUTREACH

WRITERS OF KU

OUTREACH

This academic year, we invested time and resources into educating

the KU community about our many services led by our newly formed

marketing team: Associate Director Katie Elliott, Marketing Coordina-

tor Chelsea Murdock, Graduate Intern Aron Muci, and Lead Under-

graduate Consultant Mikey Shaw. The team updated our social media

presence on Facebook and Twitter, created a KUWC YouTube chan-

nel, and changed the look of our webpage, writing.ku.edu. They also

created events such as Late Night at the Roost and fun giveaways

with our logo, including Frisbees and coffee mugs. One Facebook,

Twitter, and Instagram campaign was “Writers of KU,” a series fea-

turing KU students, faculty, and staff. KATIE ELLIOT

“My professor says: ‘Design is

design. Everything’s a design.’

It’s just kind of re-fining to de-

sign things better. Writing is

design because…[if] you want

to write a good thesis you need

to design it well.”

Joey Qiang, graduate student

pursuing M.A. in Interaction

Design.

“I need to be confident in my

ideas and in my writing, to be

able to transfer that knowledge

to my students. To be a profes-

sor, you must be a good re-

searcher, but also a good writer

as well.”

Bushra Obeidat, graduate stu-

dent pursuing PhD in Architec-

ture Design and Planning.

“I am a maker of things. I feel

like if I keep making things long

enough then I will become a

real artist. Kind of like, if I keep

writing things long enough, I’ll

become a real writer.”

Katie Elliot, Assistant Director

at KU Writing Center.

“I love making lists and being organized

and writing things out...For my papers

too, I hand-write everything...Then, I

type everything out. After all that, I

make a Writing Center appointment. My

advice? Plan ahead. Make sure the things

that you’re doing now will impact your

life in a positive way. ”

Jhenay Curry, undergraduate student

pursuing B.A. in Biology.

Giselle Scott served as our Workshops Co-ordinator. She and her office assis-tant, Rute Muniz, oversaw the planning and delivery of 104 workshops during Fall 2015 and Spring 2016. Workshop leaders, both graduate and undergraduate consultants supported writing projects in classes enrol-ling more than 1,400 students.

Chelsea Murdock served as our Marketing Coordinator, creating a "brand" for KUWC

through artwork, templates, advertising, and social media messaging through Twitter,

Facebook, and Instagram. Thanks to her hard work and that of Anne Wildgen, her office

assistant, followers have reached more than 1,000 in each medium.

@KUWritingCenter @writing.ku /kuwritingcenter

2014

ANNUAL REPORT

The theme of in-service consultant development in Fall 2015 was "What is Success?" Consultants, meeting in small groups, read key articles and considered three “pillars” for building successful relationships with writers and desired outcomes from writing consulta-tions. Office assistants also considered this topic in their monthly meetings. In Spring 2016, the staff development theme shifted to "Diversity in Action." Beginning in the January All-Staff meeting with a workshop by the Office of Multicultural Affairs, consultants and office assistants attended to white privilege, equity and equality, and strategies for cre-ating social justice through writing center work. In-service meetings throughout the semester also focused on Title IX regulations and the mandated reporting structure for sexual assault at the University of Kansas. At the May All-Staff meeting, spokespersons for each group reported out.

In August 2015, Associate Director Katie Elliott collaborated with colleagues from the Greater Kansas City Writing Centers Project to plan the yearly Tutor Retreat. There, she presented a workshop, "Developing Research Questions: Helping Writers Learn to Ask Academic Questions about Their Real-Life Interests." The majority of newly-hired KUWC undergraduate and graduate consultants attended the event. KUWC writing consultants’ presentations were important features of the Retreat:

Ben Bolton, Kyle Charles, and Tessa Scott: "Seeing Consultants as Coaches: What We Can Learn from Coaching Theory" Adam Miller: "No Shame: Modeling Effective Professional Correspondence with Published Memoir" Jacob Herrmann: "Tutoring vs. Consulting: Thinking about Power Dynamics and Student Authorship" Leah Mortenson: "Best Practices for Working with ELLs" Giselle Scott: "Road Trip! Applying Counseling Techniques to Understand the Movement and Progression of a WC Consultation" Administrative Intern Aron Muci and graduate consultant Jacob Herrmann attended the Midwest Writing Centers Association Conference in Cedar Rapids, IA in March 2016. They presented a workshop, "Reimagining the Writing Center: Considering Space, Rhetoric, and Mar-keting,"

In April 2016, Terese Thonus (Director) presented a workshop with Beth Hewett at the IWCA Collaborative ("Follow This PATH") and a paper at the Conference on College Composition and Communication ("The Disciplinarity of Second Language Writing"), both in Houston, TX. Graduate Writing Specialist Claire McMurray presented "Getting Groups to Coalesce: The Evolution of a Graduate Writing Program" at the IWCA Annual Conference in Pittsburg, PA in October 2015. She also presented "Beyond the Consultation: A Multi-Pronged Approach to Supporting Graduate Students," at the Canadian Writing Centres Association Conference in Calgary, Alberta in May 2016.

Terese published three articles in Spring 2016:

"Time to Say Goodbye: Writing Center Consultation Closings." Linguistics & Education, 33, 40-55. "Follow this PATH: Conceptual Metaphors in Writing Center Online Consultations." Metaphor and the Social World, 2(5), 52-74. (Co-authored with Beth Hewett) "After the Writing Center Dissertation." WLN: A Journal of Writing Center Scholarship, 40 (9-10), 10-14. (Co-authored with Rebecca Babcock and Sheila Carter-Tod)

Her review of Ben Rafoth's Multilingual Writers and Writing Centers also appeared in the Writing Center Journal.

4

STAFF DEVELOPMENT

PRESENTATIONS AND PUBLICATIONS

2014

ANNUAL REPORT

Undergraduate Con-sultant Kayla Overbey (B.A., English; B.S., Journalism, 2014) is Production Editor at Sterling Publishing in New York.

Undergraduate Con-sultant Casey Cabela Steffens (B.A., English, 2007) is Assistant Vice President and Trust Officer at the Bank of Kansas City.

Graduate Consultant Shayne Guillemette( M.A., English, 2014) lives in Wichita, KS and teaches Lan-guage Arts at Hadley Middle School.

Graduate Consult-ant M. Rabbie Najjar (PharmD, 2013) is a Pharmacist at a CVS Pharmacy in Kansas City, Missouri.

Assistant Director Martha Jerrim (2011-2013) lives in Grand Blanc, MI where she is hard at work renovat-ing her home.

“Thank you very much Alli for your great feedback. I really appreci-ate your comments and suggestions. Cheers!” “Ben helped me to improve my writing style and select suitable words, which made my essay much more better.”

“Hannah was really helpful! Her suggestions helped me a lot!” “I appreciate Brittany's ability to understand an unusual appoint-ment and help me in a unique way that gave me a good impression of the writing center. ”

“Matthew is amazing. He encouraged me to keep writing even if I feel like it doesn't work or feel disappointed. Golden star for Mat-thew!” “Rachael set a positive tone by addressing what I hoped to accom-plish in the session and led me through that process. “

5

FEEDBACK FROM OUR CLIENTS

WRITING FELLOWS:

7 Undergraduate Writing Fellows, 1 Graduate Writing Fellow

(Edwards Campus )

Total courses = 20 - Total students = 604 (55 Graduate, 549

Undergraduate) WHERE ARE THEY NOW

Contact us at writing@ku.edu or 786-864-2399 and let us know where life has taken you! You can also reach us out through social media. Tweet

us @KUWritingCenter and follow us on Instagram @writing.ku. We hope to hear from you soon!

WHERE ARE YOU NOW?

ON INDIVIDUAL CONSULTATONS:

2015-2016 YEAR-END STATS

CONSULTATIONS:

Individual Writers: 1,687 (7% of KU student body)

Individual Appointments: 4,229

Summer 2016: 116 eTutoring & online appointments

CLASS VISITS AND WORKSHOPS:

Fall 2015: 20 class visits, 82 workshops

Spring 2016: 9 class visits, 26 workshops

Materials development for workshops and website

2014

ANNUAL REPORT

$25 FUNDS… Two hour-long sessions for a graduate writing group.

$50 FUNDS… Six hours of one-on-one consultations with Writing Center undergraduate peer consultants.

$100 FUNDS… Training for five Writing Fellows.

$250 FUNDS... Materials and refreshments for All-Staff meetings.

$500 FUNDS… One undergraduate writing consultant at six hours per week for one semester.

$1,000 FUNDS... Travel, lodging and per diem expenses for a writing consultant presenting a workshop at a national conference.

$1,000 FUNDS… Replacements for current iPads used during consul-tations and presentations.

$5,000 FUNDS... A Graduate Coordinator to organize and staff gradu-ate and undergraduate writing groups.

$25,000 FUNDS... Expansion of the Undergraduate Writing Fellows program from fifteen KU Core courses per semester to thirty.

The Writing Center aims to deepen the culture of writing at the University of Kansas and to provide a central hub for that culture. To

do this, we plan to move beyond a single-service model of writing support (based on individual interactions with writers "just-in-

time" or "service at the point of need") towards more sustained and sustainable relationships with students, staff, and faculty. We

will develop multiple contacts and ongoing collaboration through...

Undergraduate and graduate writing groups

Writing Fellows programs for both undergraduate and graduate courses

Impactful writing events and series of events

Faculty writing support and consultations on teaching with writing

These initiatives recognize that faculty are key to creating a facilitative environment for writing in their classes and in their

disciplines. Faculty who receive support for their own academic writing are likely to better understand their students writing

support needs. They request in-class workshops for their undergraduates, recommend writing groups to their graduate students

and advisees, encourage students to attend KU Writing Center events, and request assistance with assignment redesign. In sum, by

devoting personnel and funding to consulting, writing groups, Writing Fellows, writing events, and enhanced collaboration with

campus allies, we will support and sustain a culture of writing at KU and contribute to the retention and graduation rates of under-

graduate and graduate students across the disciplines.

6

HELP WRITE OUR FUTURE!

Every bit of support

helps us help writers!

THANK YOU!

INITIATIVES FOR 2016-2017

2014

ANNUAL REPORT

GRADUATING STUDENT EMPLOYEES

ARON MUCI

M.A. ENGLISH

7

ALLISON

MCKIINNON

B.A. POLITICAL

SCIENCE

BEN BOLTON

B.A. LINGUISTICS AND

SPANISH

BRITTANY HEPPLER

B.A. ENGLISH

DAVID GILL

B.A. HISTORY AND

LINGUISTICS

JHENAY CURRY

B.S. BIOLOGY LEAH MORTENSON

M.A. EDUCATION

MATTHEW AP-

PLEQUIST

B.A. POLITICAL

SCIENCE

RACHAEL

KOWALCHUK

M.S. COUNSELING

PSYCHOLOGY

HANNAH WAGLE

B.G.S. ENGLISH

Thank you for your support and hard work!

We wish you success and perseverance on this new journey that lies ahead of you.

It was a pleasure to work, learn, and grow with you.

Rock Chalk!