Information literacy

Dr. Laura Detmering completed her PhD in Rhetoric and Composition at UofL and served as Writing Center Assistant Director from 2010-12. She currently directs Spalding University's Writing Center. In her first year as AD, she worked with Dr. Mary Rosner and in her second year, with Dr. Bronwyn Williams. She discusses her experiences of working with nontraditional students and helping create handout resources for various citation styles.

Dr. Debra Journet was a faculty member in the English department from 1988-2015 and served as chair from 1995-2003. In this interview she discusses her initiative, as chair, to create the University Writing Center as a result of a SACS enforcing their 18 credit hour rule, which created a staffing crisis for English 101 and 102 and an excess of first-year MA GTAs. Journet negotiated with the A&S Dean, Provost, and English department to create a Writing Center, seven TT lines, and an agreement across the English department for all faculty to teach FYC. She discusses the hiring of Carol Mattingly as a senior faculty member and founding Writing Center Director. She discusses her perception of the writing center as a place where non writing trained faculty can send students for help with grammar, lightening their load. She also discusses her talk at the Association of the Departments of English.

Dr. Dan Keller served as Writing Center Assistant Director from 2004-06, while working on his PhD. He initially worked with the Writing Center Research Project when he started at UofL. He discusses his time working in the Writing Center and describes working with mostly undergraduate students at the time.

Carol Matingly served as the Director of the University Writing Center from 2000-2007. She is a graduate of the UofL English PhD program. She was recruited for the Director position by Debra Journet, who was her dissertation director, while Dr. Mattingly was at Louisiana State University. Dr. Mattingly helped conceptualize the new University Writing Center, including the selection and design of the space on the 3rd floor and working with the sculpture designer. Soon after she began the position, the Writing Across the Curriculum program was moved administratively to the University Writing Center's purview, which included responsibility for evaluating transfer credits and administering workshops for faculty and students. Dr. Mattingly describes the slow build up of cliente, her relationship with the English department, promoting the writing center to faculty across the university, the community amongst consultants, students' rejection of free regular coffee, and her approach to the writing center practicum (English 604). She also discusses the origin and purpose of the Writing Center Research Project (WCRP).

Dr. Amy McLeese Nichols earned her MA and PhD in the English department (graduated in 2019), where she held a position as a Graduate Teaching Assistant (GTA) from 2012-2017. As a GTA, she served as the Assistant Director of the University Writing Center (UWC) from 2015-2017. In this interview, she describes how, through her Assistant Director role, she worked with Bronwyn Williams (UWC) and Brian McAdams (Family Scholar House [FSH]) to connect the UWC and FSH. She initiated and facilitated both writing tutoring and workshops at FSH. McLeese Nichols describes the intentionality behind this community partnership, including prioritizing sustainability, going slowly, identifying and working with the partner's needs, and developing trust. She discusses how her experience and knowledge with the UWC and community literacy informs her current work as the Writing Center Director at Berea College. At Berea, she applies her knowledge of community literacy through offering onsite tutoring "identity-based" centers on Berea's Campus and draws on the UWC's value making the writing center a welcoming and hospitable place. Finally, she compares the UWC's third and first floor location, noting the benefits of the first floor's ability to foster interactions between consultants and administrators.

Dr. Brice Nordquist was a PhD student working in the Writing Center at UofL from 2009-2014. After working as a consultant, he held an Assistant Director position in the Writing Center and was the first Assistant Director of the Virtual Writing Center. As the first Assistant Director of the Virtual Writing Center, he discusses the implementation of digital consultations in the facility and the learning experience that came with it. He also describes the original software the Writing Center used for its virtual consultations and its limitations compared to current options. Nordquist emphasizes the significance of building relationships among consultants as well as students in the Writing Center and details how the facility enables relationships between graduate students at all levels of their education. Nordquist also mentions that the communal environment of the Writing Center created reoccurring conversations between consultants and students, allowing consultants to have profound conversations with writers about what they want to gain from their work and time in college. He discusses the impact that long -term, ongoing relationships with writers had on his career path and current academic work as a composition instructor who specializes in community writing because the relationships that he built in the Writing Center helped him image the possibility of community learning programs that blur the lines between academic and personal writing.

Dr. Barrie Olson earned her PhD in the English department (2012-2014), where she served as a Graduate Teaching Assistant (GTA) and held the role of Assistant Director of the Writing Center from 2010-2012). During these two years, Olson worked with both Writing Center Directors Drs. Mary Rosner and Bronwyn Williams. She discusses the transition between directors. One of Olson's projects, under Bronwyn's direction, was to help design the first dissertation writing retreat, which she calls "a labor of love," which she later attended as a participant. Olsen also describes her motivation to help create a blog for the writing center, with the goal of making the writing center more visible and approachable. In reminiscing about her experiences, she cites the Ekstrom third floor space as being called the "tree house," and formative professional relationships with other Assistant Directors Laura Detmering and Ashly Bender. In Olson's current role, as a director of an educational non-profit, she draws on her writing center work in understanding disciplinary genres to translate expectations for K-12 literacy educators.

Dr. Kelli Prejean earned her PhD in English at UofL in 2005. She was a GTA was an Assistant Director and Writing Center Research Project Assistant Director.

Adam Robinson served as the Associate Director of the University Writing Center from 2010-2015. He earned his MA degree in the English department in 2008. He also worked in the UWC as a MA Graduate Teaching Assistant (GTA) and a professional tutor. He describes his process of learning to tutor and his emotions surrounding the process. He mentions the new initiatives brought in by Director Bronwyn Williams, such as the Dissertation Writing Retreat, Family Scholar House collaboration, and SIGS workshops. Finally, he discusses his role in revising the writing center"s promotional and resource material.

Dr. Robert Royer is a graduate of the English MA and PhD program. After he graduated from UofL with his bachelor's degree, he worked in the English department's Basic Writing Program, starting in 1979. When he first started in the "Writing Clinic" (later called the "writing center"), it was located in the basement of the Humanities building. Eventually he started in the English MA program as a Graduate Teaching Assistant, and he continued to work in the Basic Writing Program. He describes two models of the basic program: 1) instruction to approximately 15 students alongside breakout tutoring groups 2) workshop-style courses for 12-15 students. Dr. Royer also describes how, as a PhD student, he became interested in Computers and Writing and taught the first Basic Writing course using computer correspondence. He also talks about other tutoring at UofL at the time, including the Language Lab and with the Black Student Union. Dr. Royer believes his time in the writing center was extremely formative for him as a graduate student and writing teacher. He recalls the camaraderie of the staff and names Wanda Martin, Hepzibah Roskelly, Judith Killen, Kate Ronald, and Susan Helgeson as fellow staff members. He felt that they were given a degree of autonomy to enact the programs and pedagogy.