Writing Center undergoes renovations for first time since 1984

For the first time since 1984, the Writing Center is undergoing renovations.

The Writing Center, a tutoring center that offers help with essays, PowerPoint projects and more, is undergoing renovation and enlargement. Director of the Writing Center Jackie Grutsch McKinney said her department is looking forward to moving back in.

“[The Writing Center] moved into [Robert Bell] in 1984 … I think at one point it was reduced in size, but it had pretty much had the same room, and the same furniture and the same carpet,” Grutsch McKinney said. “This is a much anticipated and very exciting renovation for us, to be able to move to a fresh space and design it the way that we want it to be.”

Grutsch McKinney said the motivations behind the renovation were to enlarge the space and to make the center more convenient for its employees. 

The center will share the new space with the English writing program. The secretary will get a centralized desk, and staff development and administrator offices will be added. Grutsch McKinney said they hope to offer more tutoring sessions as well.

“We always have more students who want appointments than we have space for, and we are partly limited by the physical space we had, because of the noise in there, so realistically we could only do about three or maximum four sessions at a time,” Grutsch McKinney said. “Since this will give us a slightly bigger space, we will be able to hopefully offer a little bit more.”

Jim Lowe, director of engineering, construction and operations, said Facilities Planning and Management is funding the project. Grutsch McKinney said she has requested new computers, and the center may receive new furniture as well. Grutsch McKinney said she is planning to request a larger budget to hire more tutors for the enlarged center.

Emilie Schiess, a junior English education major, has been a tutor at the Writing Center since the beginning of the past Spring Semester and has continued working through the summer. She said the renovations will help her perform her job more efficiently.

“I think the environment will be easier to work with. We’re trying to add more modern technology and making it a more easy to maneuver space,” Schiess said. “I think having our clients being able to go to resources quicker will help me to answer questions easier.”

Schiess said one of the problems the center faced was that students didn’t know it was there. She said the refurbished look should attract more people to stop by.

“We [didn’t] really have windows ... I think some people come in and they don’t know exactly what we are,” Schiess said. “I think it’ll be more welcoming and people will see, ‘oh, this is a place I can work with.’”

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