UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI
Writing center 2019-2020 ANNUAL REPORT
THE WRITING CENTER
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ANNUAL REPORT
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Letter from Our Directors
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Letter from the WC Assistant
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Our Mission Statement
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Writing Center Year at a Glance
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Usage by Year
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Usage by Semester
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Usage on Breaks
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Usage by Location
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Usage by Academic Level
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Reasons for Visiting
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Graduate Writing Support Program
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Outreach Presentations & Feedback
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Writing Center Travels
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Organizational Chart
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Overall Student Feedback
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Selected Student Feedback
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Writing Center Recognition
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Tutor Achievements
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Bonnie Zelenak Excellence in Tutoring Award
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How to Exit the WC
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Writing Center Preparation
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Training Workshops
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2015HW Course Syllabus
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Tutor List
TABLE OF CONTENTS 3
THE WRITING CENTER
FROM OUR DIRECTORS elcome to the MU Writing Center’s W 2019-2020 annual report! We are continuing to bring you one letter from
both directors to highlight the major events and achievements from the past year. If we continue to do the same next year, then it becomes a tradition, right? As always, our hope is that this letter highlights what you’ll find in the pages to come. Our biggest numbers first: over the course of the year, our tutors worked with students for a total of 14,170 hours, while our outreach team completed 224 Writing Center presentations to classes across campus. We’re getting ahead of ourselves. (You know what’s coming.) But, fall 2019 started out like any other semester. Stephanie came back from summer break ready to help Aaron prepare for the annual 3-day training for new graduate, fellowship, and English MA tutors. Over three very hot days in August, we met with our new tutors in Tate Hall. The first day started with a chicken emergency, which we can say was a first for us. One of our new fellowship tutors, Jenna, had to chase down some run-away chickens before attending training that morning. Once they were all accounted for, our day proceeded as normal. As is tradition, we started the first few weeks each semester with continued training workshops. In the fall, we began with visits from the Composition program from the English department and a Writing Intensive presentation from the Human Development and Family Studies department. In the spring, 4
we started with a TONY (the Online Writery) training and a Medical School Personal Statement Workshop (see page 32). Altogether, our tutors took part in 652 hours of training this year. The main change (or so we thought at the time) in the Writing Center was a new layout for our space in the Student Success Center. Stephanie moved offices to be closer to the WC main floor, which allowed us to remove a wall (a cubicle one, not a load bearing one) to open up the space. The changes not only made the space more unified and larger but also allowed us to observe the floor more easily from our offices. We also added an “observation station” with some comfy chairs and a table, which we decorated with tutor-collected stickers. This space became both a waiting area for students and a place for our tutors-in-training to do observations of tutorial sessions. The Writing Center was... ready for the year to come? Our fall included some new tutoring experiences and collaborations: for the College of Engineering, we held a Personal Statement and Cover Letter Workshop in conjunction with their fall Career Fair. We also held a Personal Statement Workshop for the Tiger View program, where we paired each participant with a tutor for oneon-one sessions to develop their own statements. As is always the case, application materials, especially personal statements, continue to be the most popular reason for visiting the Writing Center: we tutored 2,310 contacts for
application materials this year! (see page 15 for more) Everything continued as normal, until it didn’t. As the pandemic began to grow, it finally hit MU in March of 2020. Students were sent home in the days leading up to Spring Break, and campus was soon closed. While we were all hopeful that COVID wasn’t going to last long, it was clear that we needed to make some adjustments. We decided to eliminate all one-onone tutoring to focus all our attention to our asynchronous Online Writery to continue supporting students both in Columbia and back home. While some of our tutors stepped back from their hours as they adjusted to a new way of life and school, we were able to continue offering about 345 hours of “scheduled” tutoring per week. As you might expect, our face-to-face numbers for the spring are lower than normal, but even with only online submissions, we still found our way to working with 5,836 students in the spring. Also during the height of the pandemic, we had to say goodbye to our largest group of graduating seniors yet! We held a virtual happy hour to wish them well as they continued out into the real world. We’re so very proud of all their accomplishments, which you can read about on page 26. Summer began with remote-only coursework, and, looking forward to a fall 2020 semester with the (now-realized) potential for not working faceto-face at all, we piloted synchronous Zoom-based sessions with some of our
ANNUAL REPORT Here’s a Zoom screenshot of the “party”
long-time tutors. Writing this letter now in early September, we can say that it was the right call, and although we, like everyone, have stumbled across some new concerns (which hopefully we’ll iron out and report to you in our 2020-2021 report), we’re con-
tinuing to do what we always tell our tutors: “Change Lives.” We continue to write this together because we too believe the bi-line of the Writing Center. We wish the same for you (especially in a pandemic): May You Never Write Alone.
Aaron Harms Director
Stephanie Kimmey Assistant Director 5
THE WRITING CENTER
y career as a tutor began beMof Missouri; fore I came to the University I worked as a writing
tutor at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville while earning my MA and teaching writing classes. When I began my PhD studies at Mizzou, I was introduced to the Writing Center during the graduate writing instructors’ orientation. During that first week, I met Aaron when he enthusiastically showcased the Writing Center’s services available to undergraduates, graduate students, and faculty. Aaron’s tone and the pedagogical underpinnings of writing center work immediately piqued my interest in the MU Writing Center’s approach to tutoring. By my fourth year at Mizzou, after serving on both the campus-wide Composition Committee and serving as a mentor to new writing instructors via my department’s Composition Staff, my interest in the Writing Center had only grown. That year, I accepted a position as a Writing Intensive tutor, and began learning that much of tutoring is improv: responding to the student who seeks our feedback, and knowing which skill or tool is right for addressing the student’s needs and concerns. Tutoring is a truly rewarding experience: I love working one-on-one with stu-
dents, brainstorming with them, and encouraging them as writers. I also enjoyed being the liaison to nursing and health sciences writing intensive courses, since I have prior experience working in healthcare. During that year, as I tutored and gave presentations outlining our services, I gained not only tutoring skills but also a lot of experiences that would prove valuable during the next year as the Writing Center assistant. The following year, I was thrilled to accept the Writing Center Assistant position. I had experience teaching and tutoring, and I looked forward to new opportunities this position would offer: learning more about the theories and methods for training undergraduate peer tutors, plus getting a behind-thescenes glimpse at the nuts and bolts involved with effectively running a writing center and managing a staff of undergraduate and graduate tutors. As the Writing Center assistant, I started the year by helping with the three-day graduate tutor orientation where new tutors learn the Writing Center’s approach to tutoring and gain opportunities to learn and practice new skills before their debut on the tutoring-room floor. After the semester started in
earnest, my regular duties included serving as a teaching assistant for the Honors Theory and Practice of Tutoring Writing course, helping with ongoing training workshops, observing tutors in action (in person and online), holding small group reflective and training sessions, coordinating outreach requests, training new outreachers to give presentations to writing classes, and giving occasional outreach presentations myself. This position allowed me to get to know each of our tutors and their strengths, as well as identify areas where we could improve. The fall and first half of the spring semester were business as usual: observations and debriefings, group training sessions, conferencing with future tutors and grading their essays, having planning sessions and administrative training with Aaron and Stephanie…. And then COVID-19 hit. Everything changed one week in March. We quickly had to transition not only our tutoring sessions to online-only, but our teaching had to shift from a face-to-face, interactive, hands-on, collaborative, skill-building course to an asynchronous online one. With Aaron and Stephanie leading the transition, we undertook the monumental task of
FROM OUR ASSISTANT 6
ANNUAL REPORT
shifting the medium, methodology, and pedagogical approach of the course mid-stream, and our students shifted to online instruction for the remainder of the semester. We held open office hours during class time as a resource for students, which also served as a point of connection in a chaotic time. As I worked closely with the co-directors of the Writing Center for a year, I learned something: Aaron and Stephanie are an amazing teaching and management team. They not only take a friendly, reasonable, team-oriented, and decidedly non-micro-managerial approach to running the Writing Center; they strive to train tutors to be helpful, enthusiastic, and engaged respondents who aim to help Tigers to become better writers. But this process also changes tutors, mentors, and teachers, as we become more reflective of our own teaching, tutoring, mentoring, and writing practices. I learned how to better connect with students, with other tutors, and with the tutees who seek out our services. I learned the history of the MU Writing Center, how to troubleshoot personnel and performance issues, and how to listen. But most of all, I learned new approaches to teaching, new
ways to utilize Canvas features, and how to be more flexible. This year, following my time as the Writing Center Assistant, I have adapted my hybrid classes to be more user-friendly, my demeanor more approachable, and my teaching strategies more flexible. Aaron and Stephanie have taught me the value of improv, and of responding, rather than reacting. I offer more flexibility and encourage more creativity in the ways students can choose to respond to assignment prompts. I incorporate more in-class training to help my students to respond productively to their peers’ writing. I’m approaching my final semester of teaching at MU with a kinder, less jaded, and more empathetic persona. I have learned that sometimes it is okay to go off-script and adapt to new rhetorical situations.
Heather Asbeck Graduate Assistant
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THE WRITING CENTER
OUR MISSION STATEMENT A
s writing tutors, we should have not only an expert command of the craft of writing, but also an ability to use both the compass and the razor. That may sound like a strange metaphor to use in tutoring writing, but it means that effective tutors must be able to see a paper from both the writer’s and the reader’s perspective. Our job is not to “fix” student essays according to our own sense of what constitutes good writing, but to help the writers determine what they want to say and recognize the array of writing choices available to them. The critical razor is the editor’s tool, but the best tutors know how to survey others’ writing with the compass oriented toward the student’s own north and south. And so, we approach each student draft as if it was a foreign country or town we have never visited. What sort of place is this? Who lives here? Which ways are their north and south, their mountains and rivers, their post office and town commons? What are their languages? Their customs? Their values? We explore, and orient ourselves like mapmakers—applying the compass. Only then, when we feel we know something about the place from the inside, do we consider sitting down to discuss ideas for further landscaping. Translated into practical terms, in a writing tutorial, this comes down to a humble and genuine respect on the tutor’s part for even the least accomplished draft. Every piece of writing has its own topography, its own values, which the tutor needs to understand before undertaking to help the writer fix it. No draft is ever intended as a prototype of the finished piece the tutor could imagine. That doesn’t mean, of course, that we advocate for completely abandoning the razor. But we use it alongside the compass. Indeed, none of us can hope to be really useful to the writers we work with if we limit ourselves to one or the other. The razor is forged from our practical skill in the craft—a crucial part of our credentials; we need its mental sharpness when we think about another writer’s work. But every good tutor values the compass just as highly, knowing that successful tutorials demand a good deal more than technical expertise. At the MU Writing Center, the razor and the compass are part of what we mean when we insist that all of the people we work with are writers as truly as we are ourselves: like us, they are worthy of both. Adapted from former Online Writery Director Dr. Greg Foster’s “The Razor & The Compass”
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ANNUAL REPORT
THE WRITING CENTER
YEAR AT A GLANCE
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THE WRITING CENTER graphs on these pages only refer to Tfacehetutoring hours spent in either face-toor online tutorials.
Our total contact hours include both training and outreach presentations. As such, this is basically every hour that our tutors did anything for the Writing Center.
Graduate and professional contacts
4,373 9,797
Undergraduate contacts
Total contacts:
15,046 Individual students:
4,406
Face-to-face
3,531
Students with multiple sessions:
10,639
2,341
Online Writery
Average number of appointments per student:
5.17
Application materials
Outreaches
224 Training hours
Writing Intensive
2,310 3,064
652
USAGE BY YEAR 10
8,796
Non-Writing Intensive
ANNUAL REPORT
USAGE BY SEMESTER ce -
p
tio ica pl
1,165
2,590
Und
ry i te
ra er g
du
Onl
r W i ne
4,637
te In
at es
4,628
ng Writi
5,270
1,416 In te ns
1,948
n m a t er i a l s
ive
to
ce -fa A
s ate du
Fa
Gr a
Fall 2019 | 7,218 total
ns ive
it Wr Non-
g in
ce
on
4,942 i te
at es u
in Onl
r eW
897 1,585
3,354
nt en siv e
I
Und
d ra er g
g tin Wri
4,037
als teri
it Wr Non-
ive
894
1,799
ma
In te ns
Fa
-fa -to ce
Ap p lic at i
s ate u d
ry
Gr a
Spring 2020 | 5,836 total
g in
63
si v
e
ry
805
O
e nli n
r W
it Wr Non-
ive
248
i te
r de Un
1069
Writing Inten
In te ns
nm Applicati o
490 tes
626
r ia
ls
at
e
( 4 7) -face -to e c Fa
s ate u d
gr ad ua
Gr a
Remote Summer 2020 | 1,116 total
g in
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THE WRITING CENTER
USAGE ON BREAKS O
ne of the continued hallmarks of our Online Writery, in print and in our presentations, is that “we never close,” that we’re open “24/7/365.” We maintain this schedule primarily in order to support students who may be taking online self-paced courses, working on applications or conference submissions, or in particular, graduate students who are working on larger projects. We also receive requests from instructors who
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teach break-based courses to assist with their students’ writing assignments. This means that our online-only staff spend a good deal of their time working when the rest of our staff is “on break.” While we report these numbers as part of their associated semesters in the prior pages, the work done during specific breaks is shown below. This year, our usage rose almost 25% from last year, for a total of 590 tutoring hours.
ANNUAL REPORT
his fall, and for about 8 weeks in spring, Ttions, we provided tutoring in several locaincluding the Student Success Cen-
While as usual, the Online Writery never closed, it also allowed us to seamlessly pivot to remote tutoring after campus closed in ter (our main site), Ellis Library for walk- March. We tutored asynchronously via the in hours, evening hours at four residence Online Writery for the remainder of the halls (Brooks, Schurz, Mark Twain, and spring semester and then piloted synchronous Campus Lodge) and the MU Athletics Zoom-based appointments over the summer Training Center. in order to prepare for fall 2020.
Residence halls (483)
Athletics (97) Zoom (52)
Ellis Library (590)
6,521 6,427 Offsite via Online Writery
Student Success Center
TUTORING LOCATIONS 13
THE WRITING CENTER
T
he Writing Center offers tutoring to anyone with a pawprint and password. That includes students from the moment of acceptance to alumni, as well as faculty and staff who would like a second set of eyes on their written work.
The graph below breaks down the different levels of the 14,170 tutoring appointments that occurred over the last year. Note that these levels are based on credit hours at the time that a student used the service.
Second bachelor’s (105) Other (243)
Professional (54)
Masters (1,208)
Freshman
3,510
1,777
2,503
2,331 Junior
Senior
Doctoral
2,439 Sophomore
USAGE BY ACADEMIC LEVEL 14
ANNUAL REPORT
REASONS FOR VISITING his past year, the Writing Center had 2,310 contacts from students Tcluded who were working on application materials. Those materials inpersonal statements, cover letters, essays, and the occasional resume. All told, those contacts made up about 16% of the overall usage and were the most common reason for someone to visit us. Out of a grand total of 14,170, just over 60% of our usage came from 10 subject areas shown in the table below.
DEPARTMENT: CONTACTS: Application Materials
2,310
English
1,627
General Writing
1,480
Health Sciences
1,076
Human Development & Family Studies
567
Nursing
516
Journalism
433
History
380
General Honors
318
Social Work
314
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THE WRITING CENTER
GRADUATE WRITING SUPPORT he Writing Center works with any graduate or professional TSupport student, as well as faculty and staff via our Graduate Writing program, which continues to be generously funded by
the Graduate School. In addition, the Writing Center has enjoyed a partnership for many years with the Sinclair School of Nursing, funded via Mizzou Online. In 2015, we began a formal collaboration with the Masters in Public Health and College of Education graduate programs as well. Those three programs’ individual usage is represented below.
Tutoring usage over the years
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ANNUAL REPORT
hroughout the year, the staff, outreach Tpresent team, and Writing Intensive tutors WC information in courses,
• College of Education Graduate Education Week
• Writing Center Orientation Panel for Teachers of English 1000
• Journalism 8000 Presentation
at fairs, and for requested groups and • Honors Enrollment Fairs departments. In addition to the 224 tutor-driven outreach presentations, • National Day on Writing the administrative staff presented at the Celebration following functions: • Campus Writing Program’s • Writing on MU’s Campus Panel for Faculty Workshop: Writing New English Graduate Students Center and WI
• Nursing 9100 Zoom Presentation • ESCP 9000 Graduate Writing Support Presentation • Personal Statement Workshop for Engineering Students • Learning Center Front Desk Training
• UMKC Writing Program Visit • 2020 Gateway Writing Centers Association Conference: Access for All
The administrative staff also serves on several committees across campus:
• Personal Statement Workshop for Tiger View Program
• English Undergraduate Honors Thesis Committee
• New Faculty Orientation Resource Fair
• Campus Writing Program Board
• College of Education Graduate Resource Fair
• MUConnect Administrative Committee
• Masters in Public Health Graduate Writing Support Presentation
• Honors College Scholarship Awards • Campus Writing Program’s Writing Committee Intensive TA Workshop • Celebration of Writing: • Personal Statement Workshop for Special Edition Journal Missouri College Advising Corps
OUTREACH 17
THE WRITING CENTER
hile 2020 brought a lot of new and unknown changes to the W world, it was also the year when the Writing Center traveled once more. On Saturday, February 22, Bailey Boyd, Preston Wilson,
and Jenna Slaughter, three of our fellowship tutors, joined our Assistant Director to present in St. Louis. The 2020 Gateway Writing Centers Association Conference was held at St. Louis Community College, Meramec. The conference’s aim was to bring together local and regional writing centers to provide professional development opportunities for graduate writing tutors. The theme for the 2020 conference was “Access for All,” allowing participants to discuss topics such as fostering inclusivity, ensuring access, or adopting strategies for engaging online students. We couldn’t have known how prescient that theme would be to our semester! Our presentation, Meeting Students Where(ever) They Are: The Anatomy of an Asynchronous Writing Tutoring Session, focused on how TONY, the Online Writery, allows our Writing Center to provide assistance to any student, anywhere. While most of the other panels focused on making Writing Center physical spaces more accessible to a range of students, we were able to highlight the flexibility and breadth of coverage our asynchronous online platform provides to anyone with an MU pawprint and password. Our visit and presentation would not have been possible without the support of the Learning Center’s coverage of travel fees and DoIT’s Applications Development department, who built and continue to support the current version of TONY!
WRITING CENTER TRAVELS 18
ANNUAL REPORT
ORGANIZATIONAL CHART
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THE WRITING CENTER
OVERALL STUDENT FEEDBACK Based on 461 Responses from Fall 2019-Summer 2020: I am satisfied with my Writing Center experience.
The feedback I received was helpful.
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ANNUAL REPORT
A
s part of our ongoing self-evaluation process, every student who interacts with the Writing Center has the opportunity to respond (anonymously if desired) to a set of likert-scale questions followed by open-ended ones.
My tutor had a helpful and supportive attitude.
I will use the Writing Center’s services again.
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THE WRITING CENTER
Would you recommend the Writing Center to a friend?
Center gave me feedback to incor- It was so nice to have a fresh set of porate into my final draft. eyes look at this paper, as I have been toiling over it for about a month. Yes. The writing center has helped I would, the tutors were very helpful me tremendously this semester. Your response gave me new things to and compassionate! Whether it be a simple paper or a consider that I may have otherwise more complex one, almost all the not encountered. Yes, if you’re struggling and just need tutors I’ve met with have given me some questions answered, they can helpful feedback. help you with that. Yes! I highly recommend the WC Please describe one aspect Yes; the Writing Center provides to all my friends. It is an extremely of your tutoring session that fresh eyes to look over papers and positive learning environment that is give suggestions- and it is open to tutee focused! was especially helpful: all students. Yes! TONY offers a great way to get I would highly recommend the Writ- feedback on your papers and assign- She had me show her all the notes and ing Center to anyone who needs help. ments. With online classes, you miss rubrics so that she could get a better The tutors always get back to you so the opportunity to build rapport with understanding to better help me. quickly and are extremely helpful classmates and teachers. This service pointing out things one may not no- offers a low-key environment to ask I appreciate the direct changes and critice in their writing. for help. tiques as well as providing an overall critique to the essay. It allows for direct Absolutely. I was working on some- Absolutely! I knew I was struggling changes as well as overall themes that thing very personal to me and the with this paper, but when I got my need to improve. intimate nature of the piece. He was feedback I could clearly see what I respectful of the theme and made me was doing wrong and how to try and Input on what a cover letter is and feel very comfortable talking about fix it. My tutor was so positive and should be was very helpful and helped the motivation behind the piece in supportive. I can’t believe how helpful me outline and draft my own. order to edit it successfully. she was, actually. I feel like I have a shot at a decent grade now, so I am I sent in a Homework Paper to get Yes, she helped me to not just see the very thankful to her. suggestions on how to improve the problems of my current writing but to overall structure and wording of my help identify the problems I usually do I never submit anything without assignment and Lauren got back to me and in turn help to notice and learn speaking to a Writing Center tutor! within the hour! She made me feel a to solve the problems myself (learning, This service has undoubtedly made lot better about turning my paper in it’s a beautiful thing). me a better, more precise writer. after editing it based on her suggestions. The tutors are able to explain poYes because it helped to solidify that tential writing improvements with When we read over it out loud, it was what I was writing seemed correct kindness and clarity. I have gone to very helpful because it helped me catch and aligned with the grading rubric. the Writing Center at every step in mistakes and see what I could add. If my process, from very unfinished something was just said, instead of talkDefinitely. Our class is supposed to papers to final drafts, and have al- ed about. be providing peer evaluations and I ways come away energized and exdidn’t receive a peer review of my cited to keep writing. Thank you for Understanding some common rules in essay, so submitting it to the Writing all your hard work!! writing papers in especially important
SELECTED STUDENT FEEDBACK 22
ANNUAL REPORT to graduate students. My tutor point- zation of my paper. This allowed me ed out several parts that I didn’t know to restructure a few areas and see the before, and explained the reasons of logical development of my argument. why we need to do that way. I prefer using an online writing cenThe reverse outline helped me with ter so that I can get the review for organizing my paper and under- the entire of my writing. I think the standing if the message I was trying comments from my writing tutor was to write about was being conveyed valuable. My writing tutor encourto the reader. aged me to think critically and gave useful advice with considering the They helped me address the prompt whole writing. completely, which is sometimes pretty easy to overlook. Elizabeth was very supportive and handled my peculiarly bad attitude Payton was able to help me enough to with tolerance and grace. Her sugnot be stuck in the same part of my gestion for me to just work on my paper without overpowering my pa- paper in silence for a little bit was per. It’s like she was able to verbalize exactly the right choice. what I was thinking but didn’t know how to say it. I had to finish my professional documents, but I have a hard time writHad my first Writing Center appoint- ing about myself. Kit was able to talk ment today--brainstorming and out- with me and hear me talk into further lining for a paper that’s due later. It detail and notified me about specific was SUPER helpful (unexpectedly details I could add into my papers. so) and confirms what they keep on saying--even if you’re a decent writer, The critiques and suggestions for imthe Writing Center is worth using. provement were very helpful. The I’m now VERY excited about a paper tutor also included some motivational that I was VERY bleh about before. words, which encouraged me to better my assignment rather than just Cary knew about the idiosyncrasies telling me my mistakes. in graduate school applications that I had no idea existed. He also found Colby helped me revise a case analweak points in my arguments and ysis I wrote, he understood some of developed structured ways to im- the language in the briefs better than prove them. I did, so he was able to help me interpret the arguments better. My tutor helped me work on creating a stronger thesis, but she helped I really appreciate the development me through the process so I could help from my tutor. With this particlearn how to do it on my own in- ular work, I only had a few sections stead of her writing it for me which of writing I wanted my tutor to look was very helpful. at and he asked questions/pointed out information that I may want to My tutor’s notes on transitioning consider in my revisions. These ideas between discussing different tracks lead me to better development my and elaborating on details I didn’t put statements and cover all aspects of enough note into were helpful for me the why/how for readers who will to see what a reader may not imme- look at this book review. diately understand from my meaning. Because this was a mostly-finished Reverse outline. Audrey created a re- piece, many of my tutor’s comments verse outline as we read through my addressed sentence-level clarity and paper, which highlighted the organi- cohesion. She provided excellent
suggestions and always explained why a suggestion would be useful. For instance, at times she explained APA guidelines; at other moments she explained the nuances of using past tense or present tense, depending on the desired effect. Fabulously helpful. Although with everything that is going on (COVID), I really like that this resource was still available for myself and other students. It was nice to have my complete paper broken down with feedback on what was already good, and what was good but could be improved. Thinking through ways to restructure my paper to make it more reader friendly and to better match the grading criteria. This was hard to do on my own after reading it many times. My writing tutor went out of her way to make sure she helped me as much as she could.
Additional comments or thanks to a particular tutor: Both tutors Olivia and Ruth provided really helpful edits. Both focused on different aspects that could improve which helps knowing I will have different types of readers. Hopefully, now I can cater to both. Thank you Preston! And thanks to the whole team for getting me in on such short notice! Very thankful to Lauren for getting back to me so quickly on my Psychology Homework Paper that is due today! Her feedback was so helpful and I feel a lot more confident now turning in my paper. Rebecca is an amazing tutor. This is the second time I have worked with her and will definitely keep going back because of her very helpful and insightful feedback. The writing cen23
THE WRITING CENTER
SELECTED STUDENT FEEDBACK continued ter is a great resource to use and I would like to use it more often. I am lucky that we have this resource at our discretion. Shelby was a huge help! Her empathy for me and understanding of the teachers requirements made me feel more motivated to not only improve my paper but to come back to the writing center for more help! Thank you for helping me coordinate my thoughts and making it easier and less intimidating to start a paper. Kelsey was so helpful! 10/10 would recommend. Abby thank you so much! I always seem to bring tough papers to the writing center and you weren’t afraid of the challenge. I also appreciate you weren’t intimidated by your lack of knowledge in a certain area and that you double checked online to assure you were doing the correct thing. My tutor had an art major and I was doing an art history essay so that was pretty sick. Being English language majored, I felt that my writing is adequately strong. However, my online tutor Ruth showed me areas of weaknesses I was unaware of and I am going to continue working on them. Cary went out of his way to revise my personal statement. He met with me twice a week for multiple weeks and provided thoughtful advice during each session. I’m not in a writing intensive class, but he took the time to ask his employer if
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he could help me, and my personal have a direction of the paper I needed statement would not have been close to write. :) to as strong as it became without his help. Very thankful!! Jasmine did a wonderful job helping me with my essay!! Sarah was patient and kind. She was knowledgeable about the paper I pre- Yes! Thanks to Logan! I was feeling sented her with, and she offered advice pretty crummy and stressed about this that I thought would help to improve paper, but his passion and guidance my paper. She was also knowledgeable made me walk away from the writabout APA citations, which I am not ing center feeling like I had a strong as familiar with, and she was a great start to my essay, and feeling confident asset to me in putting together my ref- about a thesis that I had been really erence page. struggling with. My meeting with this tutor basically saved my paper. To Allison, you are a very kind person and have impressing writing skills! You THANK YOU Elizabeth for being helped me a lot and I will schedule the motivator I needed to just suck it another appointment with you again! up and do the work. Thank you one hundred times! The most influential and helpful indiMy tutor Siobhan was the reason my vidual in my academics here at Miztutoring session was so positive. She is zou, aside from my advisor, has been intelligent, well-spoken, and a superbly Jim. After I had struggled for months, talented writer with an eye for making he helped me find the topic for my words flow together perfectly. master’s thesis. He was also integral in guiding me in my coursework as Audrey was honestly amazing. I he taught me how to write well by could not be more grateful for her myself. I won’t forget the simple, yet guidance and feedback. She had powerful advice he gave me: writing extremely insightful questions that is re-writing”. That has stuck with me allowed me to make broader connec- throughout my time here. tions for my presentation and final research paper. She rocks! Legit best tutor I’ve had through this service. Jenna was amazing, I just I would like to say ‘Thanks’ to Evan. wanted to write her a thank you! She He is so nice! With his help, my state- helped my paper dramatically and I ment of purpose became better and loved how she gave me helpful hints. better in its structure. He gave me lots Amazing! I hope I get her again for of good suggestions which are really future papers! helpful to made my SOP strong. Grace, who just responded to my esI want to say thanks to Shane who say, gave me amazing feedback. Again helped me feel more comfortable do- I’ve never had a better experience with ing the assignment and helped me the Writing Center. She gave me spe-
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RECOGNITION
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e spend a fair amount of time publicizing the work that our tutors do for and with students in our annual report each year. This year, we want to also shine a quick spotlight on their own personal and academic achievements. At the end of the academic year, we solicited responses from our tutors about their achievements over the past twelve months. While this isn’t nearly all of them, it’s a wide sample of the awesome work that our tutors do when they’re not changing lives at the Writing Center.
REBECCA SHYU
AVERY ESQUIVEL
MIYA RUSSELL
IAN KWEON
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Tapped into Mortar Board, one of Mizzou’s secret societies recognizing students for their scholarship, leadership and service
Internal Vice President of the Asian American Association Participant in the Arts, Social Sciences, and Humanities (ASH) Scholars Research Program
KATHRYN WESTON •
Recipient of the A&S Global Scholarship and Career Development Scholarship
MADISON CZOPEK •
Spent her final semester freelancing for PolitiFact
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Tapped into Mortar Board, one of Mizzou’s secret societies recognizing students for their scholarship, leadership and service
Vice President for English at MU Interned at Wigleaf Read for the MizzouCAP Reading
ANNALEE ROUSTIO • •
Interned for Persea Books and Wigleaf Won the Undergraduate Creative Writing Award judged by Grace Gardiner
ABBY WEST •
Winner of the MU Library Undergraduate Research Contest 2019-2020
SARAH PRIBE • • • •
National Fulbright Semifinalist Mizzou ’39 Award Recipient Hayden Honors Scholarship Presented a paper at the Central Slavic Conference and research at the Macksey National Undergraduate Research Symposium at Johns Hopkins University
ANNUAL REPORT
COLBY THORNTON
MOLLY WHITE
BRYCE FUEMMELER
JAMES KIM JR.
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Part of the first group of Summer Welcome Leaders to do online Summer Welcome
Recipient of the 2020 Award for Academic Distinction, recognizing academic excellence outside the classroom. Chief Justice for MSA Marshall Scholarship Finalist Mizzou ’39 Award Recipient Two-term president of Theta Chi Fraternity Provided research for the financial services team at American Action Forum, a D.C. think tank.
ETHAN ANDERSON •
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Recipient of the 2020 Award for Academic Distinction, recognizing academic excellence outside the classroom. Acted as a delegate in the 2019 American Model United Nations Conference, where the Mizzou team won “Best Delegation.”
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Mizzou ’39 Award Recipient
Presented the ChangLin Tien Scholarship, which honors students showcasing significant academic achievements and commitment to public service. Tapped into Omicron Delta Kappa, one of Mizzou’s secret honor societies. Founded the TEDxMU team, which is now a University program under the Office of Student Engagement. Forbes Under 30 Summit
KELSEY MASON •
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Navigated the Spring Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievements Forum moving online. Completed her project which investigated the effect of a drug, PD144418 (a sigma-1 receptor antagonist), on motivation to obtain a reinforcer in rats.
SABRINA BRONS
JILLIAN MARINO
SKYLER ROSSI
SOPHIE NEDELCO
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Received an Honorable Mention Award from the National Student Magazine Contest for her Vox Magazine feature “The Body Issue” about teen body image.
Virtual intern with Bloomberg News
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Recipient of the Hesburgh Scholarship, an annual award given to four students, one from each undergraduate class
Mizzou ’39 Award Recipient
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2019-2020 BONNIE ZELENAK
EXCELLENCE IN TUTORING AWARD T
his was a tough year to give awards. As the semester ended in all of us working remotely, the best we managed was zoom-based celebrations. As such, we didn’t have to deliver speeches to a room full of people about how much we love our tutors and how awesome they are. In retrospect, we also didn’t have to sob in public, so maybe there’s a silver lining?
years at MU ended, literally work- family since 2013, and has coning as many hours as we could find ducted over 1,100 tutorial sessions for her. She also whole-heartedly with students while completing her bought in to one of our goals masters and doctorate coursework for tutors: to continue and teaching two+ classes each seusing the Writing Cen- mester. I have watched her tutor ter, even while you’re and teach as an educator. I have e m p l oyed by u s. watched her train other tutors and While our FERPA administrate the WC as our gradtraining prevents us uate assistant. I was not watching from sharing confi- during one summer when she and dential information, another graduate student created we, like Kelsey, believe a dating profile where she subsethat the worst way to quently met her husband-to-be. write is by yourself. As (In retrospect, pretty glad I wasn’t Kelsey Mason our undergraduthere to shut that down). I Regardless, our two ate winner this watched them get marawards, typically given to a gradu- year, she embodies that ried. I later watched in ating undergraduate and graduate spirit for us, and as my office as she took student each May were given to she moves toward the phone call as Kelsey Mason and Dr. Kate Harlin. PhD programs in she got offered her neuroscience next first faculty job. If Over her two+ years as a tutor, year, we know she’ll you’re reading this, Kelsey changed over 850 lives; at c o n t i nu e t o t a k e you now know that least that’s how many appointments those ideas with her. Dr. Kate Harlin is one we have on record. Above and beof the finest human beyond those “normal” job duties, Giving Dr. Kate Harlin ings to walk this planet. she did as many things as we could this award would have for Dr. Kate Harlin We are delighted to have ask: spending her evenings working sure broken Aaron into given her this award for in residence halls, mentoring and a sobbing mess: Kate has been a her exemplary work for/with us training new tutors, and, as her member of the Writing Center and our students.
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hen tutors graduate and/or run out of time in their day to continue working for us, we ask them fairly serious questions about their experiences here. That question, and their responses, are below:
How have you personally or professionally benefited from working in the WC? How has this job #changedyourlife? This job has taught me about stepping back and letting others control our discussions. Historically, I’ve cared a lot more about being right than about understanding other perspectives or about guiding people to an answer in a way that serves them best rather than myself. Being a tutor has taught me that being right matters a lot less than how you conduct yourself when you think/ know you’re correct, and it’s taught me to give people space to arrive at their own conclusions. I have of course become a better writer and a better teacher of writing. But I think what is most important to me is the huge diversity of writers I’ve encountered. Meeting individual students on their level and hearing about their needs, priorities, and challenges has made me more sensitive to the different priorities and challenges among my students and my colleagues. Tutoring isn’t therapy, but it’s often collaborative problem solving and those are the times I love the most. I’ve loved working at the Writing Center because I learn so much. Some days, I’ve gotten to help tutees working on a grant proposal, and I learned all about how the design of hospitals affects patients. Some days, I’ve gotten to help tutees working on a
journalism assignment, and I learned all about a member of the Columbia community. Some days, I’ve gotten to help tutees working on a history paper, and I learned all about a time period, which I never studied myself. And learning these things was and is one of my favorite things about the position. As a Writing Tutor, I wasn’t only helping the tutees be better writers, but they were helping me be a better writer, too. When I help a fellow student with a paper, class assignment, personal statement, it helps me notice mistakes in my own writing. As I see the errors or flaws in their assignments, I am better able to see when I make the same errors or flaws in my own assignments, as well. And I know that this process has made me a better writer. Specifically, when I was applying for my summer internship, I had to write a cover letter. When I was writing it, I was thinking about the things I usually ask tutees when they want help with a cover letter. How could I make my experiences not just a regurgitation of my resume but something to compliment it? What experiences would highlight my skills best for this company and internship? What key words can I use from the internship description? And, in my opinion, most importantly, how can I show them why my past experiences
would make me a great fit at their company? And while I know I didn’t answer these questions perfectly, it helped to know what to look out for. When I received my first email from the company where I will be interning, in the first line they wrote, “I appreciate your thoughtful cover letter.” Then, in my first interview, they told me multiple times how impressed they were with my cover letter and continuously referred back to it. I’m not naive enough to think it’s solely because of my writing, but I think it’s because of what I learned at the Writing Center — both in being trained to help with cover letters and then actually helping with them, too. And those questions that I ask tutees were always lingering in my mind, whether I was working on a cover letter, article, essay or personal statement. And I hope that as I start my master’s and keep applying for future positions, that I continue to remember these questions. Because really, without the Writing Center, I wouldn’t be the writer I am today. Throughout college and before, I’ve had a vast array of jobs, some more typical than others. But working at the Writing Center was one of my favorites. For my coworkers who were always down to read a sentence of my writing and help me figure out why it was wrong. For my bosses who were
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continued always down to chat and were eager to know how we were all doing on a professional and personal level. For my tutees who became regulars, and I got to know about their writing styles, life habits and interests. I’m trying to figure out a way to continue tutoring papers while pursuing my master’s, and I think that speaks to the level of enjoyment I had working at the Writing Center.
college career. This job has done so many things for me. In fact, I’d say the least beneficial thing I gained from my time at the Writing Center was money to put gas in my car each week. Given that my only goal when I went looking for on-campus employment was to earn a little extra spending money, I clearly got so much more than I expected. The Writing Center is a really unique place on campus. It’s full of cooperation, mentorship, This job has #changedmylife in so collaboration, and joy. No small part many ways. Not only have I become of that is thanks to the wonderful work a better writer, but I’ve also grown environment Stephanie and Aaron as a coach, as a presenter with the create for their tutors. outreach team, and as a person. I love the Writing Center, I truly do, Usually, even on days when it was and I have made some wonderful snowing or sleeting and the last thing friends there. Potential employers in the world I wanted to do was go all have looked at my resume and been the way across campus for my shift, very impressed that not only can I would leave the Writing Center I write, but I know how to talk to smiling. It’s the kind of job that people about writing, I know how brings joy into your life. Balancing to give feedback, make changes, and work as a dual-degree student was edit (their words, because we don’t incredibly hectic at times, and I don’t edit, we revise). The Writing Center think I can overstate how beneficial community is strong. Very, very it was for my personal and mental strong. There’s a camaraderie that wellbeing to have hours blocked off forms when you work either opening in my schedule for tutoring and being shifts or closing shifts because very at the Writing Center. As I learned few students come in at those times- how to help others become better you see the same people every week writers, I also became a better writer and you laugh, and I know it always myself. I’m sure it’s something every made my mornings brighter. I also tutor says, but that’s because it’s 100% know if I ever needed anything, true. You can’t spend hours each week tutoring-related or otherwise, I could identifying problems in other peoples’ ask Aaron and Stephanie. This job writing without learning to avoid those pushes you, and it’s frustrating at same problems in your own. times, but when you get an email from a student saying how helpful the But above all else, this job changed tutoring session was, it’s all worth it. my life by increasing my confidence. I’m going to miss the Writing Center When I took the class to become a and I wish we didn’t have to say tutor as a freshman, I was quiet. I goodbye like this. :(((( wasn’t necessarily shy, but I wasn’t quick to volunteer an opinion or an It’s kind of hard for me to remember, answer, either. Class with Aaron (and now, what my college life was like Rachel!) built up my confidence as before my job at the Writing Center. a writer, but even on my first day as I took the class to become a tutor my a real tutor, I felt like an imposter. second semester freshman year, and Like someone who had no business I’ve been a tutor since the fall of my offering writing advice or suggestions. sophomore year. Tutoring has been a I don’t feel that way anymore, and steady, stable comfort throughout my I haven’t for a long time. I can’t 30
pinpoint exactly when that feeling disappeared, but I know when it did it took a lot of my other tendencies toward self-doubt with it. Working with students both online and face-to-face and mentoring tutorsin-training helped me grow into my skill as a writer. It also helped me find my solid ground when it comes to advising others — I’m more measured, contemplative, and decisive. I’m also far more confident in interacting with strangers than I ever thought I would be, which I’m very grateful for given that about 80% of journalism involves doing just that. I could ramble on about how much I loved this job for a full 5-page double-spaced paper, but I won’t. The Writing Center really does change lives; it certainly changed mine. When I was in the tutoring class, I was a really shut off and shy sophomore. I was nervous for my first shift as a tutor, worried that I wouldn’t do anything right. As a senior, I’m much more outspoken and confident, and I think being a tutor really contributed to my growth as a person. I went out of my comfort zone and I forced myself to interact with others and teach. I figured if these people trusted me with their writing, I have no reason to be shy and anxious. I’ve also been able to improve my own writing through tutoring. If I see anything I like, I apply it to my own work, and so I’ve became a better writer through teaching others to write well. All in all, I really couldn’t have asked for a better job through college!! Honestly, working at the Writing Center has been one of the best things that happened to me in college. It seems like I talk about it in every interview I do. Not only does it feel really good to help others by using my skills, but I owe my strong writing to my job. I had always been a good writer, but by working here I developed it into what it is today.
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PREPARATION
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ere’s what 652 hours of training look like. That’s about double the amount we offered in 2018-2019!
Fall
It started like any other fall: we held our 3-day training for new Graduate Student Fellowship and English MA tutors. During the week prior to classes, these 12 graduate students experienced our 15-week undergraduate course in 3 days! We started with writing center theory writ large, contextualized how writing tutoring works at MU specifically, and ended with lots of in-seat, hands-on practice, including having some of our undergraduate tutors join us to help role-play different tutoring scenarios. The fellowship tutors were sending 154 liaison emails to any faculty and teaching assistants associated with Writing Intensive courses during week 1. As week 2 began, we followed up with each of them individually before putting them to work tutoring WI students or presenting in front of classes across campus. Also, in the first week of classes, we met with each of our returning WI and Graduate Writing Support tutors for individual orientation sessions. As many of our WI tutors were starting their second year with us, we wanted to take the time to regroup and remember the ins and outs of tutoring after a long summer. We also met with our new
undergraduate tutors, who just finished our course in the Spring of 2019. They needed to learn the nuts & bolts of the job, which we don’t cover in the course. All that’s to say we did a LOT of training during week 1 of the semester! At the end of August, as our returning tutors were preparing to return to work, we welcomed Dr. Becca Hayes and Cheryl Hall, the Director and Assistant Director of Composition, from the English Department. Over the course of two days, they spoke with all of our tutors about the Literacy Narrative assignment for English 1000. In this assignment, students write about their own relationship with literacy, which can range from traditional reading and writing to more abstract views, like the literacy of music, sports, or social media. The training was a great reminder that not every writing assignment is a formal argumentative paper. A few weeks later, in early September, we were joined by Dr. Ashlie Lester from Human Development and Family Studies to speak about her large enrollment Writing In-
tensive course, HDFS 2400, Principles of Human Development. Over the course of a semester, we saw about 345 students from the course: anticipating the high volume of traffic, we invited Dr. Lester to come speak to all the tutors about the course, the writing assignments, and the major concerns tutors should look for when they work with those students. What was extremely helpful was the reminder that even in a more technical field, the concerns for Dr. Lester were the same ones that the tutors are trained to spot, like the clarity of the student’s argument and use of external sources to support it.
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Spring When we returned for the spring semester, we started in the same way the fall began. Our brand-new undergraduate tutors received their “Welcome to the WC!� orientation, and returning undergraduate tutors warmed up after a cold winter break with a TONY refresher. For all the graduate student tutors, both in fellowship and hourly roles, Aaron or Stephanie met with each one individually to check in, answer any lingering questions, and get them prepared for the spring semester. We stacked two content-specific workshops into the month of February. First up, Dr. Kristin Schwain, professor of American Art in the new School of Visual
Studies, presented to the tutors on how to write about art, images, and visual imagery. A high enrollment WI course, Art Appreciation, had recently moved from the Art Department to the Art History Department, and Dr. Schwain was putting a new spin on it. She was now focusing on a single decade, the 1960s. Tutors were able to see the changes to the course firsthand and have some input on the assignments! In the third week of February, Dr. Darcy Holtgrave, an advisor in the MedOpp office of the Honors College, returned to present a tutor-favorite: how to tutor personal statements for Medical School. As always, Dr. Holtgrave provided a fun-filled presentation about the process of writing for Medical School applications.
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2015H COURSE SYLLABUS
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TUTOR LIST Undergraduate Tutors Name: Karlee Adler Sabrina Brons Evan Buchanan Ethan Cain Bryn Chambers Allison Cho Siobhan Connors Payton Cousins Madison Czopek John D’Arcy Chris Drechsel Avery Esquivel Savannah Feterl Jessi Foster Kit Frazen Evan Frook Bryce Fuemmeler Natalie Gilliam Grace Halverson Lillie Hegeman Katherine Herrick Rebecca Jackoway Sadie Jess Hope Johnson Jasmine-Kay Johnson Hannah Jones James Kim Lianna Kowalke Ian Kweon Bella Ledonne Patrick Lee 38
Major/Home Department: History Journalism Computer Science Business English Journalism Journalism Journalism Political Science & Journalism Business Computer Science Early Childhood Education Physics & Astronomy Psychology Journalism Philosophy Communications Business Journalism & Business Journalism Journalism English Sociology Journalism Journalism Business Administration Pre-Med Journalism & Political Science English Journalism & Economics Communications
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Terra Maslak Kelsey Mason Madi McVan Reagan Myers Sophie Nedelco Shane Nichols Holly Northcut Kelly Pawlak Anna Peterson Ruthie Polio Sarah Pribe Maren Rhynerson John Romer Skyler Rossi Annalee Roustio Megan Rubenstein Miya Russell Shelby Ryan Liz Schrader Lucy Shanker Rebecca Shyu Myca Sutton Abbey Tauchen Colby Thornton Abby Werner Abby West Kathryn Weston Molly White
Business Administration Biology Journalism Journalism Engineering English Journalism Business & Journalism Journalism & English Journalism English Health Sciences English Journalism English Journalism Linguistics & Anthropology Digital Storytelling Romance Languages Journalism Computer Science English & History Journalism & English Business Journalism & Political Science Political Science English & Philosophy Psychology
Graduate Writing Support Tutors Name: Elise Broaddus Nigelle Cochran Kate Harlin Andrew Bennett Angela Case Audrey Case Norma Fisk
Major/Home Department: English English English Education Journalism German Nursing 39
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continued Name: Colleen Hollestelle Rachel Johnson Ruth Knezevich Lauren Pike Elizabeth Wolfson
Major/Home Department: Human Development & Family Studies English English English Art History
Writing Intensive Fellowship Tutors Name: Preston Battles Bailey Boyd Olivia Daller Jim Elghammer Audrey Florey Aleksandra Kinlen Neri Kuyucu Jenna Slaughter Laura Ursprung-Nerling Lainie Vansant Maya Williams Preston Wilson
Major/Home Department: Counseling Psychology English English Anthropology Art History ISLT English Animal Sciences Art History & Archaeology Theatre Psychology Music Education
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Report design by Hope Johnson
ANNUAL REPORT
CONTACT US writingcenter@missouri.edu http://writingcenter.missouri.edu 100 Student Success Center Columbia, MO 65211 (573) 882-2496
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