Applying Accreditation Standards to Help Define A Writing Center’s Programming and Its On-Campus Relationships Crystal Bickford, Ph.D. Southern New Hampshire University Learning Assistance Association of New England Annual Conference October 28, 2011

Accreditation Agencies New England Schools & Colleges (NEASC) Middle States Association of Colleges & Schools (MSACS) Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS)

Benefits of Aligning Standards Align with administrative purposes Build administrative relationships Help programming efforts Improve student initiatives Increase center support Recognize varying populations – Traditional day students – Non-traditional evening students – On-line students

Marginalization vs. Autonomy Research of Marginalization – Carino, 1995 – Harris, 1992 – Kinkead, 1996

Working Towards Collaboration Lunsford, 1991, “Collaboration, Control, and the Idea of a Writing Center” – Collaboration can foster problem finding and problem solving, participating in interdisciplinary thinking, having a “deeper understanding of others,” promoting excellence, and advancing active learning. For us: the key word was relationships

Fostering Relationships – By encouraging writing center directors to participate in this process, writing centers may gain the ability to develop autonomy and control over their own programming… Staffing Budgeting Site limitations Types of programming – Center creates its own identity as a result of broadening its internal relationships

Our Writing Center School population: 1,100 Center’s individual sessions: 1,000 annually Center’s contacts: 3,500 annually As numbers , so did – Visibility – Credibility – Financial stability

Role of Accreditation Process Step 1: Self-Examination Review accomplishments to date & existing relationships – Usage statistics – Programming attendance (other than 1-1 sessions) – Staffing – Faculty inquiries – Narratives of successful students – Overall growth

Role of Accreditation Process Step 2: Peer Review Director should work with faculty & administration in order to provide information for the written report Share documents on a common portal Write your own section but review others to make sure that small details aren’t lost in the translation

Role of Accreditation Process Step 3: Accreditation Site Visit Discuss both strengths & weaknesses Discuss a “wish list” Explain how the center can tie into the curriculum

Role of Accreditation Process Step 4: Respond to NEASC’s Report Administration Center NEASC

Determining Success To document and make visible what the center does!

Role of Accreditation Process Step 5: Implementation Using these conversations…start planning and implementing.

Boquet & Lerner (2008) “It will take all of us who are invested in literacy education, in all of our settings, to maximize the potential of these exciting new opportunities. Our field can no longer afford, if it ever could, to have forged a separate peace between classroom and non-classroom teaching. There is no separate but equal” (p. 186).

NEASC Report Results Increase office relationships Increase writing presence Decrease separated populations (on-line, traditional, non-traditional, etc.)

Mission Statement Gives each department a direction so that they look for ways to compliment one another while meeting their own objectives Common institutional bond

NEASC Standards Standard 4.1 – “The institution’s programs are consistent with and serve to fulfill its mission and purposes (NEASC, 2005, p. 7). Standard 5.1 – “Faculty categories…are clearly defined by the institution as is the role of each category in fulfilling the institution’s mission and purposes” (p. 14).

Mission Statement = Office of the President Engages internal constituents – Faculty – Staff – Administrative offices Engages external constituents – Board of Trustees – Alumni Association – Families of students

Office of the President & Mission Statement: Strategies Consistent school-wide s from the center Weekly s from the dean’s office Informal end-of-semester faculty meetings at the President’s house Short articles in the school’s newspaper Center wrote dovetailing mission statement

Office of the President & Mission Statement: Outcomes Capitalized on “welcoming environment” where students “learn and grow” – Consultant for furniture layout and design – Maximized technology Increased budget Increased control of the budget

Office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean Representative at President’s Council & immediate supervisor of director – Approves… new program ideas funding – Publically supports new initiatives – Focuses on collaboration – Acts as faculty liaison

V.P. & Dean Standard 4.3 – “Each educational program demonstrates coherence through its goals, structure, and content; policies and procedures for admission and retention; instructional methods and procedures; and the nature, quality, and extend of student learning and achievement” (p. 7)

V.P. & Dean: Strategies Designed and implemented a Writing Consultants Program Increased tutor professional development at conferences (including faculty/student presentations) Increased in-class workshops, curriculum- based tutoring, review sessions, independent workshops, etc.

V.P. & Dean Outcomes Increased funding – 7.5% budget increase is in place that corresponds with the school’s increasing enrollments Increased/combined resources with other offices – Writing tutors help literary magazine with marketing, editing, & design – Office help works in the center to aid in conferences or external committee work (NEPTA, LAANE)

The Office of the Chief Enrollment Officer Issues linked to recruitment & retention Standard 6.7 – “The institution systematically identifies the characteristics and learning needs of its student population and then makes provision for responding to them” (p. 18). Standard 6.8 – “In all cases, the institution provides academic support services appropriate to the student body…and provides available and responsive information resources and services” (p. 18).

Enrollment Officer Strategies Center educates admissions officers and ambassadors about the center’s services Shared staffing – crossover between “student ambassador” and “student tutor”

Enrollment Officer Outcomes Budget for academic preparation workshops (initiated by the tutors) – Workshops later expanded into other areas of the college Budget for an “Academic Preparation Tutor”

Office of the Chief Student Affairs Responsible for student activities Standard 6.12 – “As appropriate, the institution supports opportunities for student leadership and participation in campus organization and governance” (p. 18). Justifies tutors as student leaders Encourages alignment of the center as a student- organized, student-developed, and student- focused entity

Student Affairs Strategies Giving tutors authority through… – Meetings – Suggestion boxes – communication “windows” – Contests (posters, logos, etc.) Curriculum-based tutoring (& writing consultants) Tutor-led workshops Teaching Assistants (in first-year transition class) Classes conducted in the Center Tutors visit classes

Student Affairs Outcomes Increased professional status for tutors (resumes, etc.) Increased communication among transition course instructors, career services

Graduate and Professional Studies (GPS) A student is a student is a student… Standards 6.7 and 6.8 – Addresses the need to “identify the characteristics and learning needs of its student population and then …[make]…provision for responding to them […and] in all cases, the institution provides academic support services appropriate to the student body” (p. 18)

GPS Strategies Implemented an on-line tutoring program Implemented an on-campus testing center

GPS Outcomes Addition of an assistant director Addition of additional space Addition of funding to oversee additional summer hours for the on-line tutoring

Ultimate Question How do we create and define a writing center that holds institutional influence? Relationships Awareness Innovators Balancing autonomy and collaboration