Published Monday, August 23, 2004
Writing Center Disbanded
HGSE Redistributes Responsibilities
By Andrew K. Mandel

The Writing, Research and Teaching Center (WRTC), a campus mainstay for students seeking assistance with academic work, is no more.

WRTC Coordinator Helen Snively and Director of Teaching and Academic Programs Carol Philips were terminated in June after Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE) officials decided to disband the decade-old center and transfer its responsibilities to Gutman Library staff and doctoral program administrators.

For an upcoming book on graduate students and writing centers, Snively had drafted a history of the WRTC, which had grown from 100 hours of assistance per semester in 1998-99 to 524 hours in 2003-04.

“We have clearly become the place to bring questions, stupid or wise, short or lengthy, and not be judged for asking them,” Snively wrote. “We have helped over 100 doctoral students with some part of their dissertation process, from a citations question to long-term work with research design.” The center also provided orientations to teaching fellows as they prepared to assist professors at HGSE – and to lead their own courses someday.

With a restructured school-wide doctoral program this year, HGSE spokesperson Greer Bautz said it made sense to offer training and support for teaching fellows and professorial hopefuls with the other academic services available to Ed.D. candidates. 

Lecturer Terrence Tivnan, former WRTC co-director, will continue to offer courses on educational research and empirical methods, and he will hold extra office hours and organize workshops on popular research topics to compensate for the loss of the center, Tivnan confirmed.

The WRTC’s other functions, which included advising students on drafting, editing and proofreading their academic work, are now in the hands of librarians and assorted teaching fellows.  According to Bautz, library staff will manage and coordinate four teaching fellows, who will each work eight hours a week.

“The main benefit of a new approach [is] tighter integration with the robust complement of services already offered by the Library,” Bautz said.  “Overall, it probably won’t feel all that different from before.”

But while “the centralization of the services in the library may end up being a big help – a kind of ‘one-stop-shopping’ approach for students with questions about library searches and research, as well as writing in a professional style,” Tivnan said he sees potential drawbacks to the change.

“I am worried that the special knowledge and sensitivity to students, which were such prominent components of the WRTC, may be hard to duplicate,” Tivnan wrote in an e-mail message.  “The WRTC was a familiar resource for many faculty members who knew they could refer students there for help…the fact that the WRTC was run primarily by students (or former students) gave it a special status, and I am worried that this student-oriented atmosphere may be missing.”

Snively, who received her Ed.D. from HGSE, said the WRTC was particularly valuable for students who struggled with writing in a new genre – such a memo or a literature review – as well as students whose first language was not English.  Coordinating the tutors, Snively said she would discern trends among students’ needs – or in the syllabi of certain courses – and create applicable resources. 

With student demand often greater than tutor supply, Snively said she was able to bridge the gap by lending an ear or offering advice herself.

“The image is a chipmunk, running around or chatting,” she laughed. “Did you get the time slot you needed?  Do you get our handout on this or that?”

Snively’s role has disappeared, as has former WRTC co-director Bruce McPherson’s course, Graduate Writing, billed as a way to “demystify your course assignments and write like an education professional.”  McPherson retired last year, and no professor is now slated to teach the non-credit course.

Jay Huguley, who took the Graduate Writing course last fall and served as a WRTC writing tutor last spring, said he worries that the new system, coordinated by generalists in the library, will not be as responsive to students’ needs.

“What was special about the writing center is that there were scholars of writing available to address writing needs more holistically,” said Huguley, a Human Development and Psychology doctoral student.  “I’m wary of the idea that this new configuration will be more effective or efficient for students now without that expertise.”

Christine Greenhow, a doctoral student in Technology in Education, said she was “in all honesty devastated” when she heard the news of the closure.  Last year, Greenhow set up weekly phone calls with a WRTC coach, who helped her notice contradictions in her interpretations and pointed out room for further analysis in her data.

“For in absentia students like me who work full-time and who cannot afford to pay for such assistance locally, writing center coaches were a large part of the support we got from Harvard during our years in the program,” said Greenhow, who is unsure if the new system will provide the same quality of resources.

Huguley said he can see how the disappearance of the Graduate Writing course and the loss of WRTC coordinators will help HGSE, but not in the ways that officials are touting.

“How are these changes or consolidations supposed to net improved services?” Huguley asked.  “If this decision was made for financial reasons, then it’s more understandable.  But if that’s the case, the administration should give the student body a little more credit by admitting that.”

Tivnan said he believes a change is worth trying, though he acknowledges it is bittersweet.

“I hope the new approach will work well, although you can tell that I thought the WRTC was an effective part of the GSE community, and I will miss its comforting presence,” Tivnan said.  “I hope the Deans will be paying attention to the impact of the new approach on students and on the faculty.”