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This study examined the perspectives of both tutors at university writing centers and the Non-Native English Speaking (NNES) students who use the centers. Using qualitative methods, this study looked at perceptions of the academic writing needs of the NNES students, along with characteristics of tutoring sessions which made the sessions successful in the eyes of tutors and students. The study used interviews, observations, a survey, and artifacts to look at these topics and then compared the perceptions of tutors and students. Additionally, the study compared writing centers at two universities, one of which employs an ESL specialist, in order to learn if employing this specialist affects success for the tutors and NNES students. Results indicate that student and tutor perceptions of student needs were similar in that they expressed consistent need for grammar assistance and help with low-order concerns (LOCs). Sessions at both universities were successful, according to tutors and students, if sessions focused on these grammar and LOC needs. Employing an ESL specialist did not affect the perceptions of students or tutors nor did it seem to effect the success of sessions for either students or tutors.

"As student populations in colleges and universities continue to diversify, composition programs do not always meet students' varying needs. English as a Second Language (ESL) students appear to fail mainstream writing courses at higher rates than their traditional counterparts, yet mainstreaming continues to be mandated, often due to budgetary constraints. Many programs offer multicultural writing courses, but these, too, are often ineffective for many students. Meanwhile, as Paul Kei Matsuda shows, there is a decided split between the disciplines of composition and ESL. Since ESL scholars have a much stronger history of working with diverse student populations than composition scholars do, this study aims to look to ESL scholarship, specifically to contrastive rhetoric, to explore more effective methods of teaching writing to students with varying needs. This case study takes an in-depth look at one student's journey writing across cultures. Ming, a Chinese immigrant who has been in the United States for approximately ten years, is a junior at the University of Rhode Island who struggles with writing. Over the course of one semester, three of her projects were studied in depth. Data include transcripts of audiotaped tutorial sessions in the URI Writing Center, Ming's assignments and papers, and the researcher's notes from interviews with Ming following the tutorial sessions. ^ The new contrastive rhetoric (Connor, Kaplan, Purves) insists that external factors such as culture, education, and media influence the rhetorical patterns writers use. Through a lens of contrastive rhetoric, it becomes clear that most of Ming's difficulties when writing stem from a lack of familiarity with the conventions of U.S. academic discourse or of what her reader expects from her text. The source of much of this is cultural. While Ming's experiences are not generalizable, an in-depth look at her experiences foregrounds some of the issues that contrastive rhetoric addresses, making th

Kristin Cole at the University of Texas at Austin and Sue Mendelsohn at the University of Texas at Austin discuss the use of rhetoric in consulting sessions.

From Praxis: "University of Northern Colorado Writing Center Director Julie Garbus reflects on her transition from consultant to professor and administrator. My experience at the Undergraduate Writing Center (UWC) at the University of Texas at Austin definitely got me my job, a tenure-track position as assistant professor of English and director of the Writing Center at the University of Northern Colorado (UNC)."

A powerpoint-style video designed to accompany entry level peer tutor training at the writing lab at Cochise College.

Talk presented at the 2014 IWCA conference, a history of IWCA, by Joyce Kinkead, Muriel Harris, Jeanne Simpson, Pamela Farrell Childers, Lady Falls Brown, and Jeanette Harris

"We are the Undergraduate Writing Center at Texas A&M University-Kingsville! We assist undergraduate writers at all stages of the writing process, from getting started to editing and proofreading. Our Culture of Writing blog is a space for Writing Consultants, the UWC Director, and occasional guest authors to blog about writing and the writing center life at TAMUK."

Texas A&M--Kingsville Writing Center's blog, "Culture of Writing" 

The Online Writing Lab (OWL) at Purdue University houses writing resources and instructional material, and we provide these as a free service of the Writing Lab at Purdue. Students, members of the community, and users worldwide will find information to assist with many writing projects. Teachers and trainers may use this material for in-class and out-of-class instruction.  This is a very widely used site for open access materials on writing. Includes materials on research and citation, teacher and tutor resources, subject-specific writing, job search writing, ESL, MLA and APA guides, etc. 

WriteLab is a web tool that helps students practice their confidence in their writing. The founders are Donald McQuade, a professor of English at UC Berkeley, and Matthew Ramirez, a Phd student at UC Berkeley.

Gabrielle Seeley University of Colorado at Colorado Springs From Praxis: "A writing center consultant explores strategies for empowering students writers. When I began training to work in the Writing Center at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs (UCCS), I perceived it to be an inherently feminist learning space."

From Praxis: "California community colleges were especially hard hit by higher education funding cuts. Diane Putnam explains that those cuts are profoundly affecting the Cabrillo College Writing Center, its students, and its tutors. A year ago, the Writing Center at Cabrillo College in Aptos, California was at the top of its game."

Defines plagiarism, as defined by the School of Education, at Indiana University-Bloomington

ABSTRACT: "At the 2014 IWCA/NCPTW Conference, founders of the National Writing Centers Association (now International Writing Centers Association) came together to reflect on the organization's beginnings, its strategies for institutionalization, and challenges that may still exist. A significant anniversary such as the 30th provides the opportunity for reflection. Additionally, a timeline of the organization's history is included, which provides important information for historical research.

Launched in March 2013, the National Census of Writing seeks to provide a data-based landscape of writing instruction at two- and four-year public and not-for-profit institutions of higher education in the United States. Despite numerous calls for empirical data to ground the design and administration of writing programs and writing centers, this is the first comprehensive study of its kind and covers the following sections:  * Sites of writing * First-year writing/English composition * Identifying and supporting diversely-prepared students * Writing across the curriculum (WAC) and writing beyond the first year * The undergraduate and graduate writing major and minor * Writing centers * Administrative structures * Demographics of respondents

"Launched in March 2013, the National Census of Writing seeks to provide a data-based landscape of writing instruction at two- and four-year public and not-for-profit institutions of higher education in the United States. Despite numerous calls for empirical data to ground the design and administration of writing programs and writing centers, this is the first comprehensive study of its kind and covers the following sections: Sites of writing First-year writing/English composition Identifying and supporting diversely-prepared students Writing across the curriculum (WAC) and writing beyond the first year The undergraduate and graduate writing major and minor Writing centers Administrative structures Demographics of respondents With data from 900 institutions, the National Census of Writing will help educators and administrators across the country to better understand the variety of ways in which writing instruction is delivered in the twenty-first century. The research team has made the processed data available through this open-access database, which allows individuals to gather national data on pressing local questions. The database is searchable by type of institution, institutional size, geographical location, and, when we have consent, by the name of the institution."

Promo video and a few short videos on grammar, produced by students at the Texas A&M University Writing Center

Chloe Diepenbrock's :Introducing Susie: How to create a virtual Writing Center tutor," discusses virtual tutoring. Susie is the virtual tutor on the website for the Writing Center at the University of Houston-Clear Lake.

26-minute video lecture by Eszter Timar, at Central European University entitled "How to Improve Your Research Proposal"

The blog of the Miller Writing Center at Auburn University. includes entries about the tutors and advice on writing

Auburn University's writing center blog

Weekly student-focused blog posts by writing instructors and editors at the Walden University Writing Center.

Jennifer L. Haden has been a writing mentor at the University of California at San Diego for three years. Haden provides three astute tips for writing tutors to help create a comfortable tutoring session.