SWCA-SC 2013 Spring Directors’ Lunch

South Carolina Spring Directors’ Lunch—6 April 2013 at Coastal Carolina University

Thanks to Scott Pleasant and Coastal Carolina University for hosting this year’s spring Directors’ lunch. In addition to faculty from Coastal Carolina, approximately 25 writing center directors and coordinators attended, from Central Carolina Technical College, Coker College, College of Charleston, Columbia College, Francis Marion University, Furman University, Lander University, The Medical University of South Carolina, University of South Carolina, University of South Carolina-Sumter, and Winthrop University.

Jane Smith of Wintrop University presented our keynote, in which she discussed her tutor training course. Dr. Smith outlined the changes she has made to the course during her career at Winthrop, paying special attention to the way she integrates an internship experience with traditional classroom teaching. Dr. Smith divides her class into three five-week units: Observing, Internship, and Tutoring Alone. During these units students continue to meet as a class to discuss various writing center pedagogy and theory. The lecture proved especially valuable to young directors, since Dr. Smith provided a discussion of some of the common pitfalls in designing a tutor training course. 

After the Keynote, there were two concurrent sessions covering, among others, the following topics: new methods of tutor training, using humor in the writing center, using video for self-reflection, and tutors’ perspectives on training courses.

The event was, as always, a delightful day of collaboration and learning. The SWCA-SC thanks all who attended and participated to help make it a success.