After years of planning and nearly two months of construction, the Writing Center, located in the PAC at Union University, will be hosting a ribbon-cutting ceremony with President Samuel W. “Dub” Oliver Tuesday, Feb. 27, at 3 p.m.
“We’re very excited about the Writing Center because it is meant to serve the entire campus,” said John Netland, provost and vice president for academic affairs. “Writing remains foundational to the entire academic enterprise, and the university is committed to teaching, developing and supporting excellent writing in all programs and across the disciplines.”
The Writing Center is one of the many steps Union is taking to create better writers on campus.
It will give students an opportunity to receive peer tutoring from fellow classmates of various majors who have been highly trained to equip better writers at Union. The tutors’ jobs are to assist any student of any major at any part of the writing process whether that be brainstorming, proofreading or writing a final draft.
“I’m excited to be a part of the bigger process of making better writers, not just better papers,” said Karis Lancaster, a senior English major who is currently one of the seven tutors at the Writing Center. “I love that we can help people from all disciplines, walks of life and nationalities.”
The Writing Center offers four study rooms, 11 computers, a conference room and plenty of lounge seating that is open to any student receiving tutoring or just stopping by. The center creates a relaxing and open space for students to study, read or write in the center of student life in the PAC, and various workshops will be offered to help students in areas like writing a thesis statement, creating citations or formatting in MLA.
The Writing Center is dedicated to assisting students with all papers, whether it be in English, chemistry, economy, theology or other subjects.
“Our goal is to foster better writers across all disciplines,” said Aaron Beasley, assistant director of the Writing Center and visiting assistant professor of English.
The idea for a writing center sparked as Chris Bailey, associate professor of English and interim director of the Writing Center, noticed the need for a center dedicated to writing enhancement on a larger level. Bailey has contributed sacrificially to carefully research and design a writing center that will support writers of all disciplines.
“Without Chris Bailey, there would be no writing center,” said Beasley.
Alongside Bailey, there are many others who have sacrificed their time creating a writing center that exceeds all expectations, and they are equally passionate about building better writers at Union University.
“We’re very grateful to everyone who has worked so hard and provided the resources needed to bring this idea into reality,” said Netland.
