Hello again!


Writing Center Receptionists, Writing Centers

The Writing Center at UW-Madison is pleased to announce a return to in-person appointments this fall! We’ll be offering these in our main Writing Center and in our eight satellite locations across campus. Our main center opens on Wednesday, September 8, while satellite locations start up in week four of the semester, on Sunday, September […]

September 7, 2021

A Warm Welcome: Getting to Know Our Writing Center Receptionists


Student Voices, Undergraduate Students, Writing Center Receptionists

By Jen Fandel – One of my favorite parts of my position as Writing Center Administrator is working with our undergraduate receptionist team. These are students who often come to us seeking employment early in their university careers, and, as the person who hires them, I highlight the Writing Center’s community as one of the many bright spots of the job. […]

December 2, 2019

Conversation Starter: Social Media and the Writing Center


Big 10 Writing Centers, Community Writing Assistance, Events, Higher Education, International Writing Centers, Outreach, Social Justice Committee, The Online Writing Center, Uncategorized, Writing Across the Curriculum, Writing Center Receptionists, Writing Center Tutors, Writing Center Workshops, Writing Centers, Writing Fellows

By Jennifer Fandel—I have two words of advice on using social media in the Writing Center—embrace it!

And, to be absolutely honest and establish my hard-won credibility on the subject, let me say that I’m, personally, no social media devotee. But I have seen what social media can do, and […]

December 12, 2018

New(s) from the UW-Madison Writing Center!


Classes, Collaborative Learning, Events, From the Director, Graduate Students, Outreach, Peer Tutoring, Satellite Locations, Science Writing, Technology, The Online Writing Center, Writing Across the Curriculum, Writing Center Receptionists, Writing Center Tutors, Writing Center Workshops, Writing Centers, Writing Fellows

Welcome to a new academic year at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Writing Center! As our Writing Center re-opens on the first day of classes for the fall semester–on Tuesday, September 4–we’ll be eager to welcome undergraduate and graduate student-writers from across the University. And we’re delighted to have 26 talented new undergraduate writing fellows and […]

September 3, 2012

When a Warm Welcome Becomes a Learning Experience


Writing Center Receptionists, Writing Center Tutors, Writing Centers

“Hello? I’m not really sure how this works. I’m hoping to have someone look at my paper…”

Before our students sit down with one of us for the first time at the Writing Center…

Before the opening chit chat…

Before the delving into concerns and ideas…

Before they begin to explore the power of talk for their writing process…

Before all of that, each of our students has to work up the courage to dial our number or to find their way from a packed elevator in a strange building down the hall to our door. In this post I want to take a moment to focus on what happens when our eventual students hit call on their phone or stride into our waiting area for the first time. That’s because, although we might think that learning in the Writing Center begins in earnest once tutor and tutee sit down over a draft for the first time, we should also remember that that first encounter is a packed educational moment, too.

December 6, 2011