On August 1, Illinois Wesleyan University welcomed Anna Scanlon as the new Director of The Writing Center. Scanlon comes to IWU from Marquette University, where she was Assistant Director of the Norman H. Ott Memorial Writing Center. As at IWU, the Writing Center at Marquette was housed in the library, and we are excited to welcome a colleague with experience in promoting powerful partnerships between the library and the writing center to promote student success.
Dr. Scanlon has been a writing center tutor for the past seven years, both at Marquette and at the University of Akron, where she received her B.A. and M.A. degrees. At these institutions, she says, she saw the impact that writing centers can have on student learning when they are committed to adapting their programs to evolving student needs. At Illinois Wesleyan, Scanlon sees great potential for that same impact on student learning at an institution where written and oral communication skills are recognized as an essential component of a liberal education, and where there is a deep commitment to the ideas of peer mentoring and active and engaged learning across the curriculum essential to the tutoring process.
In addition to building on the history of continuing education and training for Writing Center tutors for which IWU has long been known, Scanlon is launching new initiatives this Fall, including a “Commenting on Prompts” (COP) program that will involve assisting faculty and staff in creating assignments that can “engage students in critical thinking, expand reflective practice, and increase writing skills across the university.” Alongside the COP, Scanlon plans to launch a new Online Tutoring Program (OTP), which will allow tutors to offer online tutoring to students, faculty, staff, and community members through the WCOnline appointment portal. Scanlon sees the expansion of online tutoring opportunities as an exciting opportunity to integrate Writing Center services into Illinois Wesleyan’s signature experiences, including Study Abroad and internships, as well as an opportunity to expand access to tutoring services to students who may face challenges in access to the current space and services.
The Writing Center has been one of the library’s most active partners for many years, including in the highly-successful Mellon Grant for Writing and Information Literacy in the Disciplines (2012-14). We look forward to the opportunity to continue that work with our new Writing Center Director, and to collaborate in the development of initiatives such as the Center for Engaged Learning.