In the Writing Center, we aim to create a friendly and welcoming environment. This is helped by the fact that students, rather than faculty, provide a service for each other. As the Director, I am available for consultation, but all the tutors are enthusiastic students who enjoy helping others. The tutors also benefit from the experience, as they learn more about writing by discussing many different papers. Another responsibility of the tutors is to publicise the Writing Center within the college, which, among other things, has led to the creation of this web page.

As a result of the increased publicity, 50% more students visited us in the Fall semester of 1998 than during the previous semester. A total of 249 students had sessions with tutors and many others used the facilities for private study. When asked for their comments, they all were positive about their experience; for example, they wrote "very helpful", "I learnt a lot", and "I'm planning to come again."

The Writing Center is not just for poor writers: we can all improve our writing. From the planning stage to the final editing, discussing a paper with others is one way to obtain excellent results.


Heather Houlton (hhoulton@vub.ac.be)