On Conferences

On Conferences

In search for a topic suitable for a Writing Center blog, it occurred to me that the main point of the Writing Center revolves around conferencing, and that would probably make a good topic for discourse. So: what is involved in a Writing Center conference?

In short: far, far too many things for me to detail here. I get the distinct feeling that it’s a bit of a copout to say that, but it’s true nonetheless. There really isn’t a specific conference style within the Writing Center. There is a certain style that is encouraged very heavily—mostly based around a Socratic methodology—but consultants are largely able to run a conference as they please.

There are, however, some notable exceptions to this; rules that all consultants must abide by while within a conference. Some of the key ones include:

·       Never write on the paper

o   The writing must remain the writer’s, not the consultant’s. Writing Centers exist to help people to improve and develop their ideas, not present or craft the ideas for them.

·       Do not assign a grade to the paper and avoid making quality assessments

o   It is important that the consultants not give the writers the wrong impression about a paper. Consultants are not the professors; they do not grade the papers. They just try and help the writer to improve them.

·       Do not criticize faculty

o   The Writing Center works to help supplement the education system organized by the professors. It is not the place of consultants to ruin the relationship between writers and faculty—it is their duty to try and ensure that the writers and faculty can work towards a common goal of learning.

·       We exist for writers, not papers

o   Sometimes, writers just want to work out the kinks in their paper and turn it in so they can get a decent grade. That’s fine. However, it is not what the Writing Center is meant for. The Writing Center is meant to improve the capabilities of the writers and get them invested in what they write. It doesn’t always happen—I doubt even half of my conferences had writers who deeply cared about the paper solely for the sake of the paper. However, it is a consultant’s job to try and help the writer get invested in what they write. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t, but the attempt is always made to get the writer to care about their work.

So, how do we conduct conferences? Glad you asked. I’ll have a detailing of my methodology next week.
-Patrick Johnson