At the end of last year, OSU defunded the Writing Center’s one-on-one writing assistance for grad students. However, after conversations between CGE and the administration the Graduate School recognized the value this service provides in student success and they renewed their support to the writing center. So long as CGE can promote those services and help increase writing center usage, the one-on-one help and two 0.40 FTE GTA positions will maintain financial support (two 0.40 FTE GTAs in addition to the GTAs hired for undergraduate services).

The issue came to our attention from a professor concerned about the closure. Shannon Andrews met with Dennis Bennett, Director of the Writing Center to discuss the benefits of additional help and what we could do to make it happen. He provided internal reports and journal articles showing student satisfaction and increased student retention and overall increased rates of degree completion with additional writing assistance.

We brought the issue to the attention of the administration and they took immediate action. Brenda McComb met with Dennis Bennett to reappoint the GTA position that had been canceled. The funding for the GTA appointments will only be maintained if grad students use the Writing Center. So, go get some writing help! Encourage your friends and colleagues, too. And remember: they are there to help you with anything, from brainstorming to organization to overcoming writers block to grammatical editing. Do yourself and your committee a favor, and go to the Writing Center, Waldo Hall 123, https://writingcenter.oregonstate.edu/.