For Faculty
The Reading and Writing Center (RWC) is located in CG 409, and it is run by the Reading and Writing Center Instructor. The goals of the Center are to provide tutoring (small group and one-on-one), house specialized software, host instructional workshops, and foster reading and writing-related initiatives across disciplines at the Annandale Campus.
Philosophy
The goal of a reading and writing center is to be a place that supports students in becoming better readers and writers of their own work. The RWC tutors work with students on skills-building and help students apply those skills to current assignments. It is not a place for supervised homework help where students ask tutors for help question by question nor is it a place that offers editing/proofreading services. Our goal is not to focus on the assignment; our goal is to assist the student trying to hone a skill so that they can apply new knowledge of that skill to a current assignment. To stay skills-focused we use a variety of resources during and after tutorials including print and software-based materials. You may think about asking your students to use the RWC in addition to their class and homework-based work, but please be aware that our best work happens when tutoring is voluntary. Several professors, however, require students to complete a portion of software in addition to their homework since these resources are available for student use in the RWC. Due to our staffing situation, we are unable to provide visit confirmation for an individual student’s software use. If you are interested in finding a piece of software to fulfill a particular objective or particular objectives, contact the RWC Instructor at (703) 323-3341.
Workshops
Please consult the “Workshops” portion of our website to see if there is a topic you would like for the Instructor to cover for your class(es); the Instructor is happy to present on any of these topics if given adequate notice (at least two weeks) after the first three weeks of the semester.
If you intend for your students to use RWC software as part of your course expectations, please schedule an in-house orientation with the Instructor within the first three weeks of the class. The Instructor recommends this service for all developmental English courses but hopes all English sections (including honors students) are encouraged to come for additional writing perspective and for the use of our specialized learning software. If you would like for one of our tutors to visit your classroom to discuss our services, please send a request to the RWC instructor. This request will be facilitated at any point in a semester.
Tutors
For the most part, each of our tutors is a NOVA student who has finished and performed well in ENG 111/ 111.009 and ENG 112. It is the exception that we hire community members or graduated NOVA students, but we explore the opportunity to do so each semester. The bulk of the tutoring in the RWC is funded through the Perkins grant project, which was written with the intention of bettering the writing of both the student-learner and the student-tutor through the collaborative process of peer tutoring.
The Reading and Writing Center Instructor determines her own tutoring load based on her long term projects and workshop commitments. Please keep in mind that the bulk of the tutoring is an exchange from one NOVA student to another.
Referrals
You may refer a student to the RWC by filling out a form available from the Reading and Writing Center Instructor. Please fill out the form and give the form to the student you would like to refer. It is up for the student to give the form to the RWC. After the RWC Instructor receives a referral, she will either determine to work with the student herself, or she will pair the student with a tutor with whom the student should meet consistently (if multiple visits are required). After a few visits, the Instructor will be in touch with the referring professor (usually via email) regarding the student’s progress.