Preconference

International and ESL Students in the Writing Center: Creating an Inclusive Environment and Improving Efficiency

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Abstract

Our panel will focus on the purpose of the Writing and Media Center at Iowa State University, its role in making students better communicators, and the way we must adapt to an increasingly diverse student body. We will focus our conversation on how understanding the needs of non-native and ESL students can improve educational efficiency in our department by accomplishing more learning in less time. The Writing and Media Center will accomplish this goal by implementing a new tutor training program designed to empower our tutors to efficiently and effectively work with visitors from diverse backgrounds. It will allow our tutors to improve their awareness of systemic problems faced by non-native and ESL students in higher education and also prepare them for a lifetime in pursuit of equal opportunity for all. By increasing our tutors’ effectiveness, we will help our international students understand context of their assignments, courses, and educational community in fewer visits and, ultimately, increase the number of available sessions in the Writing and Media Center. Attendees will have the opportunity to hear about the components of our new program and discuss advantages and disadvantages of our approach