UWC opens West Campus satellite
Emilee Frame, left, a UWC graduate assistant writing consultant, talks about services offered to students at the new West Campus Library satellite of the University Writing Center with, from left, Dr. Martha Loudder, Dr. J. Martyn Gunn, and Dr. Karen Kubena during the Feb. 26 grand opening celebration.
Deans applaud efforts to reach more students
Getting help with their writing is now even easier for Texas A&M University students, particularly those who spend much of their time on West Campus; this spring the University Writing Center (UWC) officially opened a satellite location in room 205 of the West Campus Library.
“We want our services to be readily accessible,” explains UWC Executive Director Valerie Balester. “We know there are many students, particularly those from business and agriculture and life sciences, who seldom venture onto the main campus. Having a branch open on West Campus helps us meet our goal of helping students from all disciplines improve their writing.”
The West Campus satellite is staffed with experienced UWC consultants and offers the same kind of one-on-one help that students receive at the main UWC location on the second floor of Evans Library.
At the Feb. 26 grand opening for the West Campus branch, J. Martyn Gunn, dean of undergraduate programs and associate provost for academic services, praised the writing center for its work in helping Texas A&M produce graduates “who are not only well versed in their subject matter but who also have the skills to express themselves eff ectively.”
Gunn’s comments were echoed by Martha Loudder, associate dean of the Mays Business School. As a former English major who later switched to accounting, Loudder says her high standards for writing often shock her accounting students, who assume that accountants don’t need to know how to write. Not so, says Loudder, who is pleased to have a UWC outlet that’s convenient for her Mays Business School students.
C. Colleen Cook, dean of the University Libraries, was also on hand to welcome the UWC to the West Campus Library. In her remarks at the ceremony, Cook commented on how closely related the UWC’s mission is to that of the University Libraries, noting that the collaboration between the two entities “magnifies the benefits to students.” The West Campus Library staff is, according to Cook, “already fielding many inquires about the writing center from students coming into the building.”
The final speaker at the dedication ceremony, Karen Kubena, associate dean for academic aff airs in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, talked about the importance of helping students improve their writing. She pointed to the troubling disconnect between the casual shorthand favored by students in their blogs, emails, and text messages and the professional communication skills demanded by employers, who typically rank writing ability as one of their top priorities for workers.
And what does she think about having the writing center now represented on West Campus? Kubena puts it succinctly: “Thank goodness you’re here.”
