Thursday, May 15, 2008
Funding, etc.
During the discussion about whether or not to close writing centers to non-English majors, I thought back to the first Carino essay we read ("Early Writing Centers: Toward a History") where he mentioned that English departments usually carry the financial burden of a writing center. This seems ridiculously unfair. I've said before that I disagree with making the writing center an English student-only resource, but if the English department is going to foot the bill, it seems all the other disciplines have even less of a right to dictate what is done with the writing center (and its money). However, if a university does fund the writing center with "community" funds, the entire campus should definitely have access to it. Like Claire said, I think this would play a much larger role than anyone would prefer. So, then, would it be better to take on the writing center as a department and be able to use funds as seen fit? How does this affect what the department can do for English students, then, if "their" funding is split between a community resource?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
I think the funding issue gets at the heart of another similar issue in composition studies and that is: Are English classes, like 103 and 104, supposed to be service classes, classes that prepare students for the writing they do in the other disciplines or are they supposed to be classes that stand on their own like other classes in other disciplines do? If the university is funding a writing center, then maybe other disciplines would see that the writing center is meant to serve other disciplines, where as if the writing center is funded by the department, then maybe the writing center should only serve English majors.
I'm not sure how funding is handled, but if the English Department gets the bulk of its funding from the tuition generated from first-year composition courses, then even if the Writing Center is funded by the English Department, there would still seem to be an obligation to serve the students in those composition classes, English majors or not. I don't think composition should be considered a service to other disciplines; it should stand on its own.
The question of funding is no doubt a concern that must be addressed, but it seems to me that writing centers should make some other decisions first. Does the writing center believe, for instance, that it should include students from a diverse range of disciplines? If it does then it should. It seems to me that the worst thing would be for writing centers to try to learn to do the tricks that will be rewarded with treats. Just existing is not the most important thing, after all.
Brian, I agree, but if the Writing Center decided, say, to be for English majors only... I think it should definitely be funded by the department.
Maybe I'm the idealist here, but basing the decision on who gets to use the WC based on who is paying for the WC is a slippery slope. First of all, students don't think in terms of what department is paying -- it's all the same university to them, to which they are paying tuition and fees to have access to what they need. To say, "No, you can't use this WC because your program doesn't help pay for it" implies that money is the deciding factor in getting an education. And how does a tutor turn away a student in need on that basis? What kind of message does it send to tutors about their work? Getting everyone to pay "their fair share" is a social construction of capitalism that, taken to its end, might mean only those who can afford an education get one. Allowing money and politics to overshadow the mission of helping students is what some of the WC essayists warn against.
Post a Comment