The importance of writing centers as places where process-centered, student-centered teaching takes place is emphasized in this paper. To illustrate this point, the paper provides profiles of four tutors--two males and two females--and discusses ways to improve tutor-student conferences, including having the tutor focus the conference on the…

Examines two studies: one that shows that competent to highly competent writers find writing centers beneficial, and the other that shows that faculty continue to think of writing centers as suited to remedial students and surface level corrections. Attempts to glean from these studies important information that could act as a corrective to all…

Offers perspectives of four different writing lab personnel, namely: (1) a new peer tutor with writing skills but no formal training in teaching; (2) a graduate teaching assistant in writing with no tutoring experience; (3) an experienced tutor reflecting on what he wished he had been taught; and (4) a director-tutor sharing her lab experience.…