Does this scenario sound familiar?
An SNL (School for New Learning) writer comes into the writing center and sits down with a tutor to work on a draft for a portion of her Advanced Project. The conference begins congenially, with the tutor and writer shaking hands and exchanging introductions. Following introductions, the conversation goes something like this:
Tutor: What would you like to work on today?
SNL Writer: I am trying to get started on my literature review for my Advanced Project.
Tutor: Which class is this for?
SNL Writer: It’s for my Advanced Project.
Tutor: Yes, but which class is the project for?
SNL Writer: It’s not for any particular class, it is a graduation requirement.
Tutor: Oh. Do you have a copy of the graduation requirement with you?
SNL Writer: Well, I have my competence statement and my annotated bibliography with me. I thought I might be able to use it to help me figure out how to begin the literature review.
Tutor: (hesitating) Well, an annotated bibliography is a good place to start.
(Writer hands the document to the tutor, and the tutor looks over the document)
Tutor: So it looks like your topic is communication in the workplace. Do you have a tentative thesis or a research question that the bibliography is centered around?
Writer: Well, here’s my competence statement.
Tutor: Oh, this seems pretty specific, almost like a thesis. Is everyone in your class supposed to research and defend the same argument?
Writer: There isn’t a class. My committee approved it.
As you can see, the tutoring session can be fraught with communication problems for SNL writers and for their tutors. Both can become quickly frustrated.
Rest assured that this is not the tutor’s fault, nor is it the fault of the writer. The very nature of the SNL program is different from every other program at DePaul. While every UCWbL tutor is fully qualified to help writers with the written projects of writers and staff, UCWbL tutors are often unfamiliar with SNL terminology, including words and phrases like “competence statement,” “advisory committee” and “externship” as well as acronyms such as “ILP” and “PGAP.” To make matters worse, some of the things that a tutor might ask might seem irrelevant to the SNL writer, especially when the writer is working on an ILP (Individual Learning Pursuit) or Advanced Project.
Here are some things that both the SNL writer and the UCWbL tutor can do to avoid this frustration:
| UCWbL Tutor | SNL Writer |
Amanda B (SCWG leader) Bernie P (SCWG leader) Elaine W (SCWG leader) Heather R Justin S (SCWG leader) Lisa L Maddie M (SCWG leader) Margaret P Marianne K (SCWG leader) Nancy R Tom M (SCWG director) |
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