Writing Center

Rachel Liberatore, Director of the Writing Center and Tutoring Services. Rachel Liberatore has been working at Albright since 2009 as the Writing Center Director and as an instructor of ENG 101, ENG 102 and FYS, and she is excited about her newly expanded role also working with the Academic Learning Center.  She has a BA in English and Education from Grinnell College, an MA in English from the University of New Mexico, and an MA in Language, Literacy, and Sociocultural Studies (TESOL emphasis) from the University of New Mexico. In her work with tutoring centers, she has a particular interest in tutor staff development that helps students gain new creative/professional identities and leadership roles. Please stop by her office or request an appointment if you would like to talk about any aspect of tutoring on campus.

Carmen Johnson  is an English and Spanish co-major. Along with tutoring at the Writing Center, she tutors Spanish and math courses at the Academic Learning Center. Carmen became a tutor because of her love for learning and her desire to ensure that other students can be successful in their courses.

Lillian (Lily) Carney is an early childhood education major with a co-major in psychology. She is the secretary of the PSEA club as well as a tutor in the Academic Learning Center. She loves narrative writing and making strong conclusions. She is excited to help students put their thoughts down on paper.

Matthew (Matt) Cammarano is an English major and a religious studies minor. He enjoys writing both creatively and analytically, and he likes to read science fiction and horror. His strengths include MLA format, constructing thesis statements, literary analysis, and interpreting essay prompts.

Michael Thomas is a communications and psychology co-major with a minor in sociology. He enjoys writing and reading political, philosophical, sociological, and psychological works.  They love narrative, analytic and argumentative essays. Their strengths include analyzing, using evidence, constructing arguments and thesis statements, and organizing ideas. Michael believes everyone has worthwhile thoughts and wants to help people write papers that reflect that.

Gabrielle (Gabby) List is a psychology major. In her free time, she enjoys photography and watching WWE. Her strengths as a writer include APA format, organization, and brainstorming.

Cameron Chisholm is an English major with a minor in political science and history. Cameron is embarking upon her junior year with hopes of becoming a full-time attorney after Albright. She loves long walks, ocean sounds, music, and spending quality time with her closest friends. Her favorite topics are writing organizational skills and literary interpretation. She also enjoys helping others represent the best version of themselves through their writing.

Veloie Mastrocola is an English major whose first passion was creative writing. She enjoys reading and writing fantasy as well as contemporary short stories, and in her spare time she enjoys going on walks and exploring new music. Veloie’s strengths include analyzing the structure of an essay, developing essays around a focused thesis, and sentence structure.

Emily Stragapede is a crime and justice major and legal studies minor. She enjoys writing short stories and research papers. Emily’s strengths are putting together a strong thesis statement and developing a student’s unique writing style.

Abby Platero is an arts administration co-major who enjoys music and art. In her spare time, she enjoys exploring new towns and restaurants. She loves creating outlines and the preplanning process of a paper. Her strengths include overall writing flow, the connection of ideas, and creating thesis statements.

Libby Harford is an American civilization and arts administration co-major. In her free time she enjoys painting, listening to music and reading nonfiction. Libby’s strengths are research based papers, writing academically, and creating strong outlines for assignments.

The Albright Writing Center is now offering peer tutoring in reading skills. In a session with a peer reading tutor, you can discuss and practice these skills:

• Managing the college reading workload
• Previewing and annotating/marking up a challenging text
• Identifying and understanding thesis and main evidence (including note-taking strategies)
• Brainstorming ideas about what was read (tutor will ask open-ended questions to solicit your own ideas)

What happens at a reading tutoring session?

You and the tutor will sit down one-on-one and discuss your situation. The tutor will then give you advice on one or more of the above skills, and you can practice them together using your coursework readings. A tutor may also help you identify other resources such as handouts and web pages that would be useful based on your particular needs.

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What does NOT happen at a reading tutoring session?

A tutor will not read the documents for/to you as a replacement for your reading it yourself. A tutor will not tell you what to write about what you read.

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How should I prepare for a reading session?

Do your homework/reading ahead of the session, but be ready to talk to the tutor about what you found challenging. Please bring any related course handouts, notes, or other materials.

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How should I select a tutor for reading help and make an appointment? Where are you located?

Our website for making Writing Center appointments can be found at http://alb.mywconline.com When you log into the Writing Center appointment system, by each tutor’s name is a notation regarding whether they assist with reading, writing or both.

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What should I do if I am having difficulties that I don’t think can be addressed by meeting with a peer tutor?

Please visit your professor’s office hours, a Student Success Specialist (if you are a first-year student), the director of the Writing Center, or staff at the Academic Learning Center to discuss your situation.

What is the Writing Center? What are your online services?

The Albright Writing Center is a free peer tutoring service to assist you in writing for all of your Albright courses. We can assist with any aspect of writing for any course. In a one-on-one session in person, online chat session (audio video or type chat), or through e-mailed feedback, we will guide you in strategies for writing and revising. Our philosophy is to provide you with ideas and resources as we guide you in making your own changes. The center is located on the main Reading campus in Jake’s Place near the mailroom. Online appointments contain a link to the online platform with a whiteboard for real-time brainstorming and revising and the option of audio-video, type-chat, or telephone communication with your tutor. Use our appointment system here and make sure to carefully select in person or online when you make the appointment.

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Can you help me with research skills? Reading skills?

We can assist you with research skills, but for library-based research we also encourage you to contact the college’s reference librarians at Gingrich Library: 610-921-7211.

If you would like to practice approaches to making sense of challenging course readings, some of our tutors are designated in the appointment system as available to help with reading skills even if the course reading is not related to a writing assignment.

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I have additional questions. How can I contact you?

If you have questions, please contact the Writing Center at writingcenter@albright.edu.

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Essay Feedback Submission Form for E-mailed Feedback

At this time, all Albright students may use this form to request e-mailed feedback (margin comments on an essay). We will assign your paper to the next available tutor after we receive it, but it may take two or more workdays to provide feedback during busy parts of the year.  We are unable to provide feedback on some holidays, Saturdays, the last two weeks of December, and other dates of closure. If you have trouble using this form, please email your essay to writingcenter@albright.edu as a Word attachment and include your name, the professor’s name, the department/course name, questions you have about your writing, the date/time by which you need feedback, and information about the assignment guidelines.

Complete the form here.

• What is the Writing Center?
• What is the Writing Center’s philosophy? How does it work?
• Who works at the Writing Center?
• Where can I get flyers for my students?
• Can the Writing Center visit my class?
• Can I require my whole class to work with the Writing Center?
• Special assignments: My students are working on a group project. Can the whole group come in for an appointment? Does the Writing Center help students with take-home essay exams?
• My students could really use help with proofreading/editing. Will you proofread papers before they turn their work in to me?
• I teach in an SPS program or in an online course. How can the center help my students?
• How can I help the Writing Center work with my students?
• How do I contact the Writing Center for more information?

What is the Writing Center?

Albright students can visit the college’s writing center to receive free assistance with reading skills, composition and revising/editing skills. Peer tutors conference with student writers on all aspects of the writing process. The director is also available for consultation.  The center is located in Jake’s Place near the mailroom and has drop-in hours and appointments.

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What is the Writing Center’s philosophy? How does it work?

Writing tutors act as consultants, giving feedback and guidance on major areas of effective reading and writing (idea development, organization, use of research, etc.) Writing tutors actively engage students in meaningful conversations about their writing and help writers learn new strategies. The center’s goal is not to have students leave with “perfect papers,” but rather to have students leave with more effective composing/revising/editing strategies.

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Who works at the Writing Center?

The Writing Center’s peer tutors are Albright students who have a history of success in writing intensive courses. The director (a composition instructor) is also available to work with students. Writing Center tutors have a wide range of majors but have all received a high grade in the ENG 101/102 course sequence and an advanced writing-intensive course. All tutors must receive a positive faculty recommendation before being hired. Tutors receive ongoing training in composition and tutoring methodology and are required to work towards their College Reading and Learning Association (CRLA) tutoring certification.

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Where can I get flyers for my students?

Please contact the center director (Rachel Liberatore) and request flyers for your courses. Indicate the number of students and whether it is a regular day course or an SPS or online course. We can also visit your class at request (see next section).

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Can the Writing Center visit my class?

At request, the Writing Center tutors or director can visit most classes to promote the center and explain our approach towards working with students. These presentations last about 20 minutes. The center can also provide you with informative flyers to give students.

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Can I require my whole class to work with the Writing Center?

We request that student sessions be optional since voluntary sessions are often more productive than required sessions. However, if you ask an entire class to have sessions with the center, it is recommended that you allow visits throughout the semester to ensure open time slots are available.

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Special assignments: My students are working on a group project. Can the whole group come in for an appointment? Does the Writing Center help students with take-home essay exams?

Students working together on a project may work with a tutor as a group. The Writing Center relies on students to give reliable information about whether they can bring take-home exams to the center. If you do not want your students to bring a particular assignment to the center, please include a statement on the assignment indicating your request.

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My students could really use help with proofreading/editing. Will you proofread papers before they turn their work in to me?

Rather than proofread or edit for the student, writing tutors will help students gain proofreading strategies. This may mean that not all students will leave the center with a grammatically perfect paper, but they should leave with stronger independent writing and revising/editing skills.

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I teach in an SPS Program or online. How can the center help my students?

SPS and online students are also encouraged to meet with the center’s peer tutors or director for in-person sessions. However, they may also request an online-chat session, a telephone conference or e-mailed feedback.

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How can I help the Writing Center work with my students?

• Encourage all students to visit the center. Even students doing well could benefit from additional feedback.
• Share stories of your own experiences collaborating with others to develop your writing to help students understand the benefits of collaboration and feedback.
• Ask your students to bring their assignment sheets, grading guidelines, etc. to their appointment.
• Visit the center’s website as it continues to evolve, and let the center know what faculty resources would benefit you.
• Include an encouraging statement about the center on your course syllabi. A sample statement can be found below.
• Note that voluntary visits tend to be more productive than required visits.

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How do I contact the Writing Center for more information?

Location: The Writing Center is located in Jake’s Place near the mailroom.  Email: writingcenter@albright.edu Director: Rachel Liberatore, RLiberatore@albright.edu, phone (610) 921-7854.

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Writing Center Syllabus Statement for Regular Courses:

NOTE: For SUMMER or INTERIM classes, faculty may want to also indicate that our hours are abbreviated and should be verified through our online appointment system.

You are encouraged to work with the Writing Center early and often to help build a strong foundation for writing in this course and in all of your courses. Online and in-person sessions are available. The center’s peer tutors and director will work with you at any stage of the writing process, from developing and organizing ideas to revising and editing drafts. Tutors are also available to discuss and practice approaches to managing the college reading workload and reading more effectively. The center is located in the student Campus Center on the lower level in Jake’s Place near the mailroom and can be reached at 610-921-7540 (phone) or writingcenter@albright.edu. For the current schedule or to make an appointment for an in-person or online session, use our appointment system at http://alb.mywconline.com.

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Writing Center Syllabus Statement for SPS or Online Courses

 NOTE: For SUMMER or INTERIM classes, faculty may want to also indicate that our hours are abbreviated and should be verified through our online appointment system. We encourage you to visit the Writing Center early and often to help build a strong foundation for writing in this course and in all of your courses. The center’s peer tutors and director will work with you at any stage of the writing process, from developing and organizing ideas to revising and editing drafts. Rather than editing your work for you, writing tutors will actively engage you in meaningful conversations about your writing and help you learn new strategies. Tutors are also available to discuss and practice approaches to managing the college reading workload and reading more effectively. The center is located on the main Reading, PA campus in Jake’s Place near the mailroom and can be reached at writingcenter@albright.edu or (610) 921-7540. Appointments for in-person or online (real-time) sessions can be made at alb.mywconline.com. Writing Center services, including online services, may not be available during some holidays or when day classes are not in session..

The Albright Writing Center uses a peer tutoring model and so hires current students. Before they begin tutoring, students need to have completed their ENG 101/102 composition sequence (or transfer course equivalent).  Students of any area of concentration/major are encouraged to apply.

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Hiring Dates

Hiring is typically done in April or May (before summer break) with a job start date of the first day of the upcoming fall semester. This allows tutors to begin their tutor training at the very beginning of the fall semester. In the past few years, three to six new tutors have been hired each year. Contact the Writing Center Director if you want to be put on an email list to be informed of new hiring dates.

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Applying to Be a Tutor

An application, including instructions on submitting your application, can be found here. The application requests the submission of an application form and writing samples. Applicants will also need to fill out an application through Handshake when the job is posted. 

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Requirements for Applicants

Peer tutors are selected on the basis of academic skill, leadership, character, and the ability to communicate well with others. To submit an application for peer tutoring at the Writing Center, you will need to have the following minimum qualifications:

• Completed ENG 102 or higher level English course (or transfer credit equivalents)
• High grade in ENG 101/102  and an upper level writing intensive course
• Strong overall GPA
• Good standing with the college (not on probation)
• Available to work 4 or more hours per week on a set schedule

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Tutor Training

All peer tutors must participate in paid training and staff meetings. The training includes 10-15 hours to be achieved within two semesters. Training is offered each semester and includes large and small group meetings and mentoring by experienced tutors. Training leads to international certification by the College Reading and Learning Association (CRLA).

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Questions?

If you have any questions while you are working on your application, please contact Rachel Liberatore at RLiberatore@albright.edu or 610-921-7854, or visit her office in the Writing Center.

The Writing Center can assist with your writing-related work for all courses.  If you need a tutor for other subject areas or want to meet with a staff member to discuss college success and study skills, please contact the college’s other academic support center: the Academic Learning Center can be reached at 610-921-7662, academiclearningcenter@albright.edu.  The Academic Learning Center website can be found here.