Writing Center director receives competitive research grant

Julia Bleakney and a co-researcher have received a grant to complete a study of mentoring among writing center professionals.

Julia Bleakney, director of the Writing Center in the Center for Writing Excellence
Julia Bleakney, director of the Writing Center in the Center for Writing Excellence, has been awarded an International Writing Centers Association (IWCA) research grant to complete an interview-based study of the mentoring experiences of new and experienced writing center professionals.

Bleakney, along with co-researcher Dagmar Scharold of the University of Houston-Downtown, are studying the impact of the IWCA’s Mentor Matching program that pairs new writing center directors with experienced directors. The study, tentatively titled, “The Guru Mentor vs Network-Based Mentoring: A Study of the Mentoring of Writing Center Professionals,” examines how the Mentor Matching program simultanously supports a one-to-one mentoring model and a networked mentoring model.