Elon University students, faculty and staff visited the center on the first floor of Belk Library to learn more about support and services available to the campus community.
The Center for Writing Excellence at Elon University hosted an open house Friday afternoon to showcase for the community the expanded resources, services and opportunities now available on campus for anyone seeking to improve his or her writing.
With dedicated space on the first floor of Belk Library, the center brings together services offered to faculty and staff through the new Writing Across the University initiative and the existing Writing Center, whose consultants help people with all stages of the writing process, from brainstorming to revising to proofreading.
Visitors to the center can receive research assistance through its partnership with Belk librarians.
The center offers grants to support projects designed to improve the writing of all students, and it hosts workshops and seminars throughout the year for faculty, staff and students, including the Writing Excellence Summer Institute following graduation each spring.
An estimated 150 guests, including Elon University President Leo M. Lambert, visited the center during the Sept. 6 open house, which ran from 4:30-6 p.m.
“We were absolutely delighted to see the enthusiasm with which faculty, staff and students embraced our new vision and space for the Center for Writing Excellence,” said Paul Anderson, director of the university’s Writing Across the University initiative. “People were excited. They were celebrating and saw this as something that’s important for Elon.”
The Center for Writing Excellence brings under one umbrella the Writing Across the University program and the Writing Center, which has long helped faculty, students and staff, as well as community members, with their writing.
A new online system this fall allows students, faculty, and staff to schedule appointments for working with a consultant. Results are already being seen, with more than double the number of visitors to the Writing Center in recent weeks than during the same time period last year.
And the center encourages visits from people who conduct all types of writing, whether it’s academic writing, fiction, grants or resumes. Associate Professor Paula Rosinski, who directs the Writing Center, said that writing assistance can benefit anyone regardless of experience or proficiency.
“It’s not just for people who are struggling with writing. It’s for strong writers, too. You may think your writing is great, but if an audience member or reader gets lost, it’s not effective,” Rosinski said. “Everybody can be a good writer. You just need to engage in the process and get feedback.”
For more information on the Center for Writing Excellence and the Writing Center, visit its website at www.elon.edu/cwe.