FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 7, 2015

For More Information:
Glenville State College
Public Relations Department
(304) 462-4115

GLENVILLE, WV - Glenville State College students and professors recently presented at the International Writing Centers Association (IWCA) and the National Council of Peer Tutors of Writing (NCPTW) joint three-day conference held at Walt Disney World's Coronado Springs Resort in Florida.

Assistant Professors of English Dr. Marjorie Stewart and Dr. Melody Wise along with students Larissa DeLuca and Annetta Snyder, both of whom are English education majors, presented a 75-minute session titled 'The Grass Roots Writers' Center: How Does Our Garden Grow?' Their presentation theme played off of the overall conference theme, 'The Wonderful World of Writing Centers.'

Their conference session focused on the writing center at GSC; beginning with its origins as a group of just three consultants in the fall of 2012 with a single faculty member overseeing the project. They explained the development of the center that has since grown to include ten consultants providing writing tutoring both in the campus Academic Support Center and embedded within English composition courses. Growth and continuing integration of the writing center as GSC expands student services was also discussed.

"Our session was well attended in spite of it taking place on a Friday afternoon. Larissa and Annetta did very well in their first national conference presentation. While Marjorie and I have presented sessions like this many times, this was the first time that we were able to include students. It was also the first time in recent history that the Department of Language and Literature was able to take students to present at a national conference," said Wise. "We thank the GSC Foundation for providing funds for the girls to travel," she added.

"Presenting at a national conference was both an exciting and nerve-wracking experience. Many of the other groups that presented came from much larger campuses than ours, and some had writing centers staffed by fifty or more students during one semester. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that my experiences as a new writing consultant at a rural campus did contribute to the conversation just as much as those from larger colleges and universities. Most of all, I was glad to have overcome my nervousness about speaking in front of a room full of strangers. I am very grateful to have had the opportunity to represent Glenville State College with Dr. Wise, Dr. Stewart, and Annetta at the conference and to have learned some new tutoring strategies from the other presenters. I feel that this experience has made me a better writing consultant," said DeLuca.

"Attending and presenting at the conference was an experience of a lifetime. I talked about my personal experiences and what I have learned by being a writing consultant/peer tutor. It was a great opportunity and is something that I can take with me throughout my career," said Snyder.

The IWCA was founded to foster communication among writing centers and to provide a forum for concerns. The NCPTW promotes the teaching of writing through collaborative learning.

For more information about the Glenville State College presentation at the conference, contact Stewart at Marjorie.Stewart@glenville.edu or Wise at Melody.Wise@glenville.edu.