The Write Place Recognized for Teaching Excellence

Kristen Drum

Contributing Writer

For years, The Write Place has been the right place for Spartanburg Methodist College students seeking help with writing assignments and tasks. Now, the center is getting well-deserved recognition for the standard of excellence it maintains for itself.

Offering students help with everything from understanding assignments to developing professional writing, the Write Place has been a campus staple since 1997. The Southeastern Writing Center Association (SWCA) recently recognized it as a Center Acknowledgement and Recognition of Excellence (CARE) recipient.

“I was grateful for the acknowledgment that the work we had been doing was being recognized for excellence among a group of writing center professionals,” said Dr. Kristen Welch, the director of The Write Place, describing the moment she got the news the writing center would be CARE certified.

CARE is the only certification that is by the writing center community and for the writing center community. The award is open to any SWCA member, including centers from across the country and internationally.

The award certifies writing centers that are committed to literacy, learning, and writing through a rigorous application process. The CARE program “establishes professional criteria relevant to diverse local contexts, providing writing centers the opportunity to articulate their unique stories and celebrate their accomplishments.”

As the director of SMC’s The Write Place since 2022, Dr. Welch, also a Professor of English, has recently dedicated much of her free time to organizing, writing, and submitting the application for certification.

“Working in the center is a group effort in the English Department, and I have worked hard to build the framework needed to document our work, train tutors, and offer needed support to students,” she said. “It’s very satisfying to obtain this certification as it means the work in these areas represents best practices in the field.”

Dr. Welch spent months this summer gathering evidence of the program’s quality. She submitted a letter of application for CARE certification to SWCA, along with 50 pages of materials, ranging from descriptions of student support to samples of help the center provides. She also gathered letters of support from outside the department, detailing how the writing center adds value to campus life and sharing specific accomplishments.

The Write Place has between 150 – 200 visits per year – some just once, while others are frequent visitors.

“Tutoring is conversation-based,” Dr. Welch says. “We look at things in the context where they occur and then discuss them to determine what help is needed. Is it editing? Is it style? Or is it organization?”

She goes on to share an example of a typical interaction with students.

“If they are talking to me, I’ll take notes on what they are saying, and based on what they say, we’ll create an outline. Then, we’ll add examples and details. Sometimes, it is more effective to talk it out rather than to try to type the same information. They can see the process of generating ideas, writing it down, and then creating from that.”

From that, students often see improvement.

“We don’t promise an ‘A’; we promise progress. We try to encourage them by saying, ‘you’re making progress,’” Dr. Welch said.