On Monday September 18th the new Writing Center in McNairy Library had its grand opening. The Center had been open for a week already and our staff was busy tutoring students. There were still some kinks to be worked out in respect to technology and staffing, but students started to come in the first day the Center was open.
Monday’s celebration included an address by university president John Anderson and Provost Vilas Prabhu. Associate Provost Jeff Adams organized the opening and introduced the speakers. Dean Diane Umble was in attendance as was Chair of English Jill Craven. Students and staff from the library and faculty in English were also present.
The new space in McNairy Library is spectacular. As you enter the library from George St., you see the can’t-miss sign: The Writing Center at MU above the glass front of room 106. Inside, the room is open and bright, with a floor-to-ceiling window, and an impossibly high ceiling. The manager’s table sits right inside the room; it’s where appointments are made. Tutoring is done at tables in the middle of the room and on the right wall. Soon we will have wall hangings that present the writing process in colorful posters. Later in the semester new furniture will arrive that will make the space more comfortable. Already students are finding the new Writing Center–how could they miss it–and we predict that our numbers will soar. We are no longer a hidden jewel, but a collaborative star in the firmament of library and university student services.
We want to thank Jeff Adams and Diane Umble for facilitating the Writing Center’s move to McNairy Library. The move would not have been possible, however, without Jill Craven’s unflagging commitment to the Writing Center as well as writing across the disciplines at Millersville. We see the move as a win win win win for English, the library, the administration, and students. Come to the new Writing Center and see us grow!
–Dr. Bill Archibald
Videos of the Grand Opening