The Writing and Communication Center enhances students’ professional skills

By Brielle Aguayo •

The Writing and Communication Center, located in the Alvin Sherman Library, Research, and Information Technology Center, is nestled on the left side of the fourth floor in room 430. The WCC welcomes undergraduate students, graduate students and professors to help them work on writing projects and develop strong writing habits.

“Everyone that works at the WCC at every level are the peers of the students that they’re working with, it’s people that understand where you’re coming from and are where you are,” Cailin Rolph, assistant director of the WCC, said.

Rolph also said that the peer-to-peer connection is helpful when getting guidance from a writing fellow.

“They understand where you are coming from because they have been through similar struggles as students themselves,” she said.

The WCC offers writing assistance for composition assignments, research papers, chemistry lab reports, biology lab reports and more. The center has trained consultants who can also assist graduate students with thesis papers and dissertations.

There is no limit to how many appointments undergraduate students can make, but graduate students can only make three a week due to high demand. There is no cost to make an appointment at the WCC. Appointments can be scheduled on nova.mywconline.com.

“You log in, and then you click which schedule you’re going to be on. So, if you’re undergraduate, you click the undergraduate schedule. If you’re graduate, you click the graduate schedule. We have a third weekend schedule for undergraduates that is online, and you’ll see who’s open and who’s not,” Rolph said.

If students cannot find an available appointment online, they are more than welcome to contact the center directly.

Kevin Dvorak, executive director of the WCC, said the center aims to be accessible for everyone.

“We provide assistance on site and online, and students are able to choose which one at both levels and if students need any other types of accommodation, we work with them individually on a case by case scenario, making sure that each person has what each person needs,” Dvorak said.

Dvorak is proud that the center has been able to help students and have a positive impact on writing throughout the university.

“We have what we believe to be the country’s largest first-year writing fellows program. Meaning we are embedded in all sections of ground-based COMP and we are connected in all sections of BIO 1500 and CHEM 1300,” Dvorak said. “Our fellows program serves 2,000 students, but when you count them individually and all of those sections, [there are] about 3,000 to 4,000 students each year. All of whom are either required or close to required to visiting us.” Dvorak said the WCC prepares students for their futures, allowing them to get professional experience while helping others.

“The WCC is a fantastic place to work for professional development. We cover all of the career competencies and so when people graduate having worked with us, they leave sometimes with 200-300 hours of consultations. Those are one-on-ones where they help other people. So when they’re thinking of going into fields like dentistry, medical professions or even law, that’s what they’re going to be doing, they’re going to be working with clients,” Dvorak said.

By Nicole Gomez

PHOTO BY BRIELLE AGUAYO
Nicole Gomez, graphic desginer for The Current, is painting on her canvas.

Being a Junior Art + Design major and working at the Writing and Communication Center, I was honored when I was asked by Kevin Dvorak, executive director of the WCC, to design and create a painting for the center. The goal of this painting is to create a more vibrant and inviting space for people visiting the center. Colors within the painting are taken from items within the center to create a cohesive color scheme throughout the space. An abstract stylistic approach was used when designing the painting to allow people to create their own idea of what it represents. The painting was also designed with the intention to have people take pictures in front of it, bringing in more people to the center.