Creating an Effective Writing Center: Solving the Dilemma of Hiring Good Tutors

Finding reliable peer tutors with decent skills presents a challenge to a writing center director who is new to a university or who is building a new writing center at a small university, especially if the school has a limited budget. New writing centers that are committed to undergraduate peer tutoring face recruitment and hiring dilemmas mainly because their value within their communities has not yet been established. In order to create a well-respected writing center where the work and the tutors are valued in the larger community, a writing center director must establish consistency in three areas: hiring standards and application process, recruitment, and finances. 1. HIRING STANDARDS AND APPLICATION PROCESS