Academics
Writing Center
Director: Ms. Virginia Bower (email Ms. Bower)
Location: Renfro 133 (schedule)
Phone: (828) 689-1379
The Mars Hill College Writing Center, located in Renfro Library, room 133, offers free writing tutoring for all MHC students. Writers are encouraged to make an appointment, but drop-in visits are welcome, time permitting.
Writing Center tutors are trained to provide assistance at all stages of the writing process, from prewriting to revising final drafts, and they work with writers in all disciplines. Whether you’re working on that first essay for freshman English, tweaking a major research paper, or polishing your résumé for a job application, the tutors in the Writing Center can help you become a better writer.
Who We Are
The Writing Center is staffed by trained peer tutors, students with strong writing skills and a desire to help others. To become a peer tutor, students must have successfully completed English 111 and 112 (or 113); additionally, tutors must enroll in a one-credit- hour course, ENG262-Peer Collaboration in Writing.
Ms. Virginia Bower
Writing Center Director & Associate Professor of English
As an associate professor in the Department of Language and Literature, I teach all levels of writing at MHC; in addition, I direct the college Writing Center, located in Renfro Library. As director of our Center, I supervise, train, and work with peer tutors in order to help them provide the best quality tutoring for MHC students. I oversee, as well, the college’s campus-wide writing program which consists of writing-intensive courses that are paired with Writing Fellows, or classroom-based peer tutors. I love writing, and I love passing on this enthusiasm to students, especially those who are forever challenged by the craft of writing. In addition to being a teacher, I consider myself a lifelong learner; I’ve taken classes in Italian, landscaping, micro-economics, memoir writing, and Indian cooking. I hope that all students will take advantage of the support provided by the Writing Center to help them improve their writing, their grades, and their overall academic performance.
Our tutors….
Heather Lane I am a senior double majoring in Graphic Design and English, and I hope to help edit the content and layout of magazines in the future. I am a Grayson scholar and a member of Sigma Tau Delta, and I look forward to working with you in the Writing Center!
Jordon Crawford I am a senior at MHC majoring in Zoology with a Regional Studies minor. I love helping people and animals, and I hope to have a career working in the field of animal care or research. I’m also a Bonner scholar, so I am involved in lots of volunteer work throughout the year. I look forward to seeing you in the Writing Center!
Maggie Mills I am currently a sophomore majoring in integrated education with a minor in psychology and specializing in reading. I am on the MHC swim team and am in the MHC Honors Program. Writing and reading have always been a passion of mine! I can’t wait to be working with you in the Writing Center. Hope to see you soon!
Tricia Ellis Well hello! My name is Tricia and I am a sophomore here at the Hill. With an Apparel and Interior Merchandising major and a Business minor, I plan on helping people express themselves through the art of fashion. For now, I plan on helping people express themselves through writing in the Writing Center. My personal strengths are the structuring of good arguments, critical analysis papers, and research assignments. I’m so excited about this year and I can’t wait to meet you in the Writing Center!
Derek Gibson I am a junior majoring in Religion with a concentration in Philosophy. I am interested in possibly using my skills in philosophy and writing to go into journalism where I might be a war correspondent or possibly report on alternative health practices. I am also pursuing a minor in pre-professional studies which will give me the base I need to study chiropractics in graduate school. Outside of writing and academics, I run track and field as well as cross country for a team that has won 15 consecutive conference championships!
What Students and Faculty Should Know about the MHC Writing Center:
Tutoring sessions are limited to 45 minutes maximum. If your assignment requires more time, please make an additional appointment for later in the week. Also, we have a 10-page maximum restriction on all assignments. These parameters help to encourage students seeking writing assistance to be actively engaged in the tutoring experience.
Appointments Available
Feel free to stop by the Writing Center to make an appointment for a tutoring session. While appointments are not necessary (and drop-ins are welcome), an appointment will assure you the time you need with a tutor. Appointments can only be made AT THE WRITING CENTER!!
What We Do…and Don’t Do…
Peer tutors in the Mars Hill College Writing Center WILL...
- assist with writing assignments at any stage of the writing process
- provide kind, considerate, and professional tutoring
- help writers develop a clear sense of "the next step" for writing assignments once they leave the Center
- tutor up to 10 pages of text per 45-minute session
- complete a tutoring report for each student who receives help from a tutor in the Writing Center
Peer tutors in the Mars Hill College Writing Center WON’T…
- write papers for students
- correct written work (tutors work with students to find problems and to eliminate them)
- give students topics (that’s up to students and/or their professors)
- guarantee an "A" for having visited the center (students who seek help with writing assignments at the Writing Center will most assuredly improve in their writing, which is the main goal of the center)
- work on assignments that are longer than 10 pages (if your assignment is longer, you must return for a separate tutoring session for each 10 pages)