The Writing Center's Purpose

The most widely held misconception about the writing center is that we, as tutors, are editors. This is not our purpose, nor has it ever been our purpose, and yet still this idea remains. The fundamental reason for the writing center is to produce "better writers." Not necessarily today, or tomorrow, but to establish a foundation within a student that has the capabilities of burgeoning into an accomplished writer. We do check for grammar, and we do help students organize their papers, and we do help students formulate ideas. But not in the manner that many think. Our role is a role of moderators. Not in the sense that we "control" anything, but that we guide the students into their own flowering--"There is a puncutation error in this sentence. Can you find it? Do you understand why you need punctuation there? You're argument seems to be a bit choppy here. What can you do to promote coherence in this paragraph? What are you trying to say in this sentence, in this paragraph, in this conclusion? What is it about gun-control laws, as they stand right now, that you have a problem with? An introduction must establish your argument, dictate the points you wish to stress, harbor a thesis statement. A conclusion is not a reiteration of your ideas, but the implications for those ideas in greater context. What do these arguments for us, the readers, mean? Why are they important?" As tutors, we must draw a fine line between "paper-checking" and "writer-enhancement," and it is our ability to recognize that line and stay on the latter side of it that makes us Writing Center tutors.