The Center

Location: Keystone 202

• Appointment Policy

• Pedagogy

• Drop-in Hours

• Workshops

• Study Areas

• Computer Use

• Printing Options

• Disruptions

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Appointment Policy:

Students make their own appointments either through our TLC homepage with a quick push of the button or by clicking the following url.

http://rich65.com/uwttlc/

Center appointments are for current UWT students, staff, and faculty only.

All appointments are for verbal (writing, reading, study skills, public speaking) assistance only. Math assistance is drop-in only (call for schedule).

Appointments are generally 30 minutes long. Writers may sign up for two consecutive appointments with the same consultant for a 60-minute appointment. Students are limited to a total of 60-minutes a day. If more appointments are scheduled, all appointments will be cancelled.

Our appointment hours are Monday through Thursday, 9 am – 6:30 pm (except during our drop-in hours which are 10-11 and 3-4 daily).

Please call the TLC at 253-692-4417 to cancel your appointment (24 hours advance notice if possible). Appointments will be held for 15 minutes only; after 15 minutes, the client is considered a no-show. In order to give all students equal access, after a client has two no-shows, he/she can make no more appointments for the quarter. Drop-in hours and uwtwrite will still be available.

We are located in the Keystone Building, KEY-202 on the top floor. There is an elevator located at the north end and stairways at both the north and south ends.

The new schedule is posted every Thursday at 3 p.m.

Pedagogy

The Center uses a cooperative, collaborative model for working with clients. The sessions are tailored to meet the needs of each individual or group who comes through our doors (or email lines or phone lines) for services. Muriel Harris (2001) wrote, “When we pause to examine why one-to-one tutoring is so effective, we note the power of individualizing, working with each student in terms of that student’s needs, background, and…mode of learning” (p.1). It is crucial to note, moreover, that the student, the client, bears the responsibility for identifying his or her needs and relevant background, which will then guide the direction of the consultation. The responsibility for any project, and the credit for work well done, must remain with the writer, the videographer, the speaker, the problem-solver.

Our “peer consultants” and "Swat team," students helping students, are generalists; that is, they focus their work in the area of writing/verbal, math/quantitative, or computer applications, skills that are used across the curriculum at UWT. They receive training, of course, and often comment that they benefit greatly from working at the Center, especially in terms of their own learning. Working with other students allows for a freer exchange of ideas and exploration than might otherwise be achieved within a structure of power. It also allows for students to exchange resources with each other, and to find the information needed (such as a citation) together. The cooperative model serves to remove some of the isolation and individualism from an intense academic setting.

We also have professional staff, instructional consultants who work with students, faculty and staff. The instructional consultants enjoy a peer relationship with faculty and staff, outside of the power structure. They are also more specialized in their knowledge, and so can serve as trainers and mentors for the peer consultants and as support for faculty and program staff. They, too, exercise an individualized, collaborative relationship with upper division and graduate students.

Drop-in Hours:

We have daily drop-in hours, Monday through Thursday, 10 am – 11 am and 3 pm – 4 pm. Consultations are on a first-come – first-served basis. Consultations are 15 – 30 minutes during drop-in so we may effectively serve the most people. No 60-minute consultations will be offered during our drop-in hours.

Workshops:

Each quarter, the Center teams with Office of Student Development & Success to provide study skills workshops (note-taking, test-taking, time-management). The schedule can be found on in the current registration guide. Additionally, workshops are offered in the Center, e.g. on style sheet use and avoiding plagiarism, and public speaking. Watch our bulletin board in West Coast Grocery and your email for announcements.

UWT Computer Orientation, Excel 1 & 2, PowerPoint, and Word for Writing papers are offered quarterly; register at: http://www.tacoma.washington.edu/ctlt/training/student/

Student groups, faculty, staff, and programs may request custom workshops, designed and taught to fit specific group training needs.

Study Areas:

Adaptive Technology is available in Key 202 D. This room is available by reservation and by dropping by. Reservations take precedence over drop-ins.

Interview video/audio-taping, public speaking practice, and small group or individual (nearly soundproof) study is available in Key 202 C. This room is available by reservation and by dropping by. Reservations take precedence over drop-ins.

Registered UWT students, and current UWT faculty and staff, may use available tables and computer stations, in the large open areas, for individual and small group study. This is especially useful for students who may have random questions for our consultants as they study. Please check in at the front desk; please let us know if you have questions or need help. When the Center is full, clients with consultation appointments have first priority.

Computer Use:

Users must have their own, individually assigned log-in (UW NetID) and password, and a UWT login to access all UWT campus computers. A UWT login can only be created in Walsh Gardner building room 108. Please do not ask our employees to log you in. (Public access computers are available in the UWT Library for research and at the Tacoma Public Library for using computer applications).

A UW NetID can be created on the Web at http://www.washington.edu/computing/uwnetid/
You will be asked for your Student ID (Husky Card) number and Private Access code (PAC). If you need assistance, go to Walsh Garden building room 108.

Printing Options:

No client printing is allowed in the Center. Please bring a printout of your work, your work on disk, or access to your work on a share drive to each conference. Our peer consultants will work with you in the format which you bring.
Using the Pharos system, students may print from Key 202 (any computer station) to any of the computer labs on campus, to the copy center, and to the library. There is a charge for printing.
Clients may also download their work to a disk or send their work to themselves via email and print TLC Home.

Disruptions:

All clients and visitors to The Center are expected to refrain from disrupting the work and study of others. This includes using soft voices, leaving your work areas clean for the next person, not interrupting other consultations, etc. Students are expected to follow the student conduct code: http://www.washington.edu/students/handbook/conduct.html#020
Students are also expected to comply with the UWT commitment to diversity:

UW Tacoma's commitment to diversity is central to maintaining an atmosphere where students, staff, faculty and South Sound residents find abundant opportunities for intellectual, personal, and professional growth. To hold constant a nurturing learning and work environment in the midst of change, each member of our community has the responsibility to build and sustain respectful and supportive relationships, where intolerance, discrimination, and social injustice are confronted and resolved through non-violent behavior. Diversity at UWT is understood as an inclusive domain of human characteristics which may change over time or remain unchangeable, which may involve choice, or which may result from other life circumstances.