We want new Writing Center staff members to become familiar and comfortable with both the Writing Center’s expectations for working with writers and the Writing Center’s diverse and complex operations. As a new tutor, you will spend the first 2-3 weeks of employment observing and being observed by returning tutors during appointments with writers.
Collaborative observations allow you to
Collaborative observations are a WRD 395/582 course assignment, so you may need to complete them outside your paid shifts if necessary to finish them on time.
New tutors will complete 8 Collaborative Observations, write a reflection for each observation, and meet with your course instructor twice, once after completing each of two, distinct collaborative observation phases:
**Phase 1: Observing Returning Tutors** 5 Observations + Reflections Due Date: Friday, October 9, 2026
**Phase 2: Taking the Lead** 3 Observations + Reflections Due by Friday, October 16, 2026
The collaborative observations process scaffolds your learning about writing-based appointments so you are familiar with our Core Practices, policies, and appointment procedures and begin to develop tutoring strategies of your own.
It is your responsibility to complete the two phases of the collaborative observations process by the due date. It is highly likely and possible to complete this process during your regularly-scheduled shifts over the next few weeks; however, you may need to do this outside your shifts if necessary. You can start this process as soon as you start your shifts in Week 3.
<aside> <img src="/icons/send-to_orange.svg" alt="/icons/send-to_orange.svg" width="40px" /> *The requirements for the number of appointments you need to observe are designed to make sure you’re ready to take appointments by yourself by the end of the process.
If you want to observe and/or take the lead on more than the minimum required number of appointments in either phase of collaborative observations to help you feel better prepared to tutor, you are welcome to do so, provided you complete your observations and reflections by the due dates.*
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5 Observations + Reflections | Due on or before Friday, October 9**
3 Observations + Reflections | Due on or before Friday, October 16**
<aside> <img src="/icons/send-to_orange.svg" alt="/icons/send-to_orange.svg" width="40px" /> NOTE ON APPOINTMENT LETTERS *Whoever leads the appointment is responsible for writing the letter that will get sent to the writer and completing the Client Report Form in WCOnline. During Phase 1, returning tutors write the appointment letter, though they may ask for input from the new tutor.
During Phase 2, new tutors write the appointment letter with the help and support of the returning tutor. In WCOnline, the appointment remains on the returning tutor's schedule, but the new tutor creates the "Client Report Form." On the form, select the new tutor's name in the "Staff or Resource" drop-down menu.*
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The Collaborative Observations Reflection Form is adapted from a reflective tool by R. Mark Hall (2017) in his book Around the Texts of Writing Center Work: An Inquiry-based Approach to Tutor Education.
This reflection form will help you to identify the ways that our core practices are utilized in real appointments. According to Hall, critically analyzing appointments through a lens of these shared, valued practices can help us to better identify and understand “underlying values and assumptions guiding tutoring routines” (p. 16). In doing so, you will develop a more complex view of how tutoring operates that will help you and your fellow new tutors discuss these practices in greater depth throughout your first quarter.
To complete the assignment, you will complete a reflection form for each of the 8 collaborative observations you do. The focus of your reflection should
