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Full text release has been delayed at the author's request until July 22, 2025

ETD Abstract Container

Abstract Header

Conditions for Engagement: Reconsidering Writing Center Administrators' Policies and Perceptions of Mandatory Visits

Metzger, Claire F
http://orcid.org/0009-0006-6144-8820
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1721665041880517

Abstract Details

2024, Master of Arts, Miami University, English: Composition and Rhetoric.
This thesis explores writing center administrators’ (WCA) policies, perceptions, and stances on mandatory visits. Despite longstanding anecdotal concerns about mandatory appointments from the writing center field, few studies investigate administrators' understanding and management of these appointments. To address this gap, this thesis explores findings from a national survey and in-depth interviews with writing center administrators from various institutions. A RAD (replicable, aggregable, and data-driven) approach provided comprehensive insights into administrators’ attitudes surrounding mandatory appointments. The findings reveal that administrators hold ambivalent attitudes and inherent biases against required visits, primarily due to concerns about attracting seemingly unmotivated writers. Moreover, the findings suggest an overreliance on anecdotal lore rather than engagement with existing scholarship. These results ultimately suggest that the issues surrounding required visits are more administrative than student-related. The study contributes to the field by challenging the negative perceptions rooted in lore and advocates for a data-driven reevaluation of mandatory appointments to align our practices with empirical evidence better.
Lizzie Hutton (Committee Chair)
Heidi McKee (Committee Member)
John Tassoni (Committee Member)
74 p.
Higher Education; Higher Education Administration; Management
WCA; Writing Center; Mandatory Visits; Requirement; Engagement; Motivation

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Metzger, C. F. (2024). Conditions for Engagement: Reconsidering Writing Center Administrators' Policies and Perceptions of Mandatory Visits [Master's thesis, Miami University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1721665041880517

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Metzger, Claire. Conditions for Engagement: Reconsidering Writing Center Administrators' Policies and Perceptions of Mandatory Visits . 2024. Miami University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1721665041880517.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Metzger, Claire. "Conditions for Engagement: Reconsidering Writing Center Administrators' Policies and Perceptions of Mandatory Visits ." Master's thesis, Miami University, 2024. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1721665041880517

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

miami1721665041880517
© 2024, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Miami University and OhioLINK.