Multimodal Professional Writing Center Support: Equity, Efficacy, and English Success
Bakersfield College's Writing Center offers a unique model, employing professional Writing Specialists with bachelor’s degrees in English or a related field alongside faculty for apportionment-collecting tutorials. The specialists provide multimodal support, with in-person, Zoom, and asynchronous Canvas workshops they develop under faculty guidance. The Program Manager collaborates with faculty across disciplines to integrate these workshops into coursework. The Writing Specialists also provide onsite tutoring to nontraditional college students in early college programs and in carceral settings such as the Rising Scholars inmate program. The center actively tracks student data via Starfish. By leveraging professional tutors and data analysis, this innovative, data-driven approach has boosted English success rates for users by 54.9%.
Innovators
- Kimberly Arbolante, Program Manager, Writing Center
- Darrell Ballard, Program Manager, Academic Success, Kinesiology, Health, and Athletics
- Justin Bell, Adjunct Professor, English
- Neal Call, Specialist II, Writing Center
- Kaleigh Day, Specialist I, Writing Center
- Jeffrey Eagan, Faculty, English, and Instructional Lead, Writing Center
- Daniel Gomes, Professor, English
- Jennifer Jett, Dean, Instruction, English
- Tennyson Jett, Specialist I, Writing Center
- Steven Ledesma, Specialist I, Writing Center
- Richard Marquez, Professor, English
- Austin Martinez, Specialist I, Writing Center
- Marlin Morales, Specialist II, Writing Center
- Julia Anna Rinalda, Specialist I, Writing Center
- Carlos Tejeda, Specialist I, Writing Center
- Andrea Thorson, Dean, Instruction, English for Multilingual Students
- Susan Vicuna, Adjunct Faculty, English for Multilingual Students
- Eric Weis, Specialist II, Writing Center
- Tiffany Wong, Adjunct Faculty, English, and Data Tracking Lead, AB1705
