A Brief History of the Writing Center at Ball State
March 23, 1966: The Writing Clinic is established in North Hall to supplement Composition courses taught by the English Department.
1972: The Writing Clinic moves to the English Annex, only 100 yards away from English Department main office and classrooms.
1974: First study of Writing Clinic efficiency conducted by Chad Manis, an undergraduate tutor with a University Undergraduate Research Grant. He found that 48% of students who attended the Writing Clinic in Winter 1973-1974 had a one letter grade improvement from the beginning to the end of their courses. 30% of students reported an improvement of 2 letter grades or more.
1978: The Writing Clinic moves to its own facility. Students with any major can apply to be a tutur, but 80% of the tutors are English majors or minors. The Writing Clinic also publishes its own tutoring handbook: The Writing Clinic: Tutor's Handbook.
1981-1982: The Writing Clinic changes its name to The Writing Center. A standard tutor application and tutor evaluation form are adopted. An ongoing tutor training program is established (Practicum in Peer Tutoring EN 301).
Fall 1984: The Writing Center moves to RB 291, its current home.
1984-1985: Grammar Crisis line added to the Writing Center through the work of Jane Haynes and the Writing Across the Curriculum Project.
1986: The Writing Center adds weekly workshops (placed on tapes), starts a conversation hour for non-native speakers of English, begins walk-in hours, stays open in the summer, and begins advertising with brochures.
1996: The tutors begin tutor journals where they communicate with each other and share tutorial stories.
Late 1990s: The Writing Center is given computers.
2004-2005: WCOnline scheduling program begins to be used by the Writing Center.
2005: "Tutor of the Year" award and "Retired Tutor Hall of Fame" are started.
Spring 2006: Walk-in tutoring at the library begins and tutoring through AIM begins.
Spring 2007: Online tutoring becomes available at the Writing Center.
Spring 2008: The Carol S. Chalk Memorial Scholarship for Writing Center Tutors is created. Writing Center Tutors publish a tutor training guide: To Whom It Concerns: A Handbook for Writing Center Tutors.