DUBLIN — This week, Bladen Community College opened its long-awaited Writing Center, the first of its kind at the institution.

Made possible in part by a $9,750 grant from the Duke Energy Foundation, the Writing Center’s mission is to help improve students’ academic writing skills, enlarge verbal and written communication abilities, and instill creativity in writing.

Joyce Bahhouth, BCC dean of Arts and Sciences and Developmental Studies, is the visionary behind the concept.

“Writing skills are imperative to a successful future. Our English department places great emphasis on giving every student the tools they need to write well,” she commented. “But to create an inviting area, with state-of-the-art equipment and highly-skilled tutors, requires an investment of funds and human resources. The Duke Energy grant will enable us to move forward with this dream of a leading-edge facility.”

BCC President William Findt agreed.

“Bladen Community College is honored to receive this award in the year in which the college is celebrating 50 years of service to the county,” he commented. “This award from Duke Energy will address the skills of writing and communicating well, the most basic components of success.”

At the new Writing Center, help will be available through a variety of methods. Face-to-face appointments will be held in Room 2 of the LEC. Students taking advantage of this method will bring their draft and assignment rubric and will be given revision suggestions before leaving. Students or groups desiring a face-to-face session can schedule it in advance by visiting the Writing Center online portal or by simply walking in.

Online appointments also take place through the online portal. With this type of appointment, student and tutor will communicate remotely through a real-time program similar to Facetime or Skype. Both the tutor and student will be able to view a draft of the assignment while chatting online, and, once the session is over, it will be saved and available for review later.

With e-tutoring, students communicate with their tutor in writing. After uploading their draft and instructor’s prompt, students exit the Writing Center portal and, within 24 hours, a tutor will review the paper and respond with feedback via email.

“I talk to people all the time who have good ideas and know what they want to say; they just don’t know how to write it in a way that makes their message clear and understandable. They feel they’re mislabeled because of their writing skills, and their inability to write well has become a barrier to success for them,” said Allana Carroll, a Writing Center tutor. “I want to help equip people with the writing skills they need, so there won’t be any barriers to what they want to accomplish.”

Bahhouth said she would eventually like to see the Writing Center expand its services to include workshops and special events.

“It’s an exciting beginning,” she remarked.

Appointments can be scheduled by visiting https://bladencc.mywconline.com/. Visitors will need to complete a one-time registration using their BCC email address in order to access the Writing Center schedule. Hours of operation are Monday through Thursday 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and Friday 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. A limited number of online and e-tutoring appointments outside of operating hours are available by viewing “Spring 2017 online and e-tutoring” while on the portal.

For information about Bladen Community College, call 910-879-5500. For information about the Duke Energy Foundation, contact Candice Knezevic at 980-373-6408.

Chrysta Carroll can be reached by calling 910-862-4163.

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Staff report