California State University, Bakersfield’s Writing Resource Center has seen a sudden influx of students who either need tutoring or help with their studies.
As of September 19, there were almost 300 students attending the WRC, according to a graph by Jacob Whittaker on WRC visits. This is the highest number ever recorded for students at the beginning of the semester.
Jacob Whittaker, the Writing Resource Center Coordinator, explained that following the recent flood of students, the WRC has resumed hiring and has hired 4 additional tutors effective immediately to help with the overflow. At the beginning of the semester, the center had only 15 tutors.
Although it is a long and arduous process to get hired, the WRC continues to look for ways for students to get the help they need. Whittaker said the pressure from many people did not detract from the quality of the WRC’s work.
When asked about the overall goal for the Writing Resource Center, Whittaker said, “We want students to be successful in class and in writing.” Whittaker says he wants students to improve their voice and overall confidence in writing .
He also explained that there is no cancellation of appointments by the WRC and the center tries to reach everyone as best as possible. An appointment system simplifies the process for both tutors and students.
Walk-in customers are not turned away, but it’s hard to tell when the center isn’t having a busy day, making its capacity status very unpredictable. Whittaker said the busiest times of the WRC are around the finals and midterms.
Allyson Loaisiga, a student at CSUB, said: “Chelsea is a good tutor and she helped me with the writing.” She also said her experience of tutoring at the WRC has been good all round. Loaisiga said that she was fortunate not to have to wait long compared to other students.
Another CSUB student, Victoria Herrera, shares her experience with Chelsea Arredondo, a WRC tutor.
“She helped me fix my grammatical mistakes and punctuation,” Herrera said.
Furthermore, she expresses that the tutors genuinely care about the work they are doing, that they don’t make minimal effort when helping the students, or giving tiny explanations to the students’ questions or problems. Despite the large number of students coming each week, the Writing Resource Center tries its best to reach everyone on time and not lower the level of its services.
According to the CSUB website’s Writing Resource Center section, “Not only do we equip ‘the answer,’ we support students at all stages of assignments so they learn to think critically about their own writing across all disciplines.”
The WRC also offers help via Zoom for students who have fully online or hybrid courses.
The WRC is open Monday to Thursday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Friday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m
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