Writing centers on college campuses have been around for more than 100 years, serving as both a resource for students doing their homework and a symbol of the importance of learning to express oneself in writing in higher education.
But as generative AI tools like ChatGPT make their way into mainstream business tools, promising to produce neatly formatted text with simple prompts and a click of a mouse, new questions are emerging about what role writing centers should play—or whether they will even be necessary in the future.
Many writing centers are already experimenting with new AI tools, demonstrating both the continued importance of writing instruction and their place on campus as a central point of contact for teaching AI skills.
“I see this as a real opportunity for writing centers to show leadership if given the opportunity,” says Sherry Wynn Perdue, president of the International Writing Centers Association. “This is an important moment, and our role as leaders is to provide resources to our colleagues so that we can lead the discussion on generative AI.”
But some writing instructors worry that the new tools could tempt colleges to rely too heavily on technology or even eliminate writing centers altogether. Writing centers are often run by non-tenured staff, which can make them particularly vulnerable, says Genie N. Giaimo, director of Middlebury University’s writing center and an assistant professor of writing and rhetoric there. And in the past, administrators at some colleges have replaced their services with comprehensive tutoring centers or third-party organizations, adds Wynn Perdue.
And even some professors with doctorates in English wonder whether colleges need to do as much to teach writing skills today, given new AI tools. “Why do we need a required writing course when AI can do anything outside stakeholders want to teach in such a course?” asked Melissa Nicolas, a professor of English at Washington State University, in an opinion piece last year.
So where does AI leave the writing center?
Finding a balance
Writing centers must strike a balance between incorporating artificial intelligence into the writing process while maintaining the human support every writer needs, argues Anna Mills, an English instructor at the College of Marin.
AI can complement a human tutor, Mills says. She encourages her students to use MyEssayFeedback, an AI tool that evaluates the structure of an essay, the quality of the evidence a student has presented to support their thesis, or the tone of the writing. Such tools could also evaluate research questions or check a student’s writing against the rubric for the assignment, she says.
By modeling these AI applications, Mills says, writing centers can increase students’ understanding of the technology and ease their worries about improper use. Many students come to college worried about being accused of cheating if they use AI for anything, she says. For example, many have seen the video on TikTok in which a student says she got an C on a paper because she used a grammar checker that triggered one of her professors’ AI detection systems. Providing guidance can help students feel more comfortable using the technology, she says. And understanding that the AI’s suggestions can be wrong also builds students’ confidence in their own abilities.
“After students get the feedback, they might say, ‘No, that’s not really what I want to do. Can you help me think about how I can expand on that other part?'” says Mills. “That’s something I think we need to encourage – that kind of confidence and willingness to engage and resist – because that’s how you get the most out of AI.”
Still, Mills requires her students to visit the writing center at least four times a semester. Human interaction is essential to the writing process, she argues. Often, tutors motivate students and show genuine interest in what they’re writing, something they can’t get from a chatbot, Mills says.
“Writing doesn’t mean as much without a human audience,” says Mills. “When you’re sitting with someone while you’re developing your ideas, you often feel that what you’re doing is most meaningful.”
Writing centers can play a critical role in keeping students in college, Giaimo says. The resources can be especially important for students who haven’t received as much support from colleges in the past, such as first-generation students and students from marginalized communities, she adds. And working with a tutor might be the first one-on-one interaction a student has at a college, which is especially crucial for students fresh out of the pandemic.
Even as the use of AI tools in the business world increases, students still need to learn how to write down and organize their ideas, Giaimo says. And without proper guidance, students may end up relying too heavily on tools like ChatGPT without ever gaining the basic skills to put their own thoughts on paper.
“We forget that most people who are in these processes, at least in academia, are just starting out or learning,” says Giaimo. “The process aspect is important and maybe even more important than what the final product looks like.”
Promoting AI competence
Tutors in writing centers play an important role in teaching students how to use AI properly, says Sarah Z. Johnson, director of the writing center at Madison College. Many writing centers now train their tutors in AI skills, which they can then pass on to the students they work with when the opportunity arises.
Johnson and her team train their tutors to teach students how AI can help with writing. For example, if a student is struggling to structure an essay, a tutor might ask them to feed their draft into a chatbot and ask it to create an outline for them, Johnson says. The student can see where a paragraph or sentence in the paper might work better, saving time during the tutoring session, she says.
This year, Johnson said, tutors will also learn a list of AI skills, such as how large language models work, what problems arise with generative AI, such as cultural bias, or how to write prompts that can help organize information.
At Middlebury, tutors are also trained to navigate AI policies, which can vary from instructor to instructor, Giaimo says. Tutors also learn to talk to students who they feel have used AI inappropriately — such as letting a chatbot do too many assignments without attribution — and steer them in a more productive direction.
In this way, Johnson says, tutors can help writers think through the “impact” of using artificial intelligence, allowing them to make their own decisions on questions like, “Does this final product represent me? Does it represent my voice? Does it represent what I want to say?”
The most important thing, says Johsnon, is “to recognize that AI is a tool, but you have to know how to use it rather than it using you.”
Writing centers often have relationships with departments across campus, making them a great place to foster AI skills, Johnson says. Students might come in with an assignment from an engineering course or a social sciences course, she says, which means writing center staff can build connections with colleagues across the college.
To prevent colleges from replacing writing centers with AI, directors and staff need to be proactive and champion their role in promoting AI competencies, she says. Johnson and Wynn Perdue have created a list of AI competencies that will be released later this year by a joint task force of the Modern Language Association and the Conference on College Composition and Communication. The IWCA also has its own generative AI task force, of which Johnson and Wynn Perdue are members, which plans to create additional resources to help writing centers adapt and train their staff.
“Generation AI is not something we’re afraid of, but it’s something that absolutely needs parameters,” Johnson says. “If we don’t help students figure out those parameters through tutors and things like that, I just don’t know how that’s going to happen.”
