Tutorial

Writing Center

Dr. Elmer G. Redford '59 Lab

The Dr. Elmer G. Redford ’59 Lab has been established in the Mary Poppe Chrisman Success Center on the campus of UW−Whitewater. “Thanks to a generous contribution from a UW−Whitewater alumnus, we are pleased to name this lab in honor of noted alumnus, instructor and staff member, Dr. Elmer Redford,” noted Greg Rutzen, President, UW-Whitewater Foundation, Inc. and Vice Chancellor for University Advancement.

The room will recognize the foundational work of Dr. Elmer Redford, UW-Whitewater Emeritus Physics Faculty Member and Developmental Studies and Learning Skills Center Director. Dr. Redford faithfully served for twenty-seven years as a member of the Department of Physics and is highly regarded for mentoring numerous students. He was instrumental in leading the development and growth of the Tutorial Services precursor, then known as the Developmental Studies / Learning Skills Center. His vision laid the foundation for a tutoring program focused on student needs and leveraging the talents of peer mentors, faculty and counselors. Dr. Redford also was a long-term stakeholder and supporter of the R. W. Prucha Scholarship Fund. Additionally, he participated in the shared governance of the University as a member of the faculty senate.

Fred M. & Barbara J. Arndt '70

Writing Center

Established by Fred and Barbara in 2020.

Frederick Arndt has held executive and leadership positions in human resources in Fortune 50 corporations as well as startup and early stage ventures for more than 45 years, including McKesson Corporation, SegaSoft, Capitol Records, Apple Computer, Searle Pharmaceuticals, Frito-Lay, and Baxter International.

 

Arndt admits that when he was a senior in high school,  it wasn’t clear he would make it to UW-Whitewater — or any college campus.  “My high school counselor said that, given my test scores, I wasn’t really college material,” he said.  His brother had gone to UW-Madison, but he felt that campus was too big for him. He knew about UW-Whitewater because an uncle had graduated from Whitewater State Teachers College in the 1930s, and while Arndt was in high school his grandmother was a house mother in one of the fraternity houses, so he’d go to Whitewater to pick her up and bring her home for the holidays.

 

Once he arrived on campus as a freshman, he knew he’d found his fit.  He started out as a business major, but a first-semester accounting class made him consider political science instead.  He took a Shakespeare course and was fascinated. He took every English class he could, so that by the time he was a junior he was 3-4 credits away from a second major in English, so he added it. One of the classes was creative writing.

 

“I knew writing would be helpful. The professor was a wild-haired guy with horn-rimmed glasses. I wrote an essay, he read it, and then he said, ‘I looked at this, and you only wrote a page and a half. I read it again and it dawned on me, you wrote what needed to be written — it was an economy of writing.’ But the grade was a C+. I asked the professor why I didn’t get an A, and he answered, ‘Your grammar.’ Although I ended up with a D in the class, it was the best class I took. Throughout my career, people have complimented me on the way in which I write.”

 

After graduating, Arndt spent three years serving in the Army during the Vietnam War. When he returned, he began working in human resources, eventually holding executive and leadership positions with Fortune 50 corporations as well as startup and early stage ventures until he retired from corporate leadership roles and established a consulting practice dedicated to leadership and human resource practices.  He attributes much of his success, both professional and personal, to his experiences at UW-Whitewater. He especially credits his professors in liberal arts studies — in particular writing and literature.

 

In 2020, the Arndts donated a major gift supporting Campus Tutorial Services in the Mary Poppe Chrisman Success Center. The Fred and Barbara Arndt Writing Center is an accessible space that will support tutorial services for students who need guidance in writing.  “Writing contributed 50% to my success in the corporate world,” said Arndt.

Mary Poppe Chrisman Success Center: Writing Center 

Campus Tutorial Service’s Writing Center, made up of The Dr. Elmer G. Redford Computer Lab and The Fred M. & Barbara J. Arndt Writing Center in the Mary Poppe Chrisman Success Center (rooms 3011 & 3012), provides a quiet place for students to work on writing projects and, if requested, to meet with our writing tutors; PCs and printers are available.

CTS is also offering ELL/ESL tutoring services. To see how to set up an appointment with an ELL/ESL tutoring click here.

The Writing Center is available during the Chrisman Success Center’s hours of operation, found here.  If you are interested in learning more about the space, please contact us at 262-472-1230 or tutorctr@uww.edu.  You can also stop at Campus Tutorial Services’ front desk, located on the second floor of the Mary Poppe Chrisman Success Center.  Please click here to learn more about our writing tutors and to schedule appointments.

Vision Statement:  Campus Tutorial Services is a complimentary service designed to facilitate the learning experience for students while at the same time enhance the content knowledge/pedagogy of the tutors.  "Complimentary" means the client utilizes our services in addition to working closely with faculty.  "Facilitate" means tutors facilitate the client's active learning of content, as opposed to passive direct instruction.

CRLA Certification: Campus Tutorial Services has been awarded Level 1 (Certified), Level 2 (Advanced) and Level 3 (Master) International Tutor Training Certification by the College Reading and Learning Association (CRLA), a nationwide professional association made up of learning support programs at colleges and universities. Certification sets standards of training, skill development, and evaluation for our program and our writing tutors. Achieving certification means that Campus Tutorial Services Writing Center has met CRLA’s high standards for writing tutor selection, training, direct service, and evaluation as an integral part of their overall tutoring program.  The CRLA is endorsed by the National Association for Developmental Education (NADE) and the American College Personnel Association (ACPA).  All Campus Tutorial Services Writing Tutors are trained according to the College Reading and Learning Association (CRLA) guidelines.  For more information about CRLA certification, please click here. 

Campus Tutorial Services has also been awarded the International Peer Educator Training Program Certification (IPTPC) by the College Reading and Learning Association (CRLA). The certification sets standards and guidelines for the minimum skills and training peer educators need to be successful, and also inspires peer educator trainers to go beyond minimum standards to create training programs that challenge peer educators to the highest level of expertise they can achieve. Moreover, certified training programs offer campus recognition and rewards for peer educators' successful work by certifying peer educators trained to the standards of CRLA's International Peer Educator Training Program Certification.

Finally, IPTPC communicates validity to critics, prestige among colleagues, and credibility to administrators and other institutional stakeholders. The certification criteria provided by CRLA's IPTPC can be used to develop a new program of peer educator training, revise an existing program, or expand a program into new areas of perceived need. As with tutor certification, IPTPC is a "living" program: criteria are reviewd annually in light of professional input and new learning in the field. 

 

Online Writing Resources

Writer Resources

General ESL/ELL Resources

  • Activities for ESL Students (published by The Internet TESL Journal) diverse collection of online acticites for all levels of ESL students.
  • Dave's ESL Cafe (created by Dave Sperling, The English Language Institute at San Diego State University) more than 100 cateogries of the English language.
  • English as a Second Language (created by Rong-Chang Li) free learning site links for ESL students and teachers.
  • TOEFL Go Anywhere (Educational Testing Service) TOEFL preparation services.

Style Guides

Tutorials

  • APA Style Tutorial – Tutorials and Webinars, Handouts and Guides, and Sample Papers (from the APA)
  • APA Formatting – APA Format Setup in Word 2010 (audio/video), approx. 5 minutes (from the Daytona State College Writing Center)
  • MLA Formatting – MLA Format Setup in Word 2010 (audio/video), approx. 5 minutes (from the Daytona State College Writing Center)
  • MLA Style Overview – MLA 8th edition guide from the Purdue OWL (PowerPoint presentation)

Helplines

UW-Whitewater Plagiarism/Academic Misconduct 

Additional Resources

UW-Whitewater Anderson Library 

Writing Scientific Reports – (from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)

Grammar and Writing Websites

Plagiarism

Graduate Student Writers

Recommended Reading