Students buried in writing final papers might feel more relief next fall when a new $5-million writing center opens on campus.
University alumnus John Sweetland recently donated $5 million to launch a writing center in LSA to improve students' writing skills. The center will be named in honor of Sweetland's late wife, Gayle, who was an award-winning writer, editor and publisher of U. Magazine, a monthly national college magazine.
Sweetland said his donation is a wonderful way for him to remember his wife.
"We were both very fond of Michigan," Sweetland said. "And I thought this would be a fitting tribute to Gayle. She was a writer all her life."
While exact plans for the center aren't finalized, the program will find ways to improve students' writing through tutoring and helping graduate student instructors teach writing more effectively.
Sweetland said a problem today is that there are too few students who understand the importance of writing well.
"Its very hard to find students who can write well," Sweetland said. "It's crucial to be able to transmit ideas into the written word."
Sweetland, who said he received his writing base at the University, said he hopes his donation will give something back to the Ann Arbor campus.
"I hope it makes better writers out of the students," said Sweetland, who graduated from the University with a bachelor's degree in economics. "Michigan is a great school with great students, and a great history, and I am trying to make sure it has a great future."
LSA Dean Edie Goldenberg said the Gayle Writing Center won't be limited to English majors but will be open to all LSA students.
"We are establishing the writing center in order to draw together faculty from all across the school, not just from the English Department," Goldenberg said. "The center will be helping those who are dedicated to education to improve the teaching of writing."
Goldenberg said the center will be a critical component in the University's efforts to enhance the undergraduate learning experience.
"The goals of the writing center is to improve the teaching of writing and to make sure every student who goes through Michigan has a strong preparation in writing," Goldenberg said.
LSA first-year student Pam Hirschman said she would go to the writing center next year if she needed writing help.
"It sounds very helpful," Hirschman said. "I wish I had the resources right now to help me through my papers."
English Department Chair Martha Vicinus said graduate students can learn how to teach better writing through the center's new lecture series.
"There will be fellowships for undergraduate and graduate students to come together and improve our capabilities of teaching writing," Vicinus said. "The writing center is to teach composition more effectively in LSA."
Goldenberg said other universities may use LSA's writing center as a model to build their own programs, similar to the school's introductory classes that have been copied nationwide.
"Just as LSA's introductory chemistry and calculus courses have become models for other colleges and universities, we expect that, through the writing center, we will develop a writing program that will become a national model," Goldenberg said.
The Center also will participate in the University's current high school outreach programs, Goldenberg said.
"We can share our expertise and our expectations with high schools whose students eventually become LSA students," she said.