Editor’s note: We would like to thank Victoria L. O’Connor, Red D. Douglas, and Ashley E. Muller, Writing Consultants of the Writing Center at Oakland University, Rochester (Michigan), for providing this piece. To contact the authors, please email OUWC. If you would like to share your writing center’s experience during COVID-19, please submit via WLN.

  Left to right: Victoria L. O’Connor, Red D. Douglas, and Ashley E. Muller

Six. This is the average number of online appointments the consultants at our writing center facilitated per semester, prior to last fall. Eight. This is the average number of online appointments we now facilitate each day. Reflecting back on this journey, the timing of our efforts to expand the center’s digital infrastructure was indeed serendipitous given the events that unfolded in March.

As the 2018-2019 academic year concluded, it became evident that our numbers were alarmingly low. Perhaps in-person appointments were going by the wayside, we thought. Maybe we needed a more robust online presence to meet the needs of a new generation of college students. At the Oakland University Writing Center, online appointments were traditionally reserved only for those studying remotely, which contributed to their rarity. Considering avenues to increase student accessibility to our services, we decided that beginning in the fall of 2019, all students would be allowed to schedule appointments online. Although we speculated that online sessions would increase our appointment numbers, it was unbeknownst to us then that this choice would ultimately save our center during the pandemic.

On Wednesday, March 11th 2020, our little midwestern bubble popped. While running a statistics workshop for graduate students, an announcement projected over the loudspeaker stating that the university would be closing due to COVID-19. Panicked students surveyed the room. The graduate students seemed comforted that we continued the session, allowing them to put off their trepidation for at least another hour.

Thirty-two. This is the number of writing center consultants employed by the Oakland University Writing Center at the beginning of March 2020. Fourteen. This is the total number of writing center consultants the OUWC employed at the beginning of May 2020, an over 50% reduction in staff. The evolution of our center from solely face to face sessions to the incorporation of virtual appointments moved from a gentle process to an abrupt confrontation.

As the initial shock of the disruption wore off, our staff got to work quickly on how best to accommodate our clients while also taking care of ourselves. Due to the work that we had begun before the semester to improve our online capabilities, we were able to take two days off and then quickly move to online appointments. None of us consultants remaining were tech savvy, and most of us had never had an online appointment. However, we all explored various mediums to help us work more efficiently, including Google Docs, Google Meet, WC Online, Slack, Loom, and Webex.

Three. The number of us that worked together on various projects ranging from day-to-day operations to IRB research studies, despite the physical distance. We found ourselves virtually consoling and supporting each other and our clients on academic and personal issues. While our undergraduate students seemed to only utilize our services for finals week, our graduate students seemed to utilize our appointments on a regular basis. For many reasons, both our graduate consultants and clients were those that continued on as regular during the pandemic. We connected with old and new regular clients, and saw an increase in ESL students who shared their anxiety of discussion posts and virtual mentorship. Regardless of academic stature, we all shared frustration of technological services and the fear of the unknown following semester.

Zero. The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases within our Oakland University Writing Center staff since taking the necessary precautions with virtual consulting. Looking back at the progress our center made during the last year in the technological realm, both by choice and force, we are proud of ourselves and hoping that we are now able to meet the needs of more students than ever.