Editor’s note: We would like to thank Nyasha Chimucheka, Language and Writing Consultant at the Teaching and Learning Centre at the University of Fort Hare, South Africa for providing this collection of responses. To contact the author, please email TLC. If you would like to share your writing center’s experience during COVID-19, please submit via WLN.

After training as a Language and Writing Consultant (LWC) at the beginning of the year, I was enthusiastic to meet the students and assist them during consultations as well as through reviewing their assignments. Although I had prepared to start work at the centre and meet students physically, the first case of COVID-19 was reported in South Africa in March 2020, and due to fear and uncertainty of the effects of this pandemic, universities in South Africa ordered students to vacate premises for the initial lockdown, which was for only 21 days. Unfortunately, the lockdown has now exceeded 120 days. This has resulted in unfulfilled anticipation that I had after the training.

Since students vacated the university premises and they have no access to academic venues, it means as LWC’s we also had to change the way we work and adapt to the situation to be able to continue assisting students who need help with academic writing. The need to adapt is also necessitated by the fact that, inasmuch as there is a lockdown and students are not on campus, students are still expected to engage with the learning material which has now been made available through an online teaching platform, Blackboard.

The need for online learning and for students to engage with learning material while at home also came with new challenges as the students also highlighted a number of challenges, including the fact that some did not have access to internet when at home. Using mobile data is expensive and some will not afford it, some did not have the laptops or gadgets that would allow for online learning and that some do not have electricity when at home. It is these challenges that prompted the Deputy Vice Chancellor at the University of Fort Hare to issue out a moratorium academic summative assessments. The university also moved on to provide mobile data to students and promised to provide laptops to ensure that learning proceeds and the 2020 academic year is saved. However, students kept working as some had already been given assignments before the lockdowns. It is these students that were submitting their work and expected feedback. Students now had to submit their work electronically, via e-mail and as a Language and Writing Consultant, I had to provide detailed feedback as there is no room to meet face-to-face with the student for consultation to provide feedback. The students would depend on the feedback they receive mainly during assignment review to improve their academic work.

COVID-19 brought challenges to most universities, and for my work, most of it is now online and may not be from office. This means I need stable internet access, a reliable computer and learn to facilitate online learning. This calls for great flexibility and desire to learn without which I may not be able to provide my services as a language and writing consultant. Learners also need to be trained to use online learning platforms.

If there is anything that is certain in this pandemic, it is the fact that a lot of things will change. The way we carry out our work and the manner in which we interact with learners will also change. Although we had received training as LWC’s at the beginning of the year, it is becoming clear now that we will need more trainings to be equipped to work in the new normal, during and after Covid-19. We will need training mainly on online learning and how to facilitate learning on online platforms – that way, we will be able to conduct academic writing workshops with students and carry on with our work effectively.