Editor’s note: We would like to thank Jonathan Woo from University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta (Canada), for providing this piece. If you would like to share your writing center’s experience during COVID-19, please submit via WLN.

Jonathan Woo

As a result of the circumstances put upon the University of Alberta by COVID-19, the Centre for Writers (C4W) quickly shifted to an online platform and trained its tutors to administer appointments remotely. From there, we were set to plunge into the new wholly remote tutoring experience. Despite the difficulties that were faced, a few notable improvements to the C4W’s efficient use of time surfaced.

Perhaps one of the more impactful benefits that arose out of this ordeal was the shortened transition time between tutoring sessions improved by multiple factors. Before COVID-19, prior to the end of each in-person tutoring session, tutors would allot time to present and inform clients about physical feedback forms. After COVID-19, upon shifting to online tutoring, the C4W designed a system that would automatically send feedback forms directly to clients’ email addresses following the end of their scheduled appointment. Of course, it would have still been beneficial to inform clients at the end of an online appointment about the incoming email, but it was no longer necessary. Another contributing factor to the improved transition times includes the actual period of switching from one client to the next; when the C4W was operated from campus, scheduled clients would bring their bags and other miscellaneous belongings and set themselves up beside their tutors in the tutoring booths. Additionally, clients leave the tutoring booths at different rates such that some need extra time to pack their greater volume of belongings. This detail gets exaggerated further during the long and harsh Canadian winters that are braved; students wear extra layers with the onset of winter, leading to even more time designated for the handling of personal belongings at the beginning and end of appointments. When we transitioned into online tutoring, waiting for clients to set themselves up or pack up from a booth became no longer relevant. With the extra time granted from automatically emailed feedback forms and an instantaneous set up, I, as a tutor, was able to utilize more time to work with the clients and their texts and to give explanations about the tools that the online tutoring session offered.

Another helpful change that the C4W implemented during the university’s spring semester was for the clients’ ability to add attachments of their texts and other relevant documents (i.e. assignment descriptions or rubrics) to their scheduled appointments. Previously, when in-person tutoring was still offered, tutors were not to interact with the clients’ texts outside of working hours. However, with the unpredictability of internet stability, giving clients the opportunity to link their texts for their tutors to access served helpful in many ways. For instance, several times upon starting up a session with a new client, I would need to wait for them to upload their text onto the shared screen. Sometimes waiting times would be extended due to navigation of where their text is saved (which was not abnormal to experience during in-person sessions either) or difficulties and errors occurring during uploads. However, when a client did attach their texts and assignment descriptions, I was able to immediately locate and upload the document onto the shared screen for us to read through. This also acted as a safety for the clients; if they did not join their scheduled remote appointment, tutors could still go through their attached documents and provide feedback in an asynchronous fashion. Therefore, although we still did not interact with clients’ texts outside of working hours, to have access to them allowed for more flexibility on the rules regarding missed appointments and with honing the flow of each tutoring session.

In spite of the sudden changes and adaptations that COVID-19 imposed, the ordeals that I faced, both as a tutor and student, developed my own and the C4W’s growth through reflecting upon and sharing my experiences. Once the C4W reopens for in-person appointments, the ideas discussed and the adaptations made could be implemented and maintained to enhance time efficiency in future in-person tutoring experiences.