In August, Jen McGovern took over as Simpson College’s writing center director. McGovern said the position is her dream job, and she has big plans to expand the Writing Center’s reach on campus.
Colin Payton, former director of Simpson’s Writing Center, left in July to attend law school. When the position opened up, McGovern was so interested in the job that she spent the entirety of her birthday submitting her application.
“You don’t always see the job that you want, in the place that you want, at the school that you want, you know,” McGovern said. “It all came together perfectly.”
Before Simpson, McGovern was an assistant professor at Tulsa Community College for eight years. Her husband Dan and her cats have yet to join her in Iowa, but since she worked at Grinnell College and received her master’s and PhD from the University of Iowa, she feels she’s an Iowan at heart.
“It’s not where I was born and raised, but, you know, when you’ve been here that long, I guess I get to be an honorary Iowan,” McGovern said.
McGovern chose Simpson so she could work with students one-on-one and give them the attention they need. Her previous roles involved teaching over 140 students a semester, which didn’t allow her to interact with every student individually. Working with writing consultants and offering tutoring sessions has granted her the opportunity for personalized instruction.
The Simpson Writing Center (SWC), in Mary Berry Hall room 109, “offers individualized assistance to all Simpson students across every discipline.” Writing consultants can help with any written, oral, visual, or electronic communication. All levels of writing help are offered, from starting composition to polishing drafts.
The SWC offers in-person consulting sessions and virtual assistance through an Online Writing Lab (OWL).
To McGovern, however, the Writing Center is more than helping people with their papers. It’s a safe space where students from all backgrounds can talk to someone, improve their academic skills and feel included. Her goal this semester is to broaden the Writing Center’s appeal to the rest of campus.
McGovern and the SWC are working on many projects this semester. Some of these projects include reaching out to more international and English Language Learner students, developing Foundation students’ college writing skills and helping the math department obtain a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant.
The NSF grant is a three-year project, and one of the SWC’s significant responsibilities moving forward. The goal is to improve the data analysis of minors’ communication ability and STEM projects in general.
Another plan McGovern has to improve the Writing Center is to offer a capstone writing class to help students in their final courses at Simpson. She also attended a conference for the College Reading and Learning Association to learn more about a certification program for tutors.
The SWC’s next priority is to build satellite locations of the Writing Center to meet students in places other than Mary Berry. McGovern is interested in setting up locations in Holy Grounds, Millie’s, Carver Science Center and Dunn Library.
The Writing Center is hosting its annual Night Against Procrastination (NAP Night) on Dec. 2, from 9 p.m. to midnight. The event encourages students to meet with tutors and get a jump start on their final papers. SWC staff members will be available in Holy Grounds, a few student dorms and Dunn to help students beat procrastination before finals week.
McGovern hopes to see more sophomores and juniors, a group she calls “the murky middle,” utilize the Writing Center. Foundations students and seniors taking capstone are the biggest clientele right now, but writing continues in all stages of college, in all disciplines.
Hannah Curtis, a senior double major in English and history, is a writing consultant for the SWC. Curtis said she enjoys her job because it’s like giving a peer review, but less intense.
Curtis encourages all students to seek help from the Writing Center because it’s a helpful resource. She said consultants are trained to be accessible to all and create a relaxed and supportive atmosphere.
“Our motto is, ‘Not here because you can’t, but because you can,’ and we live up to that,” Curtis said.
According to Curtis, she’s had many opportunities under McGovern’s leadership to give presentations and educate people about the Writing Center. Her interactions with McGovern have been very positive so far.
“Jen is really great,” Curtis said. “She really cares about the students. She’s always happy, always welcoming. She’s very communicative, which is very nice.”
The Writing Center is looking to hire more consultants and encourages any student who wants to help people, no matter their major or writing ability, to apply. It’s a paid position, entails a relaxed interview process and requires a two-credit hour training course, which will be offered in the Spring semester.
Curtis encouraged students to get involved with the SWC in any way possible, whether they want to improve their writing skills or want to become consultants. She wants students to know they shouldn’t be embarrassed coming to the Writing Center.
“Asking for help, especially at the Writing Center, you know, they don’t judge you based on your writing, and your writing style, and where you’re at in a draft,” Curtis said. “They are very much there to help you because we want to see you succeed.”
McGovern and student consultants can help with any writing, whether it’s for classes, personal writing, scholarship applications and more. Students seeking a writing consultation can sign up for face-to-face or online appointments at simpson.mywconline.com. Anyone interested in becoming a writing consultant can email McGovern at [email protected].
Although it’s only her first semester here, McGovern has big plans to broaden Simpson students’ awareness of the Writing Center.
“I’ve only been here a couple of months, but they’ve had a writing center on Simpson’s campus for decades,” McGovern said. “This is not new, but I think it’s about making people aware of what we can do, how we can help.”