From Pens to Keyboards: Looking back at the history of Coe College's Writing Center

Dr. Bob Marrs: Original Founder and Director of the Writing Center

Dr. Bob Marrs

Dr. Marrs was essentially the "founding father" figure of the writing center at Coe College. Dr. Marrs wound up at Coe because his wife (Professor Margie Marrs) was hired to teach in the music department. She's actually still a faculty member of the music department 47 years later.

Marrs remembers his hiring process like it was yesterday. “Second year that she was teaching, 1980, I was contacted by the English Second Language department to teach a course; first year seminar for international students," he said. "And so, I taught that course and it went ok…they continued to hire me.”

After several years of work as an English professor, Marrs was comfortable in his position at Coe. However, a new opportunity would arrive. In 1984, the faculty of the college voted to make some major changes in the curriculum. One of those changes was to create a writing program, a writing center, and a writing cross curriculum program. Coe College advertised the position for someone that would be the coordinator/director of the writing center.

Dr. Mars was initially unsure of the opportunity. “I actually was not going to apply because I wasn't qualified. I didn't have any experience.”

Lucky for Dr. Marrs, those in the English department contacted him and encouraged him to apply. With support from fellow peers, Dr. Marrs applied and the rest is history!

“I was hired to direct a writing center and I had never been in a writing center and really knew nothing, nothing about them," he said. "So the summer before the writing center started, I read a couple articles and figured, oh, we can figure this out," Marrs recalls.

And so it all started, the fall of 1986, with seven people working in the writing center: five people on work study and two (unpaid) volunteers. These are the kind of humble beginnings that are scripted in a classic Hollywood underdog story.

Dr. Marrs' Visions and Goals

CWC original location in Stuart Hall (1986)

A lasting impact can be felt from Dr. Marrs' tenure as writing center director. Marrs adopted the philosophy of the writing center in the summer before it opened. A primary fundamental was the idea that writing is the process of conversation.

“You're having a conversation with yourself and with an audience, imaginary audiences in some cases, and talking about your writing became a way to practice doing the writing,” said Marrs.

The importance of conversation in the writing center frequently comes up when you talk to Marrs. He set out to find consultants that were able to effectively communicate with students. 

“Our real product in the writing center is going to be the conversations, that's what's critical," he recalls. "And so right from the beginning, with regard to hiring people, I didn't always particularly care whether they were good writers or not.” 

I believe this theory holds true in the writing center today. One thing I love about being a consultant is that we aren’t expected to edit and correct one’s entire paper. Instead, our job is to employ tactical conservation to help assist student writing. 

“I realized that we were reading way too many papers and I put a major emphasis, much more of an emphasis than previously was the case with regard to the importance of conversation about the paper”, says Marrs.

During Marrs's time as a director, the Writing Center moved several times, but it always kept the same conversation-based approach. It is truly amazing how these decisions by Dr. Marrs created a “conversational” conferencing culture that the CWC has experienced for the past 38 years. Within a five year span, a culture and vision of the Coe College Writing Center had been built. Every consultant bought in! The CWC was off and running.

As a group, consultants went to the College Composition and Communication Conference. Dr. Marrs’ consultants gave a number of presentations at those conferences while he was director.  They would present at conferences with between 4000-5000 people.

“Not everybody would attend our presentations, but that's where we really established a kind of a national reputation," he said. "We had a lot of people that came to visit the Coe Writing Center because of those presentations,” Mars explains.

This national brand really helped the status of Coe College as a whole. Soon, the entire country was captivated by the CWC.

“We had two doctoral dissertations that were done to study the writing center because somebody (a doctoral student at the University of Iowa) heard a presentation that we gave in Kansas City, and he contacted me," Marrs describes. "He said he would like to do his dissertation and study the way in which we do writing conferences.”   

The last year when Dr. Marrs directed the writing center; Coe flew 30 people to a conference in San Diego. It is safe to say that our writing center has a history riddled with success.

Paper to Computers

Originally, consultants had to fill everything out on physical paper. It wasn’t absurd to see students coming in with handwritten essays. It also wasn’t out of the ordinary to fill out client report forms on paper, by hand. Consultants used paper forms to keep track of writing conferences all the time. In fact, tens of thousands of forms were created. Each paper form had descriptors such as, is this a text focused conference or a conversational conference? Consultants had to identify the various kinds of descriptors with regard to the conference as well as a short paragraph summarizing what happened in the conference. Sounds familiar, right?

Old School WCWC (Monthly Poster)

Current WCWC (Monthly Poster)

It didn't take long for computers to become widespread at public universities and private colleges. Consultants had to learn to help writers with new word-processing programs. But even as technology developed, there was still quite a discrepancy between back then and today. 

There were set hours for computer usage. In that era, there were labs since people didn't have their individual computer/laptop. It is kind of funny just to think how things have changed. When the Coe Writing Center opened, the CWC gave typing classes. There were many students coming into the college that had never typed or had never been taught.

At the same time, the CWC was still trying to learn how to use technology as a promotional tool. As we can see with the WCWC's, the older version looks stale. There is no color or any eye catching graphics. Meanwhile, the current WCWC's have visually appealing graphics and a QR code, making it easy for students to connect with the writing center. The CWC has come a long way when it comes to the technological sides of things.

Recap: What can We Takeaway from Our History?

Current CWC Logo

It is safe to say the Coe College Writing Center has undergone some changes. Yet, amazingly, the founding principles and values have remained the same through generations and generations. This storied history has built the powerful foundation upon which the CWC stands. It will be exciting to see what the next 38 years have in store for this program. Will new legacies and traditions be carved out? Who will be the next extraordinary consultant to leave their mark? How big or small will the CWC be? The possibilities are endless. 

I do know one thing for certain; the CWC will adapt in the ever changing world of higher education. It is this quality that will allow the CWC to flourish and continue to grow its national brand for years to come.