One of the wonders of the Writing Center is the variety of conferences and projects you get to see. From chemistry memos to creative writing narratives, we as consultants see it all and have to be ready to adapt and provide feedback. From my experiences in giving a wide variety of conferences, I have definitely developed opinions on types of papers I enjoy conferencing on, and those I don't enjoy as much. I would much rather help a younger bio student with their first lab report than try to decipher the requirements and expectations of a math paper. I was curious if other consultants had preferences in the conferences they give, specifically how those preferences looked in relation to their major.
To get a better idea of consultant’s opinions on giving conferences within and outside of their majors, I sent out a voluntary google form. Questions included topics such as current majors, approximate number of conferences given in and out of major, and comfort level on a scale of 1 (not comfortable) to 5 (very comfortable) inside and outside of major. Responders were also asked to share any thoughts and opinions on the topics.
From the 14 responses to the form, a total of 18 different majors were represented. The most popular major was biology (3 responses). Communications, creative writing, English, psychology, rhetoric, and social and criminal justice were the second most popular (2 responses).
The majority of consultants (35.7%) approximated that overall, they had given 50-100 conferences. 28.6% of consultants estimated that they had given 25-50 conferences overall, the second most popular response. These statistics are significantly different from the estimated conferences within their major. 78.6% of respondents (11 responses) estimated that they had given 0-25 conferences within their major.
When asked their comfort level, on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being not confident and 5 being confident, 57.1% of respondents rated their confidence as a 4. All responses ranged from 3 to 5. Consultants tended to be more confident when giving conferences in their majors. Again, all responses ranged from 3 to 5, however, 50% of respondents rated themselves as a 5 (confident) when giving conferences in their majors. Overall, consultants felt confident in their ability to give conferences, especially so within their major.
While the statistical breakdown of the responses is interesting, many interesting and valuable insights were provided in the open ended prompts. Although all responses were insightful, only a few specific ones from each prompt could be included. For a list of all responses, see the end of the blog.
Generally, most consultants who responded seemed to enjoy giving conferences outside of their majors. Not only do they enjoy exposure to new ideas, but they also felt that they could provide helpful feedback, especially in areas like grammar and citations. They mentioned the value in specifically having someone uniformed of the topic reading and editing the paper, suggesting that it helped writers explain and explore their ideas more in depth. Consultants generally felt that the different perspective offered by someone outside of your paper could be helpful in brainstorming or revising for a more general audience.
Amongst these positives, many consultants did indicate that certain writing projects or papers outside of their major were difficult for them to consultant on. Generally consultants felt less confident when conferencing on projects outside their major with specific formatting rules, such as lab reports in STEM fields or poems. The ever dreaded philosophy papers were also mentioned several times as difficult to consult on. When faced with these more difficult or uncomfortable subjects, consultants had a few strategies. Many said they would recommend the writer to consult their professor or another consultant within their major, while another common response was to focus on the things they felt comfortable in fixing, such as the grammar or citations.
It appeared most consultants who responded felt more confident in giving conferences within their majors for a variety of reasons. Many mentioned their overall confidence in writing within their major as they have significant personal experience, which makes it easier to give feedback to others. Consultants felt more knowledgeable about the basic concepts and the writing requirements, and they also enjoyed talking to someone with similar interests and passions. A few mentioned the small size of Coe's departments, and how this allowed them to know the specifics of professors' expectations or writing assignments within their department. The relationships formed between consultants and writers in the same major was also cited as a positive.
Despite the general trend of more confidence, there were a few key factors that lowered consultants' confidence in giving conferences within their majors. Some consultants with "less popular" majors did not have a lot of experience giving conferences in their major, so they tended to be less confident due to lack of personal experience. A few consultants felt that knowing so much about the subject could make the conference boring, as the structure and mistakes made are very repetitive. One response suggested that having background knowledge on the subject could make the conference somewhat overwhelming, and that a different, more specific approach worked best in those situations.
The insights provided here are very interesting. I agree wholeheartedly with the advice that consultants shouldn't give up on a conference outside of their major. A little more communication and focus may be needed, but we as consultants can always provide some form of feedback or support! There are advantages to meeting with someone inside and outside of your major, especially depending on the type of feedback being sought. On the resources offered by the Writing Center, being able to view majors on WCOnline has been an awesome feature, for both consultants and writers. I look forward to seeing the reference guides for Chicago art style (as I have had a few too many conferences where the writer and I learn on Purdue OWL together), and I am interested to see if style guides could be applicable in any other major.
To get a better idea of consultant’s opinions on giving conferences within and outside of their majors, I sent out a voluntary google form. Questions included topics such as current majors, approximate number of conferences given in and out of major, and comfort level on a scale of 1 (not comfortable) to 5 (very comfortable) inside and outside of major. Responders were also asked to share any thoughts and opinions on the topics.
Majors Represented in Survey
From the 14 responses to the form, a total of 18 different majors were represented. The most popular major was biology (3 responses). Communications, creative writing, English, psychology, rhetoric, and social and criminal justice were the second most popular (2 responses).
The majority of consultants (35.7%) approximated that overall, they had given 50-100 conferences. 28.6% of consultants estimated that they had given 25-50 conferences overall, the second most popular response. These statistics are significantly different from the estimated conferences within their major. 78.6% of respondents (11 responses) estimated that they had given 0-25 conferences within their major.
Comfort Level In & Out of Major
When asked their comfort level, on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being not confident and 5 being confident, 57.1% of respondents rated their confidence as a 4. All responses ranged from 3 to 5. Consultants tended to be more confident when giving conferences in their majors. Again, all responses ranged from 3 to 5, however, 50% of respondents rated themselves as a 5 (confident) when giving conferences in their majors. Overall, consultants felt confident in their ability to give conferences, especially so within their major.
While the statistical breakdown of the responses is interesting, many interesting and valuable insights were provided in the open ended prompts. Although all responses were insightful, only a few specific ones from each prompt could be included. For a list of all responses, see the end of the blog.
Conferencing Outside of Your Major
Generally, most consultants who responded seemed to enjoy giving conferences outside of their majors. Not only do they enjoy exposure to new ideas, but they also felt that they could provide helpful feedback, especially in areas like grammar and citations. They mentioned the value in specifically having someone uniformed of the topic reading and editing the paper, suggesting that it helped writers explain and explore their ideas more in depth. Consultants generally felt that the different perspective offered by someone outside of your paper could be helpful in brainstorming or revising for a more general audience.
Amongst these positives, many consultants did indicate that certain writing projects or papers outside of their major were difficult for them to consultant on. Generally consultants felt less confident when conferencing on projects outside their major with specific formatting rules, such as lab reports in STEM fields or poems. The ever dreaded philosophy papers were also mentioned several times as difficult to consult on. When faced with these more difficult or uncomfortable subjects, consultants had a few strategies. Many said they would recommend the writer to consult their professor or another consultant within their major, while another common response was to focus on the things they felt comfortable in fixing, such as the grammar or citations.
Conferencing In Your Major
It appeared most consultants who responded felt more confident in giving conferences within their majors for a variety of reasons. Many mentioned their overall confidence in writing within their major as they have significant personal experience, which makes it easier to give feedback to others. Consultants felt more knowledgeable about the basic concepts and the writing requirements, and they also enjoyed talking to someone with similar interests and passions. A few mentioned the small size of Coe's departments, and how this allowed them to know the specifics of professors' expectations or writing assignments within their department. The relationships formed between consultants and writers in the same major was also cited as a positive.
Despite the general trend of more confidence, there were a few key factors that lowered consultants' confidence in giving conferences within their majors. Some consultants with "less popular" majors did not have a lot of experience giving conferences in their major, so they tended to be less confident due to lack of personal experience. A few consultants felt that knowing so much about the subject could make the conference boring, as the structure and mistakes made are very repetitive. One response suggested that having background knowledge on the subject could make the conference somewhat overwhelming, and that a different, more specific approach worked best in those situations.
Feedback + Thoughts
The end of the survey included an open ended prompt that asked consultants to include any opinions or thoughts that they would like shared in my blog post, the responses are shown below.
The insights provided here are very interesting. I agree wholeheartedly with the advice that consultants shouldn't give up on a conference outside of their major. A little more communication and focus may be needed, but we as consultants can always provide some form of feedback or support! There are advantages to meeting with someone inside and outside of your major, especially depending on the type of feedback being sought. On the resources offered by the Writing Center, being able to view majors on WCOnline has been an awesome feature, for both consultants and writers. I look forward to seeing the reference guides for Chicago art style (as I have had a few too many conferences where the writer and I learn on Purdue OWL together), and I am interested to see if style guides could be applicable in any other major.
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