The greatest good you can do for another is not just to share your riches but to reveal to him his own. - Benjamin Disraeli

RWIT, the Student Center for Research, Writing, and Information Technology, stands as a free service dedicated to helping students become better writers. Initially a peer writing center at Dartmouth, RWIT was launched when the Composition Center collaborated with the Library and Academic Computing to provide students with a breadth of resources that would empower them as better writers and speakers using any medium of composition.

The RWIT staff believes that the continuous discovery of ideas through ongoing revision results in work that students can be proud of. This process is greatly enhanced when students learn from their peers through informal discussion. RWIT is a place where the Dartmouth community (both undergraduates and graduate students) can meet with an undergraduate tutor to discuss a paper, learn about research resources, or get help with a multimedia assignment. RWIT tutors are trained to help at any phase of the process, whether it is brainstorming or researching, structuring or polishing. Students looking to learn more should drop by RWIT, which is located on the first floor of Berry Library near the Reference Desk in room 183.

You can also visit the RWIT website.

Student Resources

RWIT exists to assist members of the Dartmouth community with academic and other types of writing. Our research assistance includes helping students determine a research topic, find resources, use databases, determine the credibility of resources, and cite sources. RWIT also offers writing assistance, including brainstorming a topic, crafting a thesis, developing the structure of an essay, or even working on the nitty-gritty details of grammar and prose. Likewise, because composition is taking different forms—from movies to PowerPoint presentations—RWIT also provides multi-media assistance through which students can acquire the skills to create effective short films or presentations. RWIT has also teamed up with Career Services to provide help with resumes and graduate school applications. Finally, RWIT is piloting a new initiative with the Language Departments to provide tutors who can help with foreign language papers.

All these resources are only a step away. All students need to do is schedule an appointment .

http://www.dartmouth.edu/~rwit/scheduler.html

Working for RWIT

The process of learning through informal discussions educates tutors as well as clients. RWIT tutors claim that by helping others they have been able to develop their own critical thinking and writing skills. RWIT tutors also enjoy learning about a range of subjects from their clients. Students who are good writers and who have a sincere interest to work with writers from diverse backgrounds are encouraged to apply to RWIT.

Applicants need not have any prior tutoring experience as RWIT trains new staff to tutor clients in writing, researching, and composing with different media. In the beginning of the fall term, tutors undergo 16 hours of intensive training followed by four hours of ongoing training each term. The training sessions include a range of topics, from using the Search 360 Portal, to digital media workshops, to attending rigorous grammar and style sessions. Successful applicants either work as peer tutors, who take weekly shifts in the Student Center, or as Writing Assistants, who work with professors to provide personalized tutoring support in their classes.

Interested students should visit the RWIT website for more information about the hiring process.

http://www.dartmouth.edu/~rwit/hiring.html

RWIT Award Recipients, 2008

Each year, students who work in the IWR’s Student Writing Support Services (which include RWIT and the Writing Assistance Program) are honored in a variety of ways, including the Class of 1962 Awards, the Leadership Awards, and the Senior Bookplate Program.

Student Writing Support Awards

The Class of 1962 Awards for Excellence in Peer Tutoring for 2007-08
Rose Mutiso '08 (Head Tutor 07-08)
Laura Cherkas '08

The Class of 1962 Awards for Excellence in Writing Assistance for 2007-08
David Gorman '08 (Head Writing Assistant 07-08)
Melissa Rudd '08

RWIT Leadership Awards for 2007-08
Nichola Tucker '08 (Chair of Recruiting and Hiring 07-08)
Stevie Belchak '08

Senior Bookplate Program

The Dartmouth College Library's Student Library Service Bookplate Program, now in its second year, honors graduating student Library employees by inviting them to choose books, DVDs, or CDs for the Library's collections. Each item receives a bookplate that acknowledges the student's selection and honors his or her service to the Library. The Library collaborates in running RWIT, the Student Center for Research, Writing, and Information Technology, and fourteen graduating RWIT tutors will be among the more than sixty student employees honored. "The Bookplate Program is wonderful," says Rebecca Armistead '09, a tutor who is graduating with the Class of 2008. "It not only honors student workers, but it is also a chance for the library to expand its collection, often with unique books that it wouldn't acquire any other way." This year's seniors will be celebrated with Commencement week displays at all of Dartmouth's campus libraries. A webpage will link to Library Catalog records for the students' selections.

Books and DVD Recommendations RWIT staff

Rebecca Armistead: All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten, by Robert Fulghum
Stevie Belchak: Collected Poems, by Sylvia Plath
Victoria Fener: West Wing, Season Six (DVD)
David Gorman: David Copperfield (DVD)
Jiayi Hao: Eight Memories in Watercolor, a score by Tan Dun
Rose Mutiso: End of Capitalism, by Gibson-Graham
Latif Nasser: Darwin for Beginners, by Jonathan Miller
Armeen Poor: Funny in Farsi, by Firoozeh Dumas
Melissa Rudd: Redwall, by Brian Jacques
Laura Sternik: North and South (DVD)
Kevin Tang: Postmodern Short Story Collection, by Huang Fan
Anna Strom Thompson: Grace (Eventually), by Anne Lamott
Nichola Tucker: Love and Theft, by Eric Lott
Elsie Waxenberg: Imperial Hearst, by Ferdinand Lundberg

New Junior Staff Appointments for 08-09

RWIT is co-administered by students who have distinguished themselves as peer tutors and writing assistants and who have shown the ability to be leaders of their peers. Next year, the Junior Staff Appointments will be as follows:

Head Tutor: Alisa Yamasaki '08
Head Writing Assistant: Jeffrey Koh '09
Chair of Recruiting and Hiring: Carol Szurkowski '09
Special Project Coordinator for RWIT Pilot Programs: Adam Breuer '09
Special Project Coordinator for RWIT's Road Show Team: William Raymer '09