By Staff Writer Greg Estabrooks.
This past week, The Torch stopped by the Multiliteracy & Communication Center (MCC), a brand new service on campus available to all UMass Dartmouth students and faculty.
The MCC is located in LARTS 219, where the Writing and Reading Center previously was.
Although we were unable to speak with Elisabeth Buck, the director of the Center, we were able to speak with her second-in-command, Josh Botvin.
Josh graduated in 2013 from UMass Dartmouth with a Bachelor’s degree in Literature and Criticism, and then went on to get his Master’s degree in Professional Writing from UMassD as well.
In addition to working at the MCC, Josh is an adjunct professor in the English department here at UMass Dartmouth.
The Torch first inquired about some of the basics of the MCC, such as how it differs from the Writing and Reading Center and what its main purposes are.
Josh explained that the MCC is attempting to “keep with the times,” and that they are “trying to branch out to the modern demands of what the student needs here at UMassD are.”
Along with standard reading and writing services, the MCC offers tutoring in presentation skills, public speaking, research strategies, web design, and pretty much any other communication-based activity that a college student might encounter.
All types of students from all majors can be accommodated at the MCC. And unlike the Writing and Reading Center, which is geared towards federal TRIO grant recipients, the MCC is “generalized and reaches the entire student population,” Josh says.
The MCC seeks to provide a next-level tutoring service, and is backed by the research of Professor Buck, who has published works on multiliteracy and writing center studies.
Josh stressed the importance of the Center being seen as something more than a place that just reads and edits papers for students, although that is of course part of the service.
He told The Torch, “We want our tutoring process to be conversational and long-lasting through a student’s career here.”
The Multiliteracy & Communication Center does all of their appointment making online. Just visit the website https://umassd.mywconline.net/ to register, and then search the schedule to find a tutor with whom you would like to work with.
The MCC is host to a talented staff of tutors in various disciplines, all of whom are either undergraduate or graduate students here at UMass.
The normal hours for the MCC are Monday to Thursday, 10am-5pm, and Friday, from 10am-3pm in LARTS 219. However, the MCC conveniently holds sessions in the evening in Library Learning Commons Room 135, Sunday to Thursday from 6pm-9pm.
The campus service, which began operation on September 10th of this year, is off to a running start, as Josh recognized that the schedule normally fills up. So if you need to work on your writing, reading, or communication skills, or even just want to take your academic game up a notch, be sure to make an appointment and stop by the MCC.
“This is a free service; you can use it at your convenience,” says Josh. The MCC is an invaluable resource here for the benefit of the UMass community, and it is one that students of all types should try to make use of during their time here.
PHOTO COURTESY: MCC ON INSTAGRAM