Photos taken at the Herbert Writing Center with tutors Eli Roberts and Madison Howard, along with student Olivia Farr
The Judith Anderson Herbert Writing Center: Where Writing Support Meets Confidence
Before becoming an undergraduate tutor with the Judith Anderson Herbert Writing Center at UT, senior Eli Roberts would have described himself quite differently.
“I was a terrified person—I grew up with a lot of anxiety,” explains Roberts. “The first two years of college, I didn’t talk to people, but then I joined the Herbert Writing Center. I made good friends, and I saw the change that I can ignite in someone as a tutor.”
Since discovering his voice, Roberts formed a film club on campus.
He’s fond of screening obscure 1950s films: “Some of them are so weird, and it’s always a good talk afterwards.
“This tutoring experience pushed me to become the communicator I am, and an extrovert.”
Roberts has seen other lives changed through tutoring. One student attended multiple sessions for help with his personal statement for graduate school applications. He returned to thank Roberts after receiving an acceptance letter.
“I love helping students achieve their writing goals, but it’s also bigger picture than that,” says Roberts. “Writing is necessary to whatever you do in life to some degree. Helping them see the little constituent parts of what it means to be a student, to be a writer—to be a human honestly—is so rewarding.”
student contacts supported with new services and satellite locations.
tutors added to offer discipline-specific writing help.
of students say they’re more confident in writing and want to return for more tutoring.
Writing History
What began in 1937 as a first-of-its-kind learning lab for frustrated English students now supports all students, as well as faculty and community partners.
Private support for the Herbert Writing Center enables an array of tutoring services, with six services added since 2017, along with a host of workshops on timely topics like AI.
The Herbert Writing Center’s namesake, Judith Anderson Herbert, has had a transformative effect.
“Donors make a huge difference,” says Kirsten Benson, Herbert Writing Center’s director. “Last year we had 27,000 student contacts, up from 16,000 since Judi and her late husband, Jim, gave their largest gift to the center in 2017. Their support expanded our ability to reach more students where they are with targeted support through new services and satellite locations across campus.
“The impact of this expansion shows in the feedback. We survey students after every interaction, and 95 percent say they’re more confident as writers and want to return for more tutoring.”
Thanks to donor generosity, the Herbert Writing Center has added about 20 tutors since 2017 and offers a variety of discipline-specific writing services, from nursing to music, and tailored support for veteran, graduate, multilingual, and many other types of students.
It’s great to see our impact as tutors on fellow students, the campus, and beyond. We’re the Volunteers. That’s a big, lofty philosophy, but now I understand what that means in action, that I can be the difference for someone.”
Madison Howard
Herbert Writing Center Tutor
Coaching Self-confidence
Madison Howard’s tutoring work runs the gamut of the Herbert Writing Center services and showed her what it means to be a Vol.
“All tutors are trained on first-year English composition coursework, but I’m a senior in sociology, so I also assist in anything related to that,” says Howard. “I’ve worked with students from engineering to bio-chem. I’ve also participated in the Flagship Writing Project to help high school students applying to college. I’ve loved helping them see that their stories matter, that college is possible. I’ve seen it pay off at an early admission event, where a student I worked with received an offer and Flagship Scholarship from UT.
“I’ve always had a passion for helping others realize their potential and for igniting sustainable change. Tutoring helped clarify my decision to pursue a career in higher-ed administration. It’s great to see our impact as tutors on fellow students, the campus, and beyond. We’re the Volunteers. That’s a big, lofty philosophy, but now I understand what that means in action, that I can be the difference for someone.”
With further support, the Herbert Writing Center expects to multiply that impact. Benson hopes to initiate curriculum-wide writing support for every discipline, as well as a fellows program that embeds tutors in writing-focused courses and a faculty advisory board to identify gaps in center resources.
In the Herbert Writing Center’s future and current operations, tutors remain integral. All tutors go through rigorous year-long training to understand tutoring techniques, time management, and—just as essential—softer skills like listening with empathy and building confidence, all with the goal of developing what the Herbert Writing Center calls “writing self-efficacy.”
Even more than confidence in writing, Roberts knows firsthand as a newly minted extrovert that the Herbert Writing Center instills confidence in oneself: “What we do as tutors isn’t feeding them the answer. It’s about listening to the student, understanding where they’re at, teaching them tools to solve the problem, and building them up. It’s important for students to have an outlet and a safe space to grow and learn, and the Herbert Writing Center provides that.”
