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It addresses contemporary multimodal assignments and explains how flexible public-space use can respond to funding and space constraints faced by centers at small universities.",{"@graph":14,"@context":73},[15,34,56],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/","Research & Report",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/the-de-centered-center-embracing-a-space-that-is-nowhere-and-everywhere/599271/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/the-de-centered-center-embracing-a-space-that-is-nowhere-and-everywhere/599271.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"kopisore","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-11-03","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":55},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",7,{"@type":57,"mainEntity":58},"FAQPage",[59,65,69],{"name":60,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":62},"What is a de-centered writing center?","Question",{"text":63,"@type":64},"It is a writing center without a fixed location on campus, where tutoring sessions can take place in different spaces rather than a single designated room.","Answer",{"name":66,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":67},"How does portable technology support the de-centered model?",{"text":68,"@type":64},"It enables face-to-face tutoring in any suitable space, allowing the center to meet students’ needs despite limited physical space.",{"name":70,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":71},"Why does the paper emphasize multimodal communication?",{"text":72,"@type":64},"Because many student assignments now combine written, oral, visual, and sometimes aural elements, communication centers are increasingly asked to help students manage how these modes work together.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":75,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":45,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":77,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":79,"site_id":7},599271,1792165317,{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":83},"success",[84,88,92,96,101,106,110,114,119,122,126],{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":85,"show_sort_weight":86,"slug":87},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":26,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":89,"show_sort_weight":90,"slug":91},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":33,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":93,"show_sort_weight":94,"slug":95},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":97,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":98,"show_sort_weight":99,"slug":100},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":102,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":103,"show_sort_weight":104,"slug":105},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":55,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":107,"show_sort_weight":108,"slug":109},"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":111,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":29,"show_sort_weight":112,"slug":113},8,30,"research-report",{"id":115,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":116,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":118},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":117,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":120,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":121},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":123,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":124,"show_sort_weight":123,"slug":125},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":127,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":128,"show_sort_weight":97,"slug":129},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":131},{"doc_id":79,"user_id":132,"nickname":42,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":111,"category_name":29,"doc_title":10,"doc_description":12,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":55,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":22,"is_downloadable":22,"audit_status":22,"page_count":123,"language":139,"language_code":8,"site_id":7,"html_lang":8,"table_of_contents":140,"faqs":141,"seo_title":142,"seo_description":12,"update_tm":143,"read_time":144},962090880963,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_6f874abed73319feea01a86fa6f0fab8","The De-centered Center: Embracing a Space that is Nowhere and Everywhere  \nLeah Schweitzer  \nHigh Point University  \nIntroduction  \nI am the director of a de-centered writing center. A de-centered writing center is very much what it sounds like: quite literally, it has no actual location, no one space on campus that anyone can point to and say,“that’s the writing center.” It was an idea born out of necessity, but it’s one that I think poses a challenge and an answer to the resource, technology, and space problems many communication center directors—who share many of the same challenges a writing center director does—face.  \nWhile much of my experience is born out of running a writing center, which at my relatively small university is also the site where students come for assistance with non-written communication assignments, the argument I make—that portable technology now allows us to operate face-to-face tutoring sessions in any space—is, I believe, applicable to all sites which strive to help students with the basic and advanced tenets of communication in all forms.  \nCommunication centers and writing centers have a lot in common; while the final medium for delivery is different, scholarship on communication centers discuss a lot of the same pedagogical concerns as that on writing centers. For example, in “Critical Perspectives on Group Consultations at Communication Centers: Communication Accommodation Theory, Immediacy, and Persuasion,” Bryant, Cuny, and Davidson (2016) address the basic concerns communication center tutors need to be trained to address. While the argument  \nis rooted in Communication Accommodation Theory (CAT), the article addresses both tutor training as well as the focus of sessions in much of the same terms that tutor training for writing centers do. It speaks to the ways in which a tutor can make students comfortable coming to them (pp. 34-36) in many of the same terms texts like Ryan and Zimmerman’s (2009) The Bedford Guide for Writing Tutors do. Throughout their article, Bryant, Cuny, and Davidson discuss style, ethos, audience, persuasion, organization and other rhetorical topics that are the focus of writing center appointments as well. They even discuss how appointments end in much the same terms writing center tutors are taught to end their sessions. The conclusion Bryant, Cuny, and Davidson reach is focused on the rhetorical situation: “Ultimately, it does not matter what area of study is being supported, peer educators who enter into meaningful dialogue (with their student peers) need a clear understanding of the motivations behind people’s communicative acts”  \n(p. 50) .  \nMany assignments students bring to centers are no longer simply written or oral; communication in general is increasingly multimodal; both written texts and speeches (or other oral communicative acts) are often expected to incorporate some sort of visual (and even aural) text be it displayed through PowerPoint, Prezi, or some other software. Communication centers, as I discuss below, are increasingly called on to assist students with these multimodal texts and to help  \nthem think about how the aural and the visual work together with the primary text. Therefore, it makes sense that a university might have one center designed to address all of these needs. Certainly at my university, which is relatively small, there is only space and money for one center and that one tutoring space needs to be adept at helping students with all of these tasks—and I would assume that many universities are in this same position of needing one center which can serve multiple communication needs. That writing and speaking would be attended to in one center isn’t a new idea; in“The Combined Centers Approach,” Maugh (2012) writes about her combined center stating,“We did not want to create a center that offered tutoring in speaking and writing, rather we strove to provide universalized tutoring related to communication concepts”(p. 177) . The wor","cbCaieg3Ua84FkWb","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaieg3Ua84FkWb","pdf",86120,"English","# Introduction\n## The Problem","[{\"question\":\"What is a de-centered writing center?\",\"answer\":\"It is a writing center without a fixed location on campus, where tutoring sessions can take place in different spaces rather than a single designated room.\"},{\"question\":\"How does portable technology support the de-centered model?\",\"answer\":\"It enables face-to-face tutoring in any suitable space, allowing the center to meet students’ needs despite limited physical space.\"},{\"question\":\"Why does the paper emphasize multimodal communication?\",\"answer\":\"Because many student assignments now combine written, oral, visual, and sometimes aural elements, communication centers are increasingly asked to help students manage how these modes work together.\"}]","The De-centered Center - Embracing a Space that is Nowhere and Everywhere | PDF",1792088460,25]