Philosophy
The R-MC Speaking Center is, primarily, a peer tutoring facility. Trained students help other students with presentational or small group communication. These trained students, however, are not experts. Therefore, they are told to react to oral communication that they review much as our colleagues react to articles we’re preparing to submit or have submitted for publication. They can view oral communication objectively; they have a higher level of sophistication with regards to presentations and group work than the average student and, therefore, are peers who can offer generally good advice. But their expertise is limited. They know that. Both their clients and the faculty need to know that.
Peer tutoring, therefore, is limited in what it can achieve. If a student is severely deficient in oral communication skills, the Speaking Center can only help a bit. Such a student should be advised to enroll in a speech communication class.
However, peer tutoring—it should be noted—has a marked advantage over tutoring by experts. Students, especially those who are highly oral communication apprehensive, can relax in the less threatening atmosphere peer tutoring provides. They can approach a practice without the fear of the expert’s evaluation. And, no matter how “nice” faculty are, faculty have an aura that can transform a low-risk practice into what students perceive as a high-risk one. So, we choose peer tutoring, not because it’s more economical, but because it actually can facilitate practice sessions that are beneficial.
The Center
The Speaking Center is located on the east mezzanine of Thomas Branch Hall atrium. To reach the Center, come up the eastside stairs from the atrium ground level. (Handicapped access is available from the 2nd floor of the dormitory part of Thomas Branch.)
The Center consists of three “sections.”
Speaking Center Center is the consulting space. There, the Speaking Center tutors/peer consultants can meet with students who need help finding a topic, generating material, or organizing the material they have. There, the SAC Director can meet with faculty colleagues. There, Speaking Center Student Fellows (once we have them) can also meet with faculty members they’ll be assisting.
Resources—books, handouts, the SAC website, other schools’ SAC or Speaking Center websites—are quickly accessed from this space.
Speaking Center South is a small studio. There, students can practice high-tech and low-tech oral presentations. Their practice run can be videotaped. They and peer consultants will sit down together, view the tape, and discuss how the presentation might be improved.
Speaking Center North is a group conference area. Peer consultants and the SAC director will meet with groups there. Group communication activities, be they group presentations or discussions or meetings—can be videotaped there. Group members and peer consultants can then view the tape and discuss how the presentation might be improved or how the group might work better as a discussion group or a task group.
Personnel and Hours
The Speaking Center is managed by Theodore F. Sheckels, Director of Speaking Across the Curriculum. In this capacity, he is available to consult with faculty on any aspect of oral communication instruction. Call him at 7288 or e-mail him at tsheckel@rmc.edu.
The Speaking Center is staffed by a trained group of peer consultants. The Center typically opens in a semester’s third week and closes when classes end.
Its hours are Sunday-Thursday, 6:00 p.m.-10:00 p.m. (Additional hours might be added during a semester’s last weeks if the demand warrants doing so and consultants are available.)
To make an appointment, go to college website, click on “Academics,” click on “Higgins Academic Center,” click on “Speaking across the curriculum,” click on “Speaking Center,” and click on “Make an Appointment.” Select day, tutor, and time; then, fill out the form so that consultant knows why you’re coming. It’s a lot simpler than it sounds. Should you anticipate needing more than 30 minutes, sign up for two back-to-back appointments.
You can also just drop by the Center; however, if the consultant is busy, he/she will direct you to the website.
Services
Peer Consulting
Tutors/consultants can help students with the following:
Finding a Topic for a Presentation
Generating Ideas
Organizing Ideas
Practicing; Receiving Feedback
Practicing Group Work; Receiving Feedback
Most sessions will probably be practices. For these, whether they are for individual presentations, group presentations, or group work, the student/s will be videotaped. Then, the tutor/consultant and the student/s will watch the videotape together. Just watching should alert the student/s to what he/she/they do well and do poorly. That viewing will also serve as the springboard to the tutor/consultant’s critique and advice.
Speaking Center Student Fellows
Eventually, some peer consultants will “graduate” to a more lofty position, “speaking center fellows.” These fellows will be trained to work with faculty across the disciplines. They will be able to help faculty plan or fine-tune speaking assignments. They can talk to classes about some aspects of oral communication, and they can model effective oral communication. They can even conduct practice sessions you might want to schedule for an entire class. There are only two constraints: first, you need to be comfortable using these trained but not expert students in the manner you are; second, the Speaking Center needs to have the money in its budget to pay them.
Professional Consulting
The Center will also be “home base” for the SAC Director, whose job is to help you incorporate oral communication into your classes in ways that meet your courses’ goals (in addition to improving communication skills). The Director will have office hours for such consulting on Monday afternoons from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. For the time-being, just drop in. Should many choose to do so, appointments might become necessary.
The SAC Director is available to work with faculty at other times. So, call him at 7288 to arrange a convenient time to meet.
Resources in the Center
The Center has the following resources to help students and faculty:
Books (with color-coded indexing to help you find the material you need);
Handouts (initially, a few; more as time goes by);
A list of other websites you might want to look at for help with various aspects of oral communication.