UWC Chat Marketing Report

The following document will discuss the current state of James Madison University’s University Writing Center tutor chat system,

its current on-campus presence, and its usage trends, and will present potential methods of improving its usage in future

semesters via marketing tactics.

Marketing Report

University Writing Center Tutor Chat

Kelsey Robinson

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ContentsContents......................................................................................................................................................1

Executive Summary.....................................................................................................................................3

Purpose and Process...................................................................................................................................5

Research......................................................................................................................................................6

Fall 2015 strategic planning survey.........................................................................................................6

Existing literature....................................................................................................................................7

Contact with outside institutions.............................................................................................................8

Surveys....................................................................................................................................................9

Chat Transcripts.......................................................................................................................................9

Market Analysis.........................................................................................................................................11

Product..................................................................................................................................................11

Place......................................................................................................................................................11

Price.......................................................................................................................................................12

Promotion..............................................................................................................................................12

Audience Environment..........................................................................................................................13

Audience................................................................................................................................................13

Results and Analysis..................................................................................................................................15

Surveys..................................................................................................................................................15

Student surveys.................................................................................................................................15

Faculty surveys..................................................................................................................................17

Advertising.............................................................................................................................................17

Opportunity and Issue Analysis.................................................................................................................18

Opportunities........................................................................................................................................18

Threats...................................................................................................................................................18

Strengths...............................................................................................................................................18

Weaknesses...........................................................................................................................................19

Recommendations.....................................................................................................................................20

General Recommendations...................................................................................................................20

Marketing recommendations................................................................................................................20

In-class presentations and orientation..............................................................................................21

Faculty referral..................................................................................................................................21

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Chat guidelines..................................................................................................................................21

Conclusion.................................................................................................................................................23

Appendices................................................................................................................................................24

Appendix A: Survey (WRTC 336 and WRTC 103)....................................................................................24

Appendix B: Survey (Carrier and Rose Libraries)....................................................................................27

Appendix C: Survey (UWC Faculty)........................................................................................................30

Appendix D: Survey Results (Students)..................................................................................................32

Appendix E: Survey Results (Faculty).....................................................................................................36

Appendix F: Flyer (“Writing Emergency”)..............................................................................................38

Appendix G: Flyer (“color grid”).............................................................................................................39

Appendix H: Digital flyer (“Need writing help?”)...................................................................................40

Appendix I: Table tent (“Facebook Messenger”)...................................................................................41

Appendix J: Table (Chat transcripts)......................................................................................................42

Appendix K: Bibliography.......................................................................................................................44

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Executive SummaryThe goal of this report is to assess how the University Writing Center (UWC) tutor chat

system was being used during the 2015-2016 academic year (primarily during the spring 2016 semester), determine methods of marketing the service to James Madison University (JMU) students, and produce possible methods of increasing its usage in future semesters. From this, conclusions have been made about the current usage and perception of the chat system and its effectiveness as a form of writing aid.

The report concludes that, while the chat system functions well for the students that use it, the service is underused due to its novelty. However, some students have displayed a desire for online tutoring options and see chat as a useful resource. The following steps were taken to derive and improve the effectiveness of the chat system:

Review and analysis of existing information The primary sources of preexisting data drawn from by this project were the end-of-semester survey emailed to students during the fall who had visited the UWC before and chat transcripts from the fall 2015 and spring 2016 semesters.

ResearchAcademic research revealed that students usually write alone and value this solitary writing more than group tasks or getting writing center help, and that the phrase “chat with” has a rather colloquial, non-academic connotation that can dissuade people from using the system. Interviews with outside sources emphasized the fact that students value a variety of tutoring options but such options need to be made apparent in the semester and in their academic careers, and by way of instructors telling them about such opportunities.

SurveysSurveys distributed to students and faculty showed that, while students see potential in a chat system for writing tutoring, they have reservations about using it themselves. It was also revealed that a large majority of students learn about academic resources and opportunities from their teachers and from the JMU website itself, more so than advertisements on campus or in their dorms/apartments, from emails, or from their peers.

MarketingTo “spread the word” about the little-known chat system, numerous methods of marketing were implemented: flyers hung in campus buildings, flyers hung in dorms, slides placed on digital screens in Rose and Carrier libraries, and table tents placed in the dorms. In addition, UWC tutors were asked to remind students of the service when possible at the conclusion of a tutoring session.

After analyzing the UWC tutor chat and producing different marketing tactics throughout the spring 2016 semester, recommendations have been made for future plans to enhance the service’s successfulness, make it better known to students, and market it effectively. The recommendations are as follows:

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Create traditional PowerPoint presentations specifically about the chat system to be delivered in courses around campus

Encourage teachers to tell their students directly about the service, through word-of-mouth and through syllabus documents

Collaborate with the JMU Center for Instructional Technology (CIT) to create a “button” for tutor chat to be embedded in Canvas sites

Create a set of instructions for students on how to use the chat system to ensure it is utilized efficiently and correctly

Continue to promote the system in various print and digital on-campus avenues Consider creating a more extensive tutoring/essay revision service to be attached to the

chat system

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Purpose and ProcessThe University Writing Center (UWC) at James Madison University primarily utilizes

face-to-face tutoring sessions, typically conducted one-on-one with a single tutor helping a single student with a writing assignment. The UWC also offers chat-based tutoring, which was launched in fall 2015. In its first semester, only 17 chat sessions were conducted and the hours of operation were significantly different from what they became for the spring semester. The service itself is also very novel to JMU students and most have not heard of it, all of which contribute to its underuse.

The purpose of this project was to answer the question of how the service can be marketed to JMU students. Beneath this primary objective were the sub-questions of who the chat system is being used by, why they are using it, and whether or not the questions they are asking can be answered effectively with that system. In order to derive answers to these questions, numerous methods were employed. First, I was employed as a writing tutor at the UWC, with four hours of face-to-face tutoring and four hours of chat tutoring. In my research, I reviewed existing data, which consisted of chat transcripts from the previous semester and the fall 2015 strategic planning survey sent to UWC users (also from the previous semester). Research was also undertaken to find current trends in online tutoring and chat systems (primarily those used in libraries, as those systems are most similar to the one used at JMU). In addition, employees from two outside institutions were contacted to discuss their universities’ use of online tutoring. Following the background research, I pursued various marketing methods to spread the word about the UWC chat system.

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ResearchFall 2015 strategic planning survey

One source of research I reviewed was the strategic planning survey distributed to JMU students at the end of the fall 2015 semester. This survey was sent by the Writing Center via email to 306 students who had booked at least one face-to-face session during the semester and contained 17 questions regarding their perception of what the Writing Center does and what a tutoring session should be, how the Writing Center can meet their writing needs, which locations they use (the UWC and its two satellite locations at the time), and other service-related questions. While the entire survey was extremely useful to this project, several specific questions were pinpointed as most important to the use of the chat system.

The first question asked students how often they visit the Writing Center. Fifty-two percent of students (186 respondents) claimed they only visited once, while the remaining forty-eight percent of students answered with one of the other five options indicating that they visited more than once. This suggests that students might also be slightly more unlikely to be “returners” to a chat system because such a service has a more specific need than face-to-face tutoring.

The fifth question asked, “How important is it that Writing Center tutors have expertise in the following areas? Rank them from most important (top) to least important (bottom),” with the options being grammar and punctuation, citations and formatting, structure and organization, brainstorming/developing ideas, understanding your assignment prompt or professor’s ideas, and summarizing, paraphrasing, or quoting sources. The option that students most often ranked the highest was grammar and punctuation, followed by summarizing sources and understanding prompts. This reflects concerns addressed in face-to-face sessions and also what has been noted so far in chat sessions (see later subsections for detailed analysis). Notably, these are concerns that tutors can more easily solve via chat. While higher order concerns such as organization or brainstorming can be discussed over chat, lower-order concerns are significantly easier to help a student with over a limited medium.

The eleventh question was related to location, due to the existence of UWC satellite locations at Rose Library and the Athletic Performance Center. It asked “Which University Writing Center Location are you most likely to use, and why?” and invited short answers from students about why they would use each location. Eighty-three percent of students (259 respondents) answered that they would use the Student Success Center, fourteen percent said Rose Library, one percent said the Athletic Performance Center, and two percent said online tutoring. The majority of qualitative answers were related to location. Students who said they would use the Student Success Center location claimed it was most convenient location, or the closest to their courses, or the easiest to get to. Rose Library students had similar answers about the location being closest to their classes, and students who preferred online tutoring said it was due to easy access.

The fourteenth question was “If the Writing Center expanded services, how likely would you be to use the following,” and the options (answered on a Likert scale) were online tutoring, online writing tips and resources, in-class workshops, workshops at the Writing Center, designated tutor assigned to your classes, a quiet space for writing, and regularly meeting writing groups. A total of 109 students claimed they would be “likely” to use online tutoring, which—while not the most-requested service—is approximately one third of respondents who would such an option, showing that there is a market for it as long as students can be made aware of its existence. However, it is not clear what the student perception is of online services. They could

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see it as the currently-existing chat system, or as an editing service where they can submit their papers and receive helpful feedback.

In conclusion, it is clear that there is a market for online tutoring. Students may desire to have a wide variety of questions answered with online services, but may treat it as a quick question-and-answer service due to their focus on grammatical concerns evidenced in the survey. The chat service may fill in the “convenience” gap that students who use Rose and already use online tutoring seem to feel—they desire an easy-to-get-to tutoring option, which can be satisfied by either online services or by satellites.

Existing literatureIn addition to reviewing existing research specific to the JMU Writing Center, I also

reviewed existing literature about student writing, online services, and academic use of chat systems. A full bibliography can be found in Appendix K.

In “The Writing Lives of College Students: Revisualizing Composition Study Group A WIDE Survey and Whitepaper,” Jeff Grabill and Stacey Pigg discuss the results of a study on the writing habits of college students, given to 1366 students at various institutions in the spring semester 2010. The research questions are as follows: what students are writing in and out of school; how they value the writing they do; whether or not students from different schools compose different kinds of writing; why students write what they do; which students are writing with which types of technology; and who participants and writing with. According to Grabill and Pigg, students usually write alone and value this solitary writing more than group tasks or getting writing center help. Several digital genres are written by almost all participants, but several others are practiced by less than half of them. Chat rooms in particular are used by just over half of the surveyed students and associate’s colleges (rural or smaller schools) use chat rooms more than other types of institutions. Students in this study also claimed that they don’t go to writing centers often and placed its value to them in writing at the lowest rung.

Of particular usefulness was Naylor, Stoffel, and Van Der Laan’s “Why Isn't Our Chat Reference Used More: Finding of Focus Group Discussions with Undergraduate Students.” While this article discussed the use of a library chat reference prior to 2010, its findings are still useful to this project. The focus groups consisted of undergraduate (and graduate) students and were conducted at Illinois State University's Milner Library to gain a greater understanding of student thoughts on reference services. In the past, surveys were the primary method of data-gathering, but focus groups allowed the library a larger berth of qualitative data about the library's services. Chat systems have specific audiences and are generally a bit under-used, and contrary to popular belief millennials aren't as inclined to communicate primarily via text as most people think.

The Milner focus groups were sorted into undergraduate students, graduate students with on-campus instruction, and graduate students with off-campus instruction. The questions were sorted into three categories: broad queries about how the participants research and other similar subjects; questions about their knowledge of the library's reference services; and questions about how the library can best help them. Students claimed that they mostly conduct their research at home, but that they also prefer in-person communication over text, chat, or email when conducting research. There was also a negative connotation with "chat," as most students thought of "chat" as a possibly-unsavory chat room rather than a useful academic resource. They also didn't realize that the library had chat but seemed enthusiastic about it when told, which is

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consistent with the findings I will later discuss about the UWC’s chat system. There was also some emphasis in Naylor et al.’s article on the fact that chat is used for immediate and quickly-answered concerns when a student is long-distance.

Pei-Chen Sun et al.’s article, “What Drives a Successful E-Learning? An Empirical Investigation of the Critical Factors Influencing Learner Satisfaction” discusses how e-learning is successful or unsuccessful with its users. Numerous factors influence the success of an e-learning course and student satisfaction in said course, and that satisfaction is integral to the course. Across various studies, the general factors can be sorted into the learner (attitude towards computers, computer anxiety, self-efficacy), instructor (response timeliness, attitude towards e-learning), course (flexibility, quality), technology (quality, internet quality), design (perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use), and environmental dimensions (diversity, perceived interaction with others). Sun et al.'s conclusions included the fact that, while computer anxiety is mostly nonexistent for students, it is still a vital factor in course satisfaction where it does exist. Teacher attitude towards e-learning is also a powerful influence on e-learning success, and the flexibility of the course and its environment are also vital. It is important that students perceive the service as useful and that it's as easy to use as they want it to be. Of note is the importance of perceived usefulness—if students see a service as useful, they are more likely to use it.

Contact with outside institutions In February, I contacted three universities with online learning services to gain a greater

understanding of why and how students use synchronous or asynchronous online tutoring. The two schools I received responses from and was able to conduct interviews with were the University of Southern Maine (USM) and the University of New Mexico (UNM). The major conclusions I reached from these discussions were that online services are highly prescriptive and serve a very particular need for their users, and that it is most important to tell students about online services at the beginning of the semester and in the beginning of their academic careers.

I interviewed Paul Dexter, Coordinator of Learning Support at USM, in early February. USM utilizes Google’s services such as Hangouts to hold online appointments with students, which contrasts with JMU’s chat system because it allows a broader range of interaction. With Google Hangouts, tutors can communicate with students via video with live-chat attached (a function of Hangouts). USM uses Google’s tools because they use Gmail as their institutional email service the same way that JMU uses Microsoft. The primary issue encountered by students at USM is that they initially wonder how to work with a tutor through a virtual medium. Students there are generally satisfied with online tutoring services, but this satisfaction is primarily mediated by their familiarity with the technology.

Students primarily find out about online tutoring services at USM through outreach into introductory courses during the first few weeks of the appointment, much like the introductory presentations conducted by UWC tutors at JMU. There is also a short set of instructions on how to use the service on its homepage. In addition, the Center for Technology Enhanced Learning at USM contacts faculty they are already partnered with and let them know about the services, encouraging them to put links to the online services on their syllabi or on Blackboard.

I interviewed Matthew Maez, Program Specialist at UNM, via phone call, also in early February. UNM utilizes synchronous (chat room, virtual whiteboard, sending papers to tutors in real time) and asynchronous (web submission form where tutors can view submitted papers and provide feedback within 48 hours) online services. The service most comparable to what JMU

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uses is the chat room, as well as the real-time essay review. We discussed the fact that online services are much more prescriptive than face-to-face appointments. At a face-to-face session, a student can either drift in or make an appointment, but can then remain at the location and continue working. An online session, however, can sometimes require a more specific need and often one that is quickly answered in a briefer exchange.

It is important to take into account that the majority of respondents in online learning surveys at UNM are online or nontraditional students who needs are most likely met by online learning; at JMU most students are traditional learners and/or live on campus, where they can easily reach UWC services. However, the prescriptive nature of online services can still be applied to the chat service at JMU because of its differences compared to face-to-face tutoring. With regards to advertising online services, Maez told me that the UNM learning centers underwent a major rebranding campaign that helped greatly with this, which could be comparable to the JMU Learning Centers moving to the Student Success Center. He also noted that students are told about online learning during their orientations, settling the idea in their minds early on.

Based on my interviews, the importance of advertising to students early on is paramount, as well as telling teachers to tell their students about it. In addition, there is a significant difference between a tool and its use. In a chat system, students can swiftly be helped, but it's harder to show rather than tell over chat, which is the main directive of writing tutoring at JMU; with chat, students can easily walk away with their answer but not with the process.

Surveys Quantitative research—with minor opportunities for qualitative answers—were also

conducted via informal surveys handed out to UWC faculty and JMU students. The student surveys were given to students in single sections of WRTC336 and WRTC103, as well as passed out randomly to students in the campus libraries. Survey structure and results can be viewed in subsequent sections.

Chat TranscriptsThroughout the semester, I reviewed the chat transcripts recorded on the Lib Answers &

LibChat server during “chat with a tutor” sessions (see Appendix J for a full comparison of the transcripts). As of the creation of this report, a total of 31 transcripts were recorded, although if there is an accidental disconnect between tutee and student, the re-connected session is recorded as another transcript. There were 17 chats recorded during the fall 2015 semester and 14 chats during the spring 2016 semester. Below is a quick overview of the transcripts over time:

Types of queries: Higher-order concerns: 10 Lower-order concerns: 19 UWC services concerns: 2

Queries by month: Aug 2015: 0 Sept 2015: 7 Oct 2015: 4 Nov 2015: 4 Dec 2015: 2

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Jan 2016: 3 Feb 2016: 8 Mar 2016: 3

Lower order concerns (asked 61.3% of the time) were classified as questions about sentence structure, paragraph-level organizational concerns, grammar, and citation styles. Higher-order concerns (asked 32.3% of the time) were classified as questions about overall organization, brainstorming, comprehension and clarity, crafting stronger arguments, and better understanding assignment prompts. Service-related questions (asked 6.4% of the time) were those that concerned UWC services and hours of operation. As noted in list above, students often asked questions about citation styles, likely seeing the ease with which such questions could be asked over chat and desiring a quick, easy answer.

I also asked three students how they knew about the service at the conclusion of our chat session. One student said she found it via the JMU website, and the second said she found it on the UWC page while booking a face-to-face appointment. Another said he found the link to chat while browsing the UWC website and said he was not previously aware of the service and that it is worth spreading to a larger audience. This shows that students see the service via existing sites.

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Market Analysis Product

The product in question is the University Writing Center’s tutor chat system, also known as “Chat with a tutor.” It is a chat system similar to what is used by the JMU Libraries and the Ask Your Peers services, utilizing the same software. Upon entering a query into the ask box, a writing tutor on the receiving end—utilizing the username of Writing Tutor 1, 2, 3, or 4—responds to the question and begins the conversation with the student. All transcripts are logged in the LibAnswers & LibChat system used by the JMU Libraries and by the University Writing Center. Below is an example of a UWC tutor (me) helping two students via the chat system (Fig 1).

(Fig 1: UWC Tutor Chat from the tutor’s perspective)

PlaceTutor chat is offered online, free from any locational or physical constraints other than

needing to have a computer and a reliable internet connection. Currently the chat system is housed on the University Writing Center’s website, accessible through a clearly-marked button towards the lower half of the homepage or on the sidebar (https://www.jmu.edu/uwc/) or through the page labeled “chat with a tutor” on the sidebar menu to the left. (https://www.jmu.edu/uwc/services/chat-with-a-tutor.shtml).

During the fall 2015 semester, the tutor chat service was offered during all the hours that the UWC was open (Mon-Thurs 10-5, Friday 10-2, and Sunday 5-8), though this was very much dependent on whether or not a tutor was able to be online and not occupied with an in-person client. During the spring 2016 semester, tutor chat times were changed to reflect the results of the strategic planning survey and other concerns. The Writing Center hours became Mon-Thurs 10-

https://www.jmu.edu/uwc/services/chat-with-a-tutor.shtml

https://www.jmu.edu/uwc/

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8, Friday 10-2, and Sunday 3-8 and chat hours were officially set for Mon-Thurs 8-10PM—right after the physical Writing Center closes.

PriceThe price of using the tutor chat service for students is nominal, if not free, though the

reference system does cost money for the university to host. The service does have a price for JMU—the university pays for the subscription access utilized by the campus libraries. However, the only cost of using the service for a student is to access the website and create a chat query. As mentioned above, the only constraints on a student using the system are having a computer that can utilize the chat service and being able to maintain an internet connection. In theory, this price is less figuratively “expensive” than going to the physical University Writing Center, though according to some survey data, it can be implied that the sole act of logging on is a price that students are reluctant to pay.

PromotionDuring the fall 2015 semester, the tutor chat service was not promoted. It was demarcated

with some clarity on the UWC website (shown in Fig. 2 and Fig 3 below), but it was otherwise relatively unknown by students unless they had been directly told about it by a peer, a tutor, or a teacher, or come across it in their perusal of the UWC site. This layout remained the same during the spring 2016 semester and its use increased slightly—possibly due to it being somewhat better known in its second semester of operation—but usage remained comparatively low. Fig. 2 shows the upper half of the UWC website homepage (www.jmu.edu/wrtc/). There is a link on the left side of the page for the chat service, but a visitor must scroll down further to see the large button that also leads to the chat page, shown in Fig. 3.

(Fig. 2: upper half of the UWC site homepage, chat link indicated)

http://www.jmu.edu/wrtc/

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(Fig. 3: lower half of the UWC site homepage, chat hours and chat link indicated)

To gather attention for the service, I placed several print and digital advertisements around campus. In spring 2016, flyers were hung across campus in various buildings in late February and early March (Appendices F and G), a table tent was placed in Carrier and Rose Libraries (Appendix I), and a digital screen flyer was circulated across screens in mid-March (Appendix H).

Audience EnvironmentCurrently, the chat service is being utilized highly sporadically. There were 17 chats

recorded during the fall 2015 semester and 14 chats during the spring 2016 semester. The LibAnswers & LibChat system does not record the major or year of the students chatting, but several conclusions can be drawn from the subject matter of the chats. The higher-order concerns encompassed concerns such as argument, rhetorical analysis, brainstorming, and crafting introductions, while lower-order concerns involved questions about sentence structure, grammatical rules, and citation styles (APA was the most common).

Audience The target market for the University Writing Center tutor chat service is any student with

a need that extends past the hours of the Writing Center, and/or any student whose concerns can be—or must be, due to distance learning or physical limitations—mediated through a digital connection. Concerns that can be discussed with a tutor via a digital medium include lower-level concerns (sentence structure, grammatical errors, paragraph revisions, and citation styles) as well as questions about the UWC’s services. Ideally, tutor chat can and should serve the entire student body of JMU, but its primary audience is anyone with a quick question or a concern that can be solved via a chat system.

Overwhelmingly, students prefer to meet with tutors and have consultations in person. This, combined with the newness of the chat service, has affected the knowledge of the service in

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the student population. Like any other academic service on campus, students must know about the service before they can think to use it.

The reasons why this market has been targeted for the service have been derived from chat transcripts, data from surveys given by the author, and data from a survey given to the student body by the UWC in fall 2015, as well as conversations and interviews with various key stakeholders and persons from other institutions with similar services.

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Results and Analysis Surveys

The primary method of gathering data was informal surveys, which were distributed in early January, early February, and early March. These surveys were given to UWC faculty (5 total), students in WRTC336 and WRTC103 courses, and at random to students in the campus libraries (68 students total). The surveys can be found in Appendices A, B, and C, the student survey results in Appendix D, and the faculty results in Appendix E.

The distribution of surveys was done strategically. Faculty surveys were distributed in late January in order to understand the staff’s perception of the chat system, and in-class surveys were distributed to students in mid-February before any advertising was done to understand initial student perception of the chat system. Handout surveys were distributed in mid-March after spring break to understand if student perception was different and if the surveys had any possible effect on the chat service.

Faculty surveysResults of the survey given to UWC faculty—distributed before all student surveys—

anticipated the trends found in student surveys. Three of the five faculty members noted that grammar was a concern that students were likely to ask about, and another mentioned citation styles, both of which are frequent student focuses. When asked, “How likely do you think students will use the JMU ‘Chat with a Tutor’ service,” four of the five respondents claimed “somewhat often,” while the fifth said “not often.” The service is recognized by faculty and students as an unfamiliar entity, further indicating that establishing familiarity and emphasizing usefulness is key in increasing usage. One faculty member noted that the chat service is a “convenient option for getting small-scale feedback on writing,” highlighting that the convenience of the system is a potentially attractive attribute to students.

Student surveysThe majority of students—over sixty percent in each survey and overall—did not know

about chat, which was unsurprisingly due to its novelty. However, quite a few students did know about it, even those who were not enrolled in the tutoring writing course. Out of the students who knew about chat, equal numbers of them found out about chat via the UWC website and through referrals from their teachers.

Fifty-two out of the total 68 respondents—approximately 76.5% of students—said that they find out about similar academic resources through their teachers, while 31 students (approx. 45.6%) said they find out about them through JMU webpages (see Fig. 4). This means that students do notice what is placed on websites and it may prove beneficial to advertise more heavily on other JMU sites that would wish to partner with the UWC. However, the majority of students do not typically utilize JMU academic resources, though I was not able to ascertain why because the surveys did not include a follow-up question on the subject. The simple fact that students don’t use such services indicates that they might see minimal use in an additional, specific service tacked onto an existing, well-used one such as the UWC.

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JMU webpagesTeacher referral Peer referral Ad on campusAd in dorms/apts Email Other0

10

20

30

40

50

60

How do you usually find out about resource center services? Check all that apply.

In class Handouts Totals

(Fig. 4: responses to survey question 3)

When asked how likely they were to use any chat system, twenty-two students overall (32.4%) were neutral about using chat systems in general, while nearly half of respondents to the handout surveys were unlikely to use them. This suggests that students do not see a use in a chat system regardless of context, though it is important to note that nine respondents were seniors and more likely to answer “very unlikely” or “unlikely” when asked about future use of JMU resources. This lack of interest in the system indicates that students either do not see a use in the system itself or do not feel as though they need writing help, which may be due to the fact that they do not know how to use such a style of writing help. This is a trend reflected in my February interview with Mr. Dexter from the University of Southern Maine. He noted that students at USM are initially unsure of how to use Google services for tutoring purposes.

In stark contrast to answers to the previous questions, over half of students (55.9%) agreed that the chat system “could be a useful tool for students,” and no respondents disagreed or strongly disagreed. This suggests that students cannot imagine themselves using chat but can understand the need for writing help, which may explain the paradox of students saying the service is useful when they are asked but at the same time not wanting to use it. Such an attitude may be prevalent because of the service’s novelty and the unclear nature of its potential uses. When creating the surveys, I felt that “useful” generally meant “a potentially beneficial tool for a student to look to for writing help.” But for a student, the word “useful” when applied to chat meant “oh, that seems nice” or whatever else he or she thought it did, which affected the answers.

When asked what questions they would ask in a chat session, the vast majority of students chose citation styles and works cited, which is reflective of the trends present in the existing chat transcripts in Appendix J (see Fig. 5). The service is used—and perceived—as a short-form, quick-answer service, though higher order concerns can be and are well-addressed in chat sessions. The primary concern with this perception is that students may begin using the chat in a way that is more focused on product rather than process, which is directly at odds with the UWC’s mission of creating better writers, not just better papers. The chat service can either

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embrace this or attempt to move away from it, possibly by providing a set of instructions for students on how to use it the service.

Grammar

Citations

Organization

Sentence st

ructure

Thesis and argument

Other0

10

20

30

40

50

60

If you were to use the tutor chat system, what questions do you think you would ask? Check all that apply.

In class Handouts Total

(Fig. 5: survey responses to question 8)

The majority of handout survey students (43.8%) claimed that they would “not often” use chat, while 50% of in-class survey students answered with the middle-ground option of “somewhat often.” Across both sets of student surveys, answers to “somewhat often” and “not often” were equal (each at 41.1%), indicating that students are not likely to use the chat system even though they do see its potential for help. The times that students would prefer to use the service are reflective of both the strategic planning survey and of the current chat hours. The service is offered from 8-10PM, Monday through Thursday, which is what students desire. However, a surprisingly high number of students would also use the service during the late afternoon, which suggests it may also be used during the indicated 3PM to 6PM time period.

The final question—only asked in the handout survey after analysis of answers to the in-class surveys—asked why students wouldn’t use the system, and allowed students to mark more than one answer. Equal numbers of students answered that they rarely use chat systems and that they rarely ask for writing help (41.7% each), indicating that they are not inclined to use such a service for a task that they do not often seek help with in the first place. This may be a case of students not knowing what they need until they have it, which is often reflected in tutoring sessions themselves.

AdvertisingAdvertising was done throughout the semester in a variety of locations. First, between

one and three flyers each (“writing emergency,” found in Appendix F) were placed in buildings across campus during the week of February 15th: Carrier Library, the Student Success Center, Harrison, Burruss, Rose Library, ISAT, Biology, HHS, Physics, and Festival Conference Center. Campus regulations state that flyers can remain in place for two weeks, after which time they are

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taken down. After their timespan ran out, a different set of flyers (“grid,” found in Appendix G) were posted in the on-campus dorms during the week of February 22nd.

Two other methods of advertising that were used were digital signs and table tents. The digital signs (“Need writing help?” found in Appendix H) began showing on screens in Carrier Library on February 23rd, while the table tents (“Facebook Messenger,” found in Appendix I) began showing on tables in Carrier and Rose Libraries on March 21st. All advertisements were made on the graphic design website Canva.com (https://www.canva.com/). Another method of advertising that was pursued but not utilized was the placement of stickers on Starbucks cup sleeves.

https://www.canva.com/

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Opportunity and Issue AnalysisOpportunities

A major opportunity with the chat system is for it to be a replacement for students who used to utilize Write Nights at Rose Library. Due to its time (Mon and Wens, 7-10PM), Write Nights primarily served students who were not close enough to the SSC Writing Center location and needed help after the usual tutoring hours. The tutor chat service potentially replaces and expands on this, cutting down by one hour (instead being offered 8-10PM) and being available Mon-Thurs rather than only Mon and Wens. While higher-order writing concerns are difficult to address in a chat format, such a session would not be impossible and has been done numerous times. Also, the chat format does lend itself well to addressing lower-order concerns such as grammar, paraphrasing, and the proper citation of sources and formatting of quotes.

ThreatsA potential threat for the tutor chat service is the fact that students may not see any merit

in its use. While the service is easily used as a quick reference, it is offered during highly specific hours, and according to survey results, a significant portion of students (46.9%) do not use chat systems in general, much less for academic purposes.

Another threat to the chat service is the fact that it could be used only for extremely short questions rather than fostering a productive, process-based session for the student. Because a chat system is naturally a short-form medium, it may be difficult for students to use it for any concerns beyond quick questions.

A third threat to the service is the fact that students overwhelmingly prefer face-to-face consultations, which means they may be less willing to use an online service. While no students reported any dissatisfaction with their online sessions, the chat service lacks the face-to-face rapport and in-depth discussion that is more easily accomplished in a traditional session. A major difference between chat and in-person sessions is that, if there is only one tutor logged on, they may have to hold more than one consultation at a time. Notably, this happened to me during a session (highlighted in Figure 1 from the preceding section). This could dissuade students from utilizing the service because the time between responses does increase when a tutor must manage multiple sessions.

StrengthsA major strength of the tutor chat service is its availability. It can be accessed from

anywhere because it is online, meaning that it can provide instant writing help to any JMU students. The service also has a significant degree of versatility. While it is a short-form service, the chat box allows documents to be attached and sent to the speaker on the other end. A tutor could review a longer piece of writing for a student and return it with leading questions and suggestions for improvement. Students could also send links to Google Docs, just as tutors can send links to writing resources.

Based on chat transcripts from the fall 2015 and spring 2016 semesters, it is clear that mediating a productive discussion through a chat connection is possible and can be done very well. The unique medium of a chat system allows students and tutors to take more time in their responses, and also doesn’t hamper the ability of tutors to provide thoughtful replies and questions that don’t directly hand-feed students the answers to their questions.

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Another strength of the tutor chat service is its visibility on the UWC site. Students who were asked why they chose to use the service at the conclusion of chat sessions noted that they saw the service through JMU webpages or the UWC homepage. This means that students are perusing websites and that academic services are visible on them, so it could be advantageous to have such advertising in other places.

WeaknessesA major weakness of the chat system is its format. As shown in Fig 1, it is a short-form

chat system comparable to Facebook Messenger or a help service on a technology website. For this reason, it is difficult to address the higher-order concerns that students sometimes want to work on because the paper is not physically in front of both tutor and student simultaneously, and any comments must be typed out rather than immediately spoken. The face-to-face rapport established in a tutoring session in the physical Writing Center is highly important to a successful session; while it is possible to establish a similar relationship over chat, trying to explain concepts that are better left to in-person discussion can sometimes be a challenge.

The audience and nebulous purpose of chat remains a weakness. Students seem to wonder what they would use the service for and who is meant to use it, which was reflected in interviews with representatives from University of New Mexico and University of Southern Maine. The only consensus in the survey research is that, according to students, the audience is “not me.” In the surveys given in WRTC103 and WRTC336, 18 students (50%) agreed with statement “"Chatting with a tutor could be useful,” but the same amount of students claimed they would only utilize the service somewhat often, while 14 claimed not often. Similarly, twenty students in the handout surveys (62.5%) agreed that the service could be useful, but the highest number of students (14, or 43.8%) noted that they would not use the service often. This could be because, while students can imagine asking questions about citations or grammar, they simply “wouldn’t feel like” logging on to chat with a tutor, or would rather address their concerns in person.

While it seems obvious to point out, another weakness of the service is that no one knows about it, which means that students don’t yet know that it could be of use to them. The majority of respondents to the student surveys (over 60%) indicated that they had not heard of chat, which means they answered all following questions without previous knowledge about the service. But the few students who were asked about the service during chat sessions claimed it was a useful and surprising resource. The contradiction between answers of “this could be a useful tool” and “I would not be likely to use it” could be due to the fact that none of them have utilized it yet; if they were to use the tutor chat, their opinions may change.

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RecommendationsGeneral Recommendations

The vast majority of students find out about academic resources through official channels; that is, via their teachers and through various JMU webpages. This means that it would be helpful to directly ask teachers to advertise the service in some way. It would also be useful to forward information about the UWC chat through word of mouth, according to phone interviews and research. This would be accomplished in the following ways:

Conducting in-class presentations in the beginning of the semester (at the request of teachers who request such a presentation from the UWC)

Asking interested teachers to tell their students about the service in class Telling prospective students about the service during orientations, presentations, or tours

It may also prove useful to students to add additional features to the chat system. Students do not seem entirely “on board” with the idea of using a chat system for help in any context, which carries over to its use for writing help. This issue could be alleviated by utilizing the above methods, and also by doing the following:

Creating a direct link in Canvas to the chat system (a button like "chat with a librarian") Adding a long-form essay revision service or a video chat system Conducting future surveys and focus groups that target student attitudes towards online

services attached to the UWC.

Numerous sets of student answers and research leads have the potential to spark interesting conversations in the future. Notably, other schools utilize long-form essay revision services and video chat, and students at JMU may desire something similar because of their preference for in-depth and in-person interaction with tutors. Surveyed students claim to see the use in chat but not for them personally, and in-person tutoring services are most popular at JMU. Adding a “happy medium” could help spur interest in the system.

I suggest conducting follow-up surveys (ideally via Qualtrics) with JMU students in order to determine what a wider range of the population would desire in an online service. Of particular interests are questions on why students wouldn’t use the service, as well as what online services they would prefer to use for tutoring, if any at all. It may prove useful to conduct surveys or focus groups centered around online services to determine whether or not chat is catering to student needs and if it should be expanded. Additionally, an automated post-session survey can be sent to student at the conclusion of a chat to ascertain their immediate opinions of the service after they finish using it.

Marketing recommendations The marketing conducted within the project was done to gain a general understanding of

where students usually see information and whether or not traditional advertising techniques would have positive results. According to survey results, 52 out of the total 68 students surveyed (76.5%) note that they most often refer to academic, services based on teacher recommendations, with the next highest result being JMU webpages, by 31 students (45.6%). Because of this, the

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most effective ways to advertise in future semesters would be directly through teachers and academic websites.

In-class presentations and orientation A primary method of telling students about the chat service is via in-class presentations.

The UWC already utilizes an introductory presentation delivered in courses whose instructors request it. The presentation discusses the UWC’s services, the various writing stages at which a student can ask for writing help, and walks the audience through the steps of booking an appointment and utilizing other UWC resources. Such a presentation allows students to learn about the UWC at their instructor’s behest—and presumably with their commendation—which means that using a presentation to discuss chat with students puts it at the forefront of their mind with the added benefit of teacher referral. The existing presentation briefly mentions the chat service, but it could be beneficial to have a slideshow solely dedicated to chat or to devote a larger portion of the introductory presentation to the service.

In addition to presentations given in courses, more information on chat could be added to student orientations. Prospective students tour the Student Success Center throughout the semester, and mentioning the online service to those groups during the portion dedicated to the UWC could prove useful for helping freshman students immediately know about the chat system.

Faculty referralWord-of-mouth is the most powerful tool that can be used to spread the word about the

chat system, and the most potent of these is faculty referral. According the surveys, students take recommendations from their teachers into account, and asking teachers to place links to the UWC chat in their syllabi and Canvas sites could be drastically effective; even verbal reminders could increase future usage. In a similar vein, some students said that they do see emails, so sending information emails over the JMU student listserv could also garner higher usage. Due to the use of Canvas as JMU’s academic content management system, I also recommend partnering with the Center for Instructional Technology to install a “button” that links directly to the UWC “Chat with a Tutor” page on any Canvas sites who administrators request it.

The advertising methods employed over the course of this project were flyers posted around campus, table tents in the libraries, and using digital flyers on screens in the libraries. None of these avenues were harmful, so—due to the novelty of the chat system—I recommend using traditional marketing in addition to the other methods mentioned. Using print and digital forms of marketing early in the semester can allow the message to set in the minds of students. It may also prove useful to utilize stickers to advertise the service on Starbucks cups. With two venues on campus, it is no secret that Starbucks is visited often by students, so such an opportunity could be useful.

Chat guidelinesThe final recommendation for improving chat usage and perception is to add guidelines

for how to use the system. There has not been an instance of a student asking for help with major higher-order concerns across an entire essay over chat, which means that students understand the appropriate use of the system. However, it could be valuable to add guidelines for the system, especially if usage begins to increase. Such guidelines would include instructions on how to use the service, a reminder of its hours, and reminders about the fact that higher-order concerns that

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the student may prefer to discuss in-depth with a tutor should be addressed in a traditional session. These could be housed on the chat page within the UWC site.

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ConclusionThe University Writing Center chat service has the potential to reach a wide variety of

James Madison University students, from traditional students who live on campus to those who can only utilize distance learning services. Students who have used the service and been asked about their opinion of it have said it is useful and more people should be made aware of, it which shows a strong—if small—demographic of students who appreciate the chat system.

This project set out to answer a single question, with three sub-questions, which are summarily answered below.

How can UWC chat be marketed JMU students? Students primarily learn about academic resources through their teachers and official JMU webpages, though they do notice announcements in traditional advertising venues. For that reason, it would be most effective to push the chat system through JMU faculty, who then tell their students directly through either in-class announcements, presentations given by the UWC to individual classes, or through Canvas. Continuing to use advertisements on campus would also be beneficial.

Who is using chat? Due to its novelty and underuse, the tutor chat service is being used by a wide array of students with a wide range of concerns. Topics of chat sessions range from brainstorming for creative writing, to APA citations, to grammatical concerns. However, the one attribute all users have in common is that were surprised by the service’s existence, and some students would like to see it marketed more.

Why are they using it?Students are using the chat system to efficiently solve their writing concerns. Those who were asked how they found the service claimed it was because they were visiting the UWC website and chose to use the chat to solve an issue; so far, the chat is not a sought-after system.

What questions are they asking, and can these questions be answered effectively in that medium?Students are primarily using the chat service to address lower order writing concerns such as grammar, citation styles, and sentence and paragraph structure. Rarely do students address higher order concerns, but it is clear from chat transcripts and conversations with other schools that this system can be used to address a wide variety of concerns. However, it may prove useful to introduce a secondary avenue such as asynchronous tutoring or video chat.

The tutor chat service is a valuable service and appreciated by those who utilize it. If the UWC chooses to continue having a chat system in place, I suggest marketing it through teachers early on in the fall and spring semesters, and creating chat-specific presentations and guidelines so that students can learn about the service from their instructors and understand how to use it immediately.

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AppendicesAppendix A: Survey (WRTC 336 and WRTC 103)

University Writing CenterTutor Chat Service Usage Survey

Class (ex: WRTC204): _____________________

Year (circle one): Freshman Sophomore Junior Senior

Major: ______________________________________________

Q1: Before taking this survey, did you know about the University Writing Center’s tutor chat service (also known as “Chat with a tutor”)?

Yes No

Q2: If you knew about the chat system, how did you find out about it? Check all that apply. University Writing Center website Teacher referral Peer referral Advertisement on campus (online, print) Advertisement in dorms or apartments Email Other (please state: _____________________) I did not know about it

Q3: How do you usually find out about resource center services (such as the University Writing Center, the Communication Center, Academic Planning Center, and the library’s various resources)? Check all that apply.

JMU webpages Teacher referral Peer referral Advertisement on campus (online, print) Advertisement in dorms or apartments Email Other (please state: _____________________)

Q4: How often do you use resource center services offered by JMU (such as the University Writing Center, the Communication Center, Career and Academic Planning Center, and the library’s various resources)?

Very Often Often Somewhat Often Not Often

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Never

Q5: How likely are you to use a chat system for assistance (e.g. customer service, JMU Libraries, tutor chat, and website aid)?

Very likely Somewhat likely Neutral Unlikely Very unlikely

Q6: How likely are you to use the University Writing Center “Chat with a Tutor” service? Very likely Somewhat likely Neutral Unlikely Very unlikely

Q7: State how much you agree or disagree with this statement: The ability to chat with a writing tutor could be a useful tool for students.

Strongly agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly disagree

Q8: If you were to use the tutor chat system, what questions do you think you would ask? Check all that apply.

Grammar and spelling Citation styles and works cited Organization Sentence structure Thesis, topic sentence, and argument Other (please state: _____________________________________________)

Q9: How often do you think you might use the tutor chat system this semester? Very Often Often Somewhat Often Not Often Never

Q10: What time of day would you be most likely to use the tutor chat system? Early Morning (6AM to 9AM) Late Morning (9AM to 12PM) Afternoon (12PM to 3PM) Late Afternoon (3PM to 6PM)

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Evening (6PM to 10PM or later)

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Appendix B: Survey (Carrier and Rose Libraries)University Writing Center

Tutor Chat Service Usage Survey

Year (circle one): Freshman Sophomore Junior Senior Graduate

Major: ______________________________________________

Instructions: Please answer each question, and only check one answer unless asked otherwise.

Q1: Before taking this survey, did you know about the University Writing Center’s tutor chat service, available Mon-Thurs from 8-10PM (also known as “Chat with a tutor”)?

o Yeso No

Q2: If you knew about the chat system, how did you find out about it? Check all that apply. o University Writing Center websiteo Teacher referralo Peer referralo Advertisement on campus (online, print)o Advertisement in dorms or apartmentso Emailo Other (please state: _____________________)o I did not know about it


o JMU webpages o Teacher referralo Peer referralo Advertisement on campus (online, print)o Advertisement in dorms or apartmentso Emailo Other (please state: _____________________)


o Very Ofteno Ofteno Somewhat Ofteno Not Ofteno Never

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o Very likelyo Somewhat likelyo Neutralo Unlikelyo Very unlikely

Q6: How likely are you to use the University Writing Center’s “Chat with a Tutor” service?o Very likelyo Somewhat likelyo Neutralo Unlikelyo Very unlikely


o Strongly agreeo Agreeo Neutralo Disagreeo Strongly disagree


o Grammar and spellingo Citation styles and works citedo Organizationo Sentence structureo Thesis, topic sentence, and argumento Other (please state: _____________________________________________)

Q9: How often do you think you might use the tutor chat system this semester?o Very Ofteno Ofteno Somewhat Ofteno Not Ofteno Never

Q10: What time of day would you be most likely to use the tutor chat system?o Early Morning (6AM to 9AM)o Late Morning (9AM to 12PM)o Afternoon (12PM to 3PM)o Late Afternoon (3PM to 6PM)

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o Evening (6PM to 10PM or later)

Q11: What are some reasons why you wouldn’t use the tutor chat system? Check all that apply.o The chat system not fit my needs in a writing consultation.o The chat hours do not fit my schedule or writing needs (currently Mon-Thurs, 8-10PM).o The chat hours do fit my schedule but I rarely work on papers during those times.o I rarely use chat systems for anything o I rarely ask for or need writing help o Other (please state: _____________________________________________)

Thank you so much for taking the time to answer these questions!

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Appendix C: Survey (UWC Faculty)University Writing Center

Tutor Chat System Usage SurveyWriting center faculty

Job title: __________________________

Q1 Have you taught a course while the tutor chat system was available to students? Yes No

Q2 If so, what class level did you teach? (Check all that apply) Freshman Sophomore Junior Senior Graduate

Q3 Did you refer your students to the tutor chat system? Yes No N/A

Q4 How many of your students reported using the tutor chat system? 1 2 3 4 5+

Q5 What do you think tutor chat is used for? Grammar and spelling Citation styles and works cited Organization Sentence structure Thesis, topic sentence, and argument Other (please state: _____________________)

Q6 How likely do you think students will use the JMU “Chat with a Tutor” service? Very likely Somewhat likely Neutral Unlikely Very unlikely

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Q7 How often do you think students will actually use the tutor chat system this semester? Very Often Often Somewhat Often Not Often Never

Q8 How useful do you think students perceive the JMU tutor chat system as? Very Useful Useful Somewhat Useful Not Useful

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Appendix D: Survey Results (Students)University Writing CenterChat usage surveyTotal respondents: 68 (36 in class, 32 handouts)

Year In-class Handouts Totals

Freshman 24 6 30Sophomore 8 9 17Junior 4 9 13Senior 0 8 8Grad 0 0 0

MajorsMajor # Major # Major #Accounting 1 Health Services

Administration4 Media Arts and Design 6

Biology 2 History 1 Music 1Business Management 2 Hospitality 1 Nursing 4Communications 2 Intelligence Analysis 1 Political Science 1Computer Information Systems

1 International Affairs 2 Psychology 2

Computer Science 2 International Business 1 Sociology 1Economics 1 Interdisciplinary Liberal

Studies3 Social Work 1

English 2 Justice Studies 1 Undecided 1Finance 1 Kinesiology 3 Writing, Rhetoric, and

Technical Communication9

Health Sciences 6 Marketing 3

Q1: Before taking this survey, did you know about the University Writing Center’s tutor chat service, available Mon-Thurs from 8-10PM (also known as “Chat with a tutor”)?

In-class Handouts TotalsYes 14 (39%) 11 (34%) 25No 22 (61%) 21 (66%) 43

Q2: If you knew about the chat system, how did you find out about it? Check all that apply. In class Handouts Totals

UWC site 11 2 13Teacher referral 8 5 13Peer referral 0 4 4Ad on campus 1 5 6Ad in dorms/apartments

0 0 0

Email 0 0 0

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Other 2 0 2Didn’t know 21 21 42


In class Handouts TotalsJMU webpages 16 15 31Teacher referral 31 21 52Peer referral 13 5 18Ad on campus 14 8 22Ad in dorms/apartments

7 3 10

Email 1 12 27Other 1 0 1


In class Handouts TotalsVery often 0 0 0Often 2 4 6Somewhat often 13 9 22Not often 15 14 29Never 6 5 11


In class Handouts TotalsVery likely 4 0 4Somewhat likely 10 6 16Neutral 13 9 22Unlikely 6 12 18Very unlikely 3 5 8

Q6: How likely are you to use the University Writing Center’s “Chat with a Tutor” service?In class Handouts Totals

Very likely 2 0 2Somewhat likely 8 8 16Neutral 14 6 20Unlikely 10 14 24Very unlikely 2 4 6


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In class Handouts TotalsStrongly agree 14 10 24Agree 18 20 38Neutral 4 2 6Disagree 0 0 0Strongly disagree 0 0 0


In class Handouts TotalsGrammar and spelling

18 16 34

Citations styles and works cited

28 (77.8%) 22 (68.8%) 50

Organization 14 9 23Sentence structure 13 9 22Thesis, topic sentence, and argument

21 17 38

Other 1 0 1

Q9: How often do you think you might use the tutor chat system this semester?In class Handouts Totals

Very often 0 0 0Often 2 2 4Somewhat often 18 10 28Not often 14 14 28Never 1 6 7Did not answer 1 1

Q10: What time of day would you be most likely to use the tutor chat system?In class Handouts Totals

Early Morning (6AM to 9AM)

0 2 2

Late Morning (9AM to 12PM)

3 6 9

Afternoon (12PM to 3PM)

3 6 9

Late Afternoon (3PM to 6PM)

10 15 25

Evening (6PM to 10PM or later)

31 17 48

Q11: What are some reasons why you wouldn’t use the tutor chat system? Check all that apply. [exclusive to handout surveys]

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In class HandoutsThe chat system does not fit my needs in a writing consultation.

7

The chat hours do not fit my schedule or writing needs (currently Mon-Thurs, 8-10PM).

5

The chat hours do fit my schedule but I rarely work on papers during those times.

1

I rarely use chat systems for anything

15

I rarely ask for or need writing help

15

Other (please state) 2

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Appendix E: Survey Results (Faculty)University Writing CenterChat usage surveyTotal faculty respondents: 5

Q1 Have you taught a course while the tutor chat system was available to students?Amount of faculty respondents

Yes 4No 1

Q2 If so, what class level did you teach? (Check all that apply)Class level Amount of faculty respondentsFreshman 3Sophomore 2Junior 3Senior 3Graduate 0

Q3 Did you refer your students to the tutor chat system?Amount of faculty respondents

Yes 4No 1Not applicable 0

Q4 How many of your students reported using the tutor chat system?Amount of students Amount of faculty respondentsOne 0Two 0Three 0Four 0Five or more 0

Q5 What do you think tutor chat is used for?Faculty respondents

Grammar and spelling 3Citations styles and works cited 4Organization 1Sentence structure 2Thesis, topic sentence, and argument 1Other 2

(“I don't have enough experience with the chat to know. Only once instance when I was tutoring, did I writer use the chat to ask about hours of operation.”)(“LOC's”)

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Q6 How likely do you think students will use the JMU “Chat with a Tutor” service?Faculty respondents

Very likely 2Somewhat likely 1Neutral 1Unlikely 1Very unlikely 0

Q7 How often do you think students will actually use the tutor chat system this semester?Faculty respondents

Very often 0Often 0Somewhat often 4Not often 1Never 0

Q8 How useful do you think students perceive the JMU tutor chat system as?Faculty respondents

Very useful 0Useful 2Somewhat useful 2Not useful 1

Q9 Ideally, what do you think that the UWC tutor chat service should be used for? “Ideally, the chat service can provide the same kind of help the UWC provides in f2f

sessions.” “I do not think many JMU students know about the UWC chat system. If they do know

about it, they probably know that there was no one available for chatting this past semester. I did not point my first-year writing sections this past semester to the tutor chat because I knew chat staffing would be unreliable/non-existent. This semester, with regular dedicated chat hours (prime writing hours when the UWC is not open), I will be very interested in the demand and the kind of concerns that writers present. I might expect that the concerns will be last late order concerns, in which UWC tutors are asked for help in addressing really local and almost impossible questions regarding citations, with UWC tutors not able to appreciate--or to reference--the larger question or the writing context. This is a low bar, but I would hope that a growing number of tutor chat sessions are nothing like what I've imagined above.”

“Very specific questions and short interactions, but that depends on the writer's agency--on holding ownership of the paper, and feeling confident on their own revisions.”

“A convenient option for getting small-scale feedback on writing. This will be especially helpful for students enrolled in online programs (who don't live in Harrisonburg).”

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Appendix F: Flyer (“Writing Emergency”)

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Appendix G: Flyer (“color grid”)

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Appendix H: Digital flyer (“Need writing help?”)

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Appendix I: Table tent (“Facebook Messenger”)

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Appendix J: Table (Chat transcripts) Guest name Date/time Duration Subject

(general)Subject (specific)

1. Sonja 2016-03-16 20:52:04

12 min, 56 sec

Lower Citation (APA)

2. Taylor (part 2) 2016-03-03 20:55:10

1 min, 12 sec


3. Taylor (part 1) 2016-03-03 20:37:21

3 min, 18 sec


4. Guest65745502 2016-02-29 21:41:08

30 min, 29 sec

Lower Grammar, sentence structure

5. Juls 2016-02-29 21:12:59

43 min, 34 sec

Lower Sentence structure, organization

6. Beth 2016-02-29 20:48:57

59 min, 30 sec

Lower Proofreading, citation (APA), flow, clarity

7. Guest77125167 2016-02-23 20:53:15

12 min, 41 sec

Lower Citation (ACS format)

8. Juls 2016-02-23 20:37:59

37 min, 56 sec

Higher Flow, organization, sentence structure/word choice

9. Kristen Reed 2016-02-22 21:02:37

32 min, 31 sec

Higher Organization and structure (literature review)

10. Julio 2016-02-22 20:35:46

1 h, 0 min, 6 sec

Lower Sentence structure, flow, grammar

11. Guest59860661 2016-02-18 19:49:52

21 min, 33 sec

Higher Assignment question, brainstorming, sentence structure

12. Guest13946190 2016-01-28 21:51:23

7 min, 26 sec

Higher Argument, rhetorical analysis

13. Guest61668064 2016-01-28 21:12:48

23 sec Lower Grammar (comma usage)

14. Guest3940782 2016-01-28 20:46:21

1 min, 24 sec

Lower Grammar (comma usage)

15. Laura 2015-12-01 12:34:47

5 min, 39 sec

Services UWC availability

16. Matthew 2015-12-01 11:03:58

11 min, 57 sec


17. Guest99883845 2015-11-09 15:48:48

9 min, 31 seconds

Lower Paraphrasing, citation style

18. Guest17073360 2015-11-03 12:30:01

4 min 31 seconds


19. Guest23979337 (part 2)

2015-11-03 12:14:40

9 min, 33 sec


20. Guest21576592 (part 1)

2015-11-03 12:12:38

2 min 22 sec


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21. Guest81619284 2015-10-28 19:30:08

13 min, 33 sec


22. Brittany 2015-10-21 12:39:49

2 min, 32 sec

Higher Brainstorming/assignment question (cover letter)

23. Guest68652496 2015-10-15 15:20:43

8 min, 28 sec

Lower Sentence structure (run-on and flow)

24. Heena Chalishajar 2015-10-02 11:36:31

15 min, 34 sec

Services Help w/ high school essay

25. Susan 2015-09-23 21:18:08

2 min, 38 sec

Lower Grammar, sentences (passive vs active voice)

26. Sean 2015-09-22 19:16:15

5 min, 18 sec

Lower Grammar, became a referral due to lengthier concerns

27. Guest29974716 2015-09-21 19:17:46

9 min, 6 secs

Higher Transitions and structure (creative writing)

28. Guest98779417 2015-09-21 18:49:10

20 min, 27 sec

Higher Opening/brainstorming (creative writing)

29. Tina (part 2) 2015-09-20 18:55:10

5 min, 42 sec

Higher Introduction writing

30. Tina (part 1) 2015-09-20 18:26:26

23 min, 49 sec

Higher Introduction writing

31. Stephen Lovern 2015-09-14 15:22:38

37 min, 25 sec

Higher Comprehension and clarity, became a referral

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Appendix K: Bibliography

Grabill, Jeff and Stacey Pigg. “The Writing Lives of College Students: Revisualizing Composition Study Group A WIDE Survey and Whitepaper.” North (2010): n. pag. Print.

Naylor, Sharon, Bruce Stoffel, and Sharon Van Der Laan. "Why Isn't Our Chat Reference Used More: Finding of Focus Group Discussions with Undergraduate Students." Reference & User Services Quarterly 47.4 (2008): 342-354. Print.

Sun, Pei-Chen et al. “What Drives a Successful E-Learning? An Empirical Investigation of the Critical Factors Influencing Learner Satisfaction.” Computers & Education 50 (2008): 1183–1202. Web.

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