News (2015-16)

8 HWC Consultants Received Awards

April 27, 2016 | Howe Writing Center

We know our consultants are exceptional, but this proves it: eight Howe Writing Center consultants received English Department awards and scholarships this spring. Please join us in congratulating them for their accomplishments! The consultants received their awards at the English Department End-of-the-Year celebration on Wednesday, May 4, at 5pm in the Shriver Heritage Room.

• Kyle Larson: Outstanding Graduate Teaching Award
• Ying Liang: Greer-Heburn Writing Prize; Bill Moeller Scholarship
• Taylor McBroom: Senior Prize, Outstanding Critical Essay
• Clara Milligan: Robert Kettler Memorial Scholarship
• Brianne Moore: Greer-Hepburn Writing Prize
• Matt Morgenstern: Montaine Writing Award; Gordon and Mary Wilson Scholarship
• Eric Rubeo: Gordon and Mary Wilson Scholarship
• Bridget Simpson: Senior Prize, Outstanding Creative Writing

Science Writing Contest 2016 Winners

April 22, 2016 | Howe Writing Center

Our second annual Science Writing Contest ran from February 11 to April 13 and invited engaging research stories about primary STEM research at Miami. The contest was expanded this year to invite entries from graduate researchers. Congratulations to the winners!

1st Place, Undergraduate Research Category ($500)
James Harris, "Urbanization's Effect on the Foraging Behavior of Gray Squirrels"

1st Place, Graduate Research Category ($500)
Alison Long, "A Tall Glass of Clean Water: How Technology Can Help"

We thank the Office of Research for Undergraduates and the Graduate School for their co-sponsorship.

Featured Event: Faculty and Staff Open House

April 21, 2016 | Howe Center for Writing Excellence

With our long anticipated renovation and move now over, the Howe Center for Writing Excellence felt settled in enough to invite friends over for a look around. Faculty and staff were invited to join us at our Open House on Thursday, April 21, 12:00-2:00, in our re-designed space on the first floor of King Library.

Many guests, including President Hodge and the architects who designed our space, stopped in to explore our new consulting space, administrative offices, and classroom.

Farewell to Our Seniors

April 17, 2016 | Howe Writing Center

The HWC celebrated our seniors at our annual end-of-the-year banquet. Read some of their senior bios below to see what they will do after graduation!

Bridget S. has worked at the HWC since February of 2013. Her most memorable activities include establishing “regular” writers, working with them consistently, and attending conversation workshops. After graduation, Bridget will teach middle school math and science in Cleveland, Ohio, through Teach for America.

Emily W. has worked at the HWC since February of 2013. Her most memorable activities include presenting at the Orlando NCPTW/IWCA conference in October of 2014 and presenting at the Salt Lake City NCPTW conference in November of 2015. After graduation, Emily will work at IBM in Columbus, Ohio, as a technical writer.

Jeremy L. has worked for the HWC since Fall 2014. His most memorable moments include outreach, telling others about the writing center, discussing writing, and attending ECWCA in March of 2016. Jeremy hopes to eventually go into online learning development, but only after graduate research in educational neuroscience.

Kaitlyn F. has worked at the Howe Writing Center since her freshman year, but she decided she wanted to be a writing consultant when she was only a junior in high school. Since then, she's taken part in many initiatives at the writing center, including online and embedded consulting. She'll graduate in May with three majors and move roots to Chicago, where she'll begin her career.

Luck and Chance Writing Contest 2016 Winners

April 15, 2016 | Howe Writing Center

Our first Luck and Chance Writing Contest, inspired by St. Patrick's Day, extended from February 23 to March 17. The prompt called for original short stories, poems, creative non-fiction, or visual compositions that engage with the themes of luck and/or chance. We were happy to announce the lucky winners!

1st Place ($200 gift card)
Jessie Motts, "Street Myths" (prose)

Runners Up ($100 gift card)
Amanda White, "Five of Hearts" (prose)
Rob Wieder, "Assorted Haikus and Buffoonery" (poetry)

Honorable Mention
Carley Ferguson, "The Obligation of Luck" (prose)

Welcome to Our New Space

March 11, 2015 | Howe Center for Writing Excellence

The Howe Writing Center was pleased to welcome students to our new space in King Library. We worked with a team of architects to design a space with the following enhanced features:

• enclosed, quieter space for writing appointments
• administrative suite for four full-time staff
• open office space for three graduate assistants
• classroom for meetings, workshops, and the consultant training course

Holiday Singing Grams

December 4, 2015 | Howe Writing Center

The Howe Writing Center collaborated with the Miami University Glee Club to sell Holiday Singing Grams from November 17 to December 3. Students chose from 4 songs performed by the Glee Club to be delivered via phone to their friends and family on December 4. Singing grams were $3 each, and all proceeds went to the World Literacy Foundation.

Travel Writing Contest 2015 Winners

November 16, 2015 | Howe Writing Center

Global Initiatives and the Howe Writing Center invited students to submit short creative writing pieces that described their global experiences or transformative intercultural interactions. Writers could approach the prompt with an international perspective of the United States or an American perspective of abroad. The winning authors were invited to present their pieces at the first annual Harry T. Wilks Global Citizenship Forum on November 17. Congratulations to the winners!

American Category
1st Place ($500): Phoebe Myers, "A Trick of Light"
2nd Place ($250): Angela Riffle, "Kosovo"
3rd Place ($100): Jenny Henderson, "What We All Carry: My Perspective on Beauty and Tragedy While Abroad"
Honorable Mention ($50 gift card): Abbey Gingras, "An Abandoned Hotel and a Guy Named Wilson"
Honorable Mention ($50 gift card): Meghan Fennell, "Untitled"

International Category
1st Place ($500): Esther Claros, "Re-tracing My Steps"
2nd Place ($250): Dubin Park, "Tiptoeing"
3rd Place ($100): Tasmeen Weerakoon, "Wanderlust"
Honorable Mention ($50 gift card): Dewei Liu, "Struggle In The Wonderland"

Horror Genre Writing Contest 2015 Winners

November 5, 2015 | Howe Writing Center

In the spirit of Halloween, the Howe Writing Center encouraged students to submit poetry, short stories, or one-act plays that creatively and effectively embodied the horror genre. The winners received gift cards and a chance to be published in Inklings Magazine. Congratulations to the following winners!

Short Story Category ($100 gift card)
Samantha Silber, "The Sophomores"

Poetry Category ($100 gift card)
Ying Liang, "The Skin Trade"

Play Category ($100 gift card)
Ashley Urbanski, "Untitled"

Featured Event: Diversity Reception

November 4, 2015 | Howe Writing Center

In response to the empowering lecture by the #Blacklivesmatter campaign, the Howe Writing Center held a diversity reception in conjunction with the Graduate Students of Color Association (GSCA) and the Office of Diversity Affairs (ODA). The goal of the reception was to promote diversity within the writing center in hopes of empowering students through writing support and collaboration.

Students were invited to our King Library location from 6 to 9pm to seek advice on how the writing center can help strengthen end-of-semester projects and publication efforts and to learn about opportunities to potentially join our staff. Attendees entered a raffle for gift cards and spun our wheel for additional prizes!

The HWC Introduced Online Consulting

August 24, 2015 | Howe Writing Center

The HWC went digital! For Fall 2015, the HWC began offering online appointments, for students in online courses, students studying abroad, and students with disabilities. Students in these populations can schedule one of two types of online appointments: real-time (feedback through live video, audio, or chat) and written response (feedback through email or Google Docs). Jenelle Dembsey (Online Coordinator) and Ryan Vingum (Online Assistant) developed a plan to pilot, assess, grow, and sustain this essential service to all Miami students. We hope this intiative will expand the Howe Writing Center’s reach to many, many more students.