Although freshmen can go to their professors and tutors available at the Writing Center for extra help, the formal setting can make intimidate students said Dr. Kelly Shea, director of the Writing Center.
Shea, Dr. Ed Jones, director of basic skills and assessment, and Dr. Nancy Enright, director of First Year Writing, created the Peer Review Writing Group Project.
Students can join the program next semester, however they cannot sign up anymore for the fall.
Shea said this program started last year, but suffered as a result of the significant schedule changes brought on by Superstorm Sandy.
According to Shea, the goal of the program is to provide a more informal, relaxed setting for students to look over and comment on each other's work.
She said all students involved are freshmen. A group of freshmen meet to simply read each other's writing in a pressure-free environment.
While there are group leaders for these meetings, the leaders are freshmen as well and only need to report back to the English department to discuss how the meetings go. While there were only two group leaders participating in the program last year, this year there are 12, a testament to the fact that freshmen are finding the program helpful, according to Shea.
Shea said the project was originally funded by the Peer Review Writing Group Project, a $4,000 grant from Verizon and the Independent College Fund of New Jersey. As the funds decreased, Seton Hall's English department has pitched in as well to provide small stipends for the group leaders and bookstore gift cards to freshmen who receive help from the program.
Noora Badwan can be reached at noora.badwan@student.shu.edu.
