The Writing Associates Program’s Commitment to Equal Access

Swarthmore’s Writing Associates Program is committed to fostering equal access for both the writers with whom we work and the Writing Associate fellows (WAs) themselves. Our aim is to ensure that all writers and WAs have the support necessary to engage in productive conferences.

We acknowledge that traditional Writing Center conferences privilege verbal, visual, print and in-person sharing of writing, and our Writing Associates Program adopted these practices at its founding in the 1980s. In recent years, we have begun exploring alternatives to normative conference practices. We are dedicated to listening to the needs of writers and WAs with distinct access needs and to centering these needs to the best of our ability in our practices, materials, programs, and spaces, including the Writing Center. This process begins with WA training. If we are unable to immediately address a need, we will work with our writers and WAs to locate the resources they require. If you notice a lack of accessibility in our programming, website, or marketing, please let us know by submitting a response to our anonymous feedback form.

While we are not experts, we do commit to educating ourselves and communicating with the College’s formal accommodation office—Student Disability Services (SDS)—to work in good faith to create a program equally accessible to all writers and WAs. Some of the work of Writing Associates happens in partnership with courses. If you have any questions regarding accessibility in your courses or across campus, you may contact SDS at studentdisabilityservices@swarthmore.edu. If you have any questions regarding accessibility while working with the Writing Associates themselves, please contact us at writing@swarthmore.edu or read on for more options to communicate your access needs.