Each year we honor four writing consultants for excellence in their work with students. Below are the winners for 2024-25.
Lillian O’Brien
Judith Anderson Herbert Excellence in Writing Endowment Award for Excellence as a New Undergraduate Writing Consultant
Lillian demonstrates clear knowledge of best practices, poise in interpersonal communication, and confidence in her approach to writing consultation. She values empathy and preparedness, and her goal is for students to leave a session with tangible progress with their text or process, as well as an increase in their feelings of self-efficacy and a sense of agency. The award committee admires Lillian’s commitment to her own growth as a writing consultant. In her reflection on her own practice, she reveals both an understanding of what works well and what might be changed, as well as a rich awareness of the value of feedback and the variety of forms it can take.
Lillian’s exemplary consultation philosophy, highly effective recorded consultation session, and thoughtful reflective commentary all establish her as an outstanding writing consultant, and we’re grateful for her continued contributions to students through her work at the Herbert Writing Center!
Tristan Brown
Judith Anderson Herbert Excellence in Writing Endowment Award for Excellence as an Experienced Undergraduate Writing Consultant
Tristan orients “the student’s needs and priorities” as the “guiding star” of each session. She empowers writers by giving them the tools and confidence they need to succeed both in and beyond the writing consultation session. From starting her sessions with intentionality and transparency while consistently affirming students’ choices and ideas, she helps students recognize that their struggles are common while their strengths, like their voices, are both unique and valuable.
Her rapport-building is especially powerful. She connects with writers through the use of humor, praise, reassurance, or even by sharing her own experiences in a past FYC course to help alleviate their concerns. She helps writers find things to celebrate in their writing.
Recognizing that even productive sessions can leave students unsure of what to work on next, Tristan asks students to reflect on the work they’ve done, encouraging them to process what they’ve learned and consider their next steps. This reinforces the learning process and empowers students to take ownership of their ongoing development as writers.
Tristan’s support for student writers has made her a true role model for other consultants, and we’re fortunate she is continuing to contribute her time to helping writers develop!
Elliott Lay
John C. Hodges Award for Excellence as a New Graduate Student Writing Consultant
Elliott makes use of certain “favorite tutoring tools” and also works to respond to the student’s specific experience and expectations rather than relying on a one-size-fits-all approach. He demonstrates a strong commitment to helping students become happy and effective writers in their academic careers by fostering a belief in their abilities and the skills to develop and work out these abilities independently and competently. The thoughtfulness with which Elliott focuses on actualizing student work and his emphasis on students’ transfer of learning is equally matched by how he attends to considering goals and transfer in his consultation practices. Elliott’s work reflects the highest standards of the goals we strive for, and we’re excited that he is continuing to work with students this year.
Dr. Kate Wright
John C. Hodges Award for Excellence as an Experienced Writing Consultant
There is much to admire in Kate’s writing consultation work. The award committee was impressed by Kate’s practice of using a student’s strengths to frame feedback. Her instinct to have students focus on positive improvement and development of skills instead of simply “fixing” demonstrates how to create a supportive environment and make feedback both engaging and meaningful while still prioritizing the student’s writing self-efficacy. Kate’s consultation philosophy was clearly demonstrated throughout her recorded session and subsequent reflection, illustrating a cohesive, consistent, and successful approach to helping writers. We’re delighted Kate is continuing to work with us in the Herbert Writing Center again this year.
Undergraduate and graduate students in any major, field, subject, or course can meet with our wonderful writing consultants by making appointments at https://UTK.MyWCOnline.com. See our home page for more details about our one-to-one consultations and other writing support resources. Contact us at writingcenter@utk.edu with any questions.