Connecting to collaborate: an examination of academic staff members’ expectations of an undergraduate writing centre

Writing centres have established themselves as impactful support spaces at universities worldwide. However, their mandates and services are often misunderstood by academic staff and, by extension, misunderstood and therefore underutilised by students. This study examines the perceptions and expectations of academic staff regarding the services of an undergraduate writing centre at a South African university. The study aims to determine staff awareness and expectations in order to identify potential future collaborations between writing centres and content specialists. A sequential mixed-methods approach to data collection was employed, consisting of digital questionnaires followed by focus group discussions. Transcripts from the focus group discussions were analysed using Atlas.ti software. Based on the codes assigned in the Atlas.ti analysis, three major themes relevant to the research questions were identified: 𝘈𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘝𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘦. Aspects concerning academic staff perceptions sourced from both the questionnaires and focus groups are discussed within these three themes. Based on the discussion, it is clear that many academic staff members highly value the writing centre, and are open to collaborative endeavours. They also exhibit an impressive level of familiarity with the writing centre and what it offers. However, staff also harbour some misperceptions around what the writing centre does and does not do, and identified aspects of communication that could be clearer and more streamlined. It is therefore recommended that the writing centre continue to invest in accurate communication with academic departments to ensure that lecturers and students make optimal use of its services.