AJVR: Can you introduce yourself, including your educational background, and explain your position in the Center for Student Success? 

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JD: Salutations. My name is Dr. Jennifer Smith Daniel, and I’m the Director of the Writing Center and Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) programs. The short version of my title is that I think and talk about writing quite a bit. As a writing center director, I oversee a program that has the charge of making sure that student writers have a place to get valuable and useful feedback on their writing – no matter where they are in that process. It is a student-facing role. As a WAC Director, I work with faculty to help them understand that writing can be more than a skill; it can also be a tool for learning.

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AJVR: For those who haven't had a chance to work with the tutoring center yet, can you explain what writing center is and how it helps Queens students? 

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JD: The Writing Center offers writers an opportunity to work with someone to get useful feedback on a text they are creating. Whether that text is a research paper or a capstone presentation, the Writing Center and its tutors offer the writer an embodied audience so that the writer ensures that their goals for the project are met. Sometimes, a session might be between a writing consultant and a first-year writer who is learning to write in a scholarly voice. It might be a junior meeting with a consultant to get feedback on their presentation for their internship. Despite the myth that writing is a lonely task, writing is really a social endeavor. Working with consultants is more than just getting a certain grade or getting the grammar and mechanics of a paper perfect. Writing is a tool for learning, and learning is a social activity. Moreover, because our consultants are students themselves, they get the ways that assignments or projects may be confusing for student writers. Consultants understand the expectations of writing in college and help make that process less stressful.

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AJVR: Could you tell me a bit about your background before coming to Queens? How did you first get started in the educational and tutoring fields? Why did you decide to work as a director for writing center and become a professor of rhetoric? 

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JD: My relationship with school has always been fraught. I think that may be the reason I became a teacher; I became the teacher I needed when I was younger. The first time I went to college, I flunked out. Like…0.0 GPA. I was older when I finished my bachelor’s degree – at Queens. I had professors here who saw I had a knack for supporting other students and thinking deeply. They encouraged me to go to graduate school. I completed my master’s degree at UNCC (University of North Carolina at Charlotte) where I was a graduate teaching fellow. That means that for my 1st year, I was a writing center tutor. It was an odd experience to be in my 30s and realize what I wanted to be when I grew up. I was lucky enough to come back to teach at Queens just after I finished my MA. In that program, I was introduced to the discipline of Rhetoric. Fun fact: Rhetoric is actually the oldest discipline, as it is one of the original subjects of the original seven liberal arts. After directing the writing center for a few years, I knew I wanted to know more about Rhetoric, so I pursued my Ph.D. from UNCG.

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AJVR: How were you introduced to Queens? 

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JD: My mom was an adult student here and thought I might like to take a creative writing course. I took one and loved it. Fun fact: My sister, mom, and I are all Queens graduates.

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AJVR: What would you like the future tutoring students to know about the center, tutors, and opportunities within the Center for Student Success? 

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JD: First, working in the Center is a great place to develop a community. One of the best ways for students to learn … is to become a tutor. Moreover, you don’t have to be an expert. You just have to be a good student, a good listener, and someone who is curious. Also, working in the Center is a way to differentiate yourself from all the other students on college campuses. This work shows that you are serious about learning and serving. 

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AJVR: Do you have any future opportunities that you are excited about for the Center of Student Success or outside projects? Is there any rhetoric classes that you are excited about that you would like rhetoric majors, minors, and general lovers of rhetoric to know?

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JD: Excellent questions. As for the writing center, I do have a project I’m trying to get started. It’s embedded tutoring for first-year writing courses. Think of it as each QEN course having its own writing consultant that helps students transition to writing in college. As for future rhetoric classes, there are literally two dozen that I would love to run, but the one I would like to start with would be something related to the ethics of care, as seen in Mr. Rogers and his children’s show, Mr. Rogers Neighborhood. So many students today don’t realize what a radical teacher he was … even for our current time. 

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AJVR: How can students become more involved in the Center of Student Success and maybe even become subject tutors or writing consultants? 

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JD: We have a formal recruitment process in the early spring, where students apply and interview for our positions. Also, students can email us here in the Center anytime to find out more (studentsuccess@queens.edu).

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AJVR: What is your life like outside of Queens? Do you have any pets? Favorite shows and books to recommend to the Queen's students? 

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JD:  Life beyond Queens is full of family and friends. As the mom of three boys (20, 20, and 17), I stay fairly busy, which I love. We also have two dogs: Darcy (14) and Porter (3). 

This summer, I have plans to read LOTS because I won’t be working on my dissertation anymore. I will start with Ron Rash’s new book, The Caretaker. As for TV shows, I’m catching up on all the good ones I missed the last few years. Also, I’m re-watching some favorites, such as Ted Lasso and The Good Place. 

Also, this year has quite a few travel adventures in the works: Mexico, Isle of Palms, Italy.