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I know. I've been there. I endured GBA 300 as a business administration major, succeeded with flying colors, and tutored GBA 300 students for the following two years of my undergraduate education. I am aware of the anxiety that can envelop the experience in the course.
Admittedly, GBA 300 is not a simple class, demanding well-developed written and oral skills. In fact, over 50% of the final grade is based solely on critical thinking and writing skills demonstrated in the individual essays. Furthermore, GBA 300 students are introduced, and hopefully formalized, to a new, specialized, and technical kind of writing expected in their chosen discipline: business. The experience in the class should be embraced as an opportunity to integrate the knowledge and skills gained in liberal, general education courses into a business-oriented framework, which will dominate the rest of business students' education. In addition, the same critical thinking, reading, and writing skills used to foster effective communication in general education courses directly apply to the tasks required in GBA 300. Moreover, while the transition to a bona fide business student and to different writing demands may seem overwhelming, the Writing Center offers an excellent resource to aid the GBA student with his or her writing woes at any stage along the writing process.
However, just as the class demands much of the student, the tutor's job is complicated by the overall involvedness of the course. GBA 300 is an IS course taught by instructors from a variety of disciplines, ranging from foreign language to management, from political science to accounting. All of the course sections teach a common assignment; however, each instructor may articulate a slightly different interpretation of it. Of course, this confuses the task of the writing tutor trying to satisfy the range of expectations. Because I have tutored GBA 300 and now work in the Writing Center, I offer some tips to GBA students seeking further assistance to maximize their experience in GBA 300 as well as in their tutor sessions:
(1) The Writing Center is not a proofreading agency. Tutors are diagnosticians, who diagnose problem areas with the writing process and recommend strategies for improvement. Tutors can help students with any part of the writing process, from brainstorming to organization, from thesis development to transitions.
(2) Complete ENG 100 before writing the first essay. Know grammar problems upfront and alert the tutor. Seek further clarification on grammar issues, which seem unclear. The Writing Center has many useful handouts that address specific grammar concepts.
(3) Know the documentation style required by the teacher. The Writing Center has several handouts on the various documentation styles: MLA, APA, and Chicago/ Turabian. Knowing which style the instructor desires helps the tutor to effectively instruct the student.
(4) Bring additional handouts or notes on the essay assignment obtained in class to help the tutor gain an accurate sense of the assignment.
(5) Bring graded first and/or second paper to help the tutor assess problem areas and teacher specifications.
(6) Remember, the general rule of business writing is to be explicit. Tell readers what you're going to tell them, tell them, and then tell them what you told them.
(7) Include a road map to indicate a paper direction.
(8) Finally, be sure the thesis states specific conclusions rather than simply announces what the paper will be about.
Hopefully, these few points of advice will help cultivate a satisfying and enlightening experience in the Writing Center and, furthermore, in GBA 300. The Writing Center is an invaluable resource that GBA students can reference at any point in their education. Plus, unlike most services these days, the Center is free and waiting to be taken advantage of to help business students with dreadful writing demands. After all, helping students is our job.
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