About Us:

The Writing Center Mission:
The primary goal of the Writing Center, under the auspices of the Division of Humanities, is to provide one-on-one help with composition projects that students have for any class, including developmental writing courses, first-year writing courses, and WAC-designated courses. The Writing Center supplements writing instruction at the college and offers extra help to students by providing a supportive environment with professors, student tutors, computers, and other resources they need to succeed as writers.

Students are encouraged to drop in whenever help is needed with a writing project. In addition, Writing Center staff answer questions by phone at (810) 760-0229, including those that come through the National Grammar Hotline. Writing Center staff view writing as a social process, and the Writing Center serves as a place and catalyst to enable that process.

Writing Center Staff:
The Writing Center at Mott Community College is staffed by both instructors and peer tutors. All staff are trained to assist students in understanding their writing assignments, gathering ideas, gathering sources and research, organizing their writing, developing details and examples in their writing, revising their writing, and learning to proofread and edit their documents.

Get to know some of the Writing Center staff below:

Dr. Michele Dunnum:
Dr. Michele Dunnum first began writing center tutoring as an undergraduate. After completing a Ph.D. in English at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, she worked at that institution's Sweetland Writing Center for two years, teaching first-year and developmental writing courses and tutoring in the Writing Workshop. Dr. Dunnum joined the MCC faculty in Fall 2004.

Dennis Ferrara:
Dennis Ferrara has been working in the Writing Center for the past four years. He has taught English 101 and 102 periodically for over six years. Receiving Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees from Central Michigan University, he has been a Fine Arts Reviewer for On-the-Town Magazine for five years as well as a Fine Arts Reviewer for the Flint Journal, the Catholic Times and Heritage newspapers.

Philip T. Greenfield:
Philip T. Greenfield began working with writers at the Writing Center at the University of Michigan-Flint while working on his Bachelor's Degree in English. He has also worked in the Writing Center at Eastern Michigan University during his graduate work. He holds a Master's Degree in Written Communication from that school. He teaches first-year composition and technical writing courses.

In addition to working with college writers, Philip has also worked with writers at the software reviewing company Tucows.com, has contributed in several Writing Center and Peer Tutoring conferences, and has sat on the board for the Michigan Writing Centers Association as Tutor Representative and Secretary. He has also worked in Web design and was central in developing the Web site for Potted Palm Productions.

Glenn Harris:
Glenn Harris,after graduate programs in English at the U of Connecticut and the U of Georgia, embarked on a teaching career focused on writing instruction for first year students, and has been involved in writing center work and writing across the disciplines programs at several institutions. He joined the English faculty at Mott in 2002.

Larry Juchartz:
Dr. Larry R. Juchartz, a college English instructor since 1990, has a background in rhetoric and composition, technical communication, basic writing, 20th century literature, critical theory, and cultural studies. A former dock worker and truck driver at the Port of Detroit, Dr. Juchartz delivered supplies to Great Lakes and ocean-going freighters while taking community college courses and eventually transferring to Eastern Michigan University for his Bachelor's and Master's degrees. Before coming to Mott in 2001, he earned his Ph.D. while serving as president of the Michigan College English Association and teaching at several colleges and universities in southwestern and mid-Michigan. His dissertation, which examines the rhetoric of rock music, has generated a number of published articles and conference presentations.

Over the past decade Dr. Juchartz has worked with thousands of beginning writers. "My primary responsibility as a teacher," he says, "is to recognize symptoms of a writer's fear and find ways to ease those fears and turn them into power. Everyone has the ability to break through barriers and find new ways to think about writing; my job is to draw out that ability by pointing it out to the many writers who come to me for help in the classroom and in the Writing Center."

Bill Reich:
William Reich has taught at Mott Community College since 1998. He has taught developmental writing, basic composition, technical writing, and literature classes. Mr. Reich has earned a BA and an MA from Central Michigan University and an MA from Eastern Michigan University.

Christy Rishoi:
Dr. Christy Rishoi joined the Mott Community College faculty in 2002 after teaching at Jackson Community College for five years. Over the course of her career, she has taught a wide range of courses, including composition, Native American literature, African American literature, and Women's Studies. The first course she taught as a graduate student in 1986 was Basic Composition, and Dr. Rishoi remains grateful to those first students who, she says, "taught me as much as I taught them." For this reason she enjoys working in the Writing Center at Mott and continuing to learn from the writers she helps there.

After earning her M.A. from Eastern Michigan University, Dr. Rishoi continued to teach at EMU and eventually earned a Ph.D. in American Studies from Michigan State University. Her first book, From Girl to Woman: American Women¹s Coming of Age Narratives, was published in 2003 by SUNY Press.

In her spare time, Dr. Rishoi is a voracious reader who always has multiple books and magazines open at once.

Greg Shafer:
Dr. Shafer teaches composition and literature classes and is the President of the Michigan Council of Teachers of English. He has earned a BA and MA From Michigan State University and a DA in English from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Dr. Shafer's book, "Process and Voice in the Writing Workshop", was published in 2000 by Robbie Dean Press.

Linda M. VanHorn
Linda M. VanHorn obtained her Bachelor of Arts degree in education from the University of Michigan. In 1992, she obtained a Master of Arts in composition from Central Michigan University and has taught at Central Michigan, the University of Michigan-Flint, Saginaw Valley State University and Delta College before settling in exclusively at Mott College. She teaches both English 101 and 102.