I never planned on going into writing center work, and I never expected to be so interested in and concerned with writing center technology. I began my graduate studies with the expectation that I would eventually get a Ph.D. in English with a focus in Asian American literature, and I completed my master’s work with a thesis on Amy Tan. But during my graduate studies, I was exposed to computers and composition pedagogy thanks to the visionaries at Texas Tech University, and I was hooked. I also held a position as a graduate tutor, and I realized that I enjoyed working one-to-one with students. 

Despite my budding interests in technology and writing centers, I didn’t consider combining these interests into a career choice until a few years after graduate school. I was still planning on studying Asian American literature, and I was contemplating finding a way to some university on the West Coast for a PhD in literature or Asian American studies. (Would it be Berkeley to study with Elaine Kim? Could I survive on the West Coast, even though I’m not a “West Coast person?” Do I really want to fight for a job in literature? Do I really want to make a career out of studying Asian American issues instead of fighting for change for Asian Americans?) I decided not to get my doctorate in literature. I decided not to get my doctorate at all. I thought I would channel my interests and energy toward a position in multicultural affairs in higher education, but being multi-ethnic (even with teaching and tutoring experience) isn’t enough for these highly competitive positions. So I found my way back to writing center work. I worked as a professional tutor and an adjunct, and I retained my love of technology, trying desperately to convince my colleagues at the time that technology was not the devil, that networked classrooms were instrumental for composition courses. 

Eventually, I took an administrative position in academic support, where I was managing a peer tutoring program (in all subjects, including writing) and coordinating the institution’s writing proficiency program. I used technology to train tutors, and I began exploring new technologies to support my one-to-one work with students, many of whom had learning disabilities. I began attending Computers and Writing conferences, and I realized that I could go back to my roots—that I could do something with writing centers, technology, and helping disadvantaged students. And here I am, the associate director of a large writing center at a large research institution. My work is valued, but my responsibilities are different because I am not faculty. I feel that I have more freedom to explore technology, and that my research is supported. Yes, I do research, even though I don’t have to. I do it because it’s important to me, and because I believe more research should be done in writing center technologies. I think research in this area has come to a dead-end, with many discussions of writing center technologies being focused on which software to buy to track student visits. 

Many would see drawbacks and limitations to my status as professional staff, yet I don’t feel the pull to become faculty. I get to work with both undergraduate and graduate students in a very unique way. I don’t have pressure to publish from anyone but myself, and I don’t have to worry about whether my technology play will count toward tenure. However, I wouldn’t necessarily recommend that graduate students make the same choices I made. My path to writing center administration was untraditional, and I got very lucky in finding my position. I can’t offer any specific advice on overcoming tenure-track obstacles, but I can say this: Work in writing center technologies is important, and should be done by both faculty scholars and professional staff, with these different levels offering different kinds of expertise and getting different kinds of results. It should and can be supported by institutions. And it requires both creativity and rhetorical skills. How else can I convince the College of Liberal Arts to give me new hardware and software each year? How else can I find ways of bringing user-centered design into the redesign of our OWL website? How else can I initiate plans to develop our own online tutoring system? And how else can I support undergraduate and graduate students in their own research?