Peer Writing Consultants recognized by the Southeastern Writing Center Association

The Southeastern Writing Center Association (SWCA) has recognized two Auburn University peer writing consultants for their dedication to the teaching of writing and their outstanding contributions to the Miller Writing Center (MWC) and Writing Across the Curriculum initiatives. At the 2024 SWCA Conference in February, Okunola “Ola” Odeniyi received the Outstanding Graduate Tutor Award, and Caroline LeFever received the Outstanding Undergraduate Tutor Award. They were the only two students honored by the SWCA this year.

A teacher for more than ten years, Ola received her master’s degree in counseling psychology in Nigeria. She is currently a Ph.D. student in educational psychology and a graduate assistant for University Writing.  In addition to her core consulting responsibilities with University Writing, Ola helped launch asynchronous consultations in the MWC and partnered with the EAGLES program to help students enhance their ePortfolios. As part of this project, she facilitated workshops on personal brand statements and elevator pitch presentations along with graduate assistant Mark Smith. She and Mark welcomed EAGLES students to the MWC, where they received feedback on their ePortfolios and practiced oral presentations for their capstone course.

Katharine Brown, associate director of University Writing, said, “I am impressed with how Ola envisioned this new initiative and developed it from the ground up. Ola’s work with the EAGLES program allows us to better fulfill our mission of serving all members of the Auburn family.”

Caroline LeFever is a secondary education – English language arts major who has been a leader in diversity-focused training for MWC student employees. She has pursued learning in areas including accessible document design and intercultural communication and has created professional development materials for her coworkers focusing on multilingual writers. As a lead consultant in the MWC, she facilitates weekly small group meetings and has also taken the initiative to conduct an IRB-approved research project and to present at multiple conferences, including the National Conference on Peer Tutoring in Writing.      

Layli Miron, associate director of University Writing noted, “Caroline has consistently underscored her view of tutoring as not merely about the written product, but about the writer’s learning and growth. And she’s able to put that theory into practice every day.”

For this reason, students love working with Caroline. One student wrote, “She is very insightful and helped me to put my writing together concisely. I set up three meetings with her because she gained my trust instantly and made this process easier for me.”

In addition to being honored at the SWCA awards ceremony, Ola and Caroline also presented at the conference. Ola delivered a workshop entitled “Promoting Access and Support through Asynchronous Feedback” with fellow University Writing graduate assistant Huan Liu. Caroline joined MWC peer consultant Zoe Smith and Miron to present “Consultant Strategies: Moving Toward Repeat Client Visits.”