Communication Center: Our Space
Dr. Leeann Hunter working with a student
We designed Georgia Tech’s Communication Center to be a leading-edge model for communication education. From its design in the Communication Center Task Force Report in 2007, the Communication Center has presented a strong vision: It not only includes CommLab (with multiple kinds of tutoring and practice spaces for writing and design), but it also includes four Rehearsal Studios (with multiple spaces for coaching presentations and small group interactions as well as providing opportunities for student to use the spaces for presentation rehearsals). In addition, the Communication Center has two offices (for the new Director and her two Assistant Directors), two small group meeting and conferencing rooms, a Resource Room for tutor meetings, and a storage space. In addition to the two Assistant Directors, there are five professional tutors–all of whom hold PhDs in a communication-related disciplines. Later this year, peer-tutors will begin working in the space, and plans to include Research Tutors from the Library and ESL Tutors from the Language Institute are also being developed.
Communication Center: Our History
Rendering of the Clough University Learning Commons rooftop garden
Before this new Communication Center, Georgia Tech has never had a campus-wide communication resource. Having the Communication Center be part of the Writing and Communication Program provides a clear message — that we designed this center to support our multimodal curriculum as well as to support campus-wide communication needs. We’re one of the few communication centers in the country to have such a close and articulated relationship between the curriculum and the tutoring/coaching support for that curriculum. And we’re one of the few communication centers in the country to have a research-based program — a center explicitly built on research and a center with research as an explicit and expected outcome.
