Wendy Pfrenger

As the Writing Center Coordinator at Hartford, I work closely with the tutors, instructors, and the Writing Coordinator to ensure that the center complements and extends the work of the Freshman English and W courses.  I can arrange standing appointments for students in need of extra assistance, set up class visits, and coordinate partnerships with tutors for interested instructors.  I am excited that this spring I will teaching a new service learning version of the Freshman English course, ENGL 110, entitled “New England’s Rising Star: Invisibility and Identity in Connecticut’s Capital City.”  Although I enjoy many aspects of working in the Writing Program here, tutoring is often the most rewarding part of my week.
I came to UConn as a Master’s student in the English Department in 2001. Before that I was an English teacher in the Peace Corps, living in the Russian Far East. When I’m not on Hartford campus, I’m home trying out new recipes, playing with my two daughters and reading anything I can get my hands on, whether it’s Curious George or Dorian Gray.

Anne Wettersten

I am originally from Chicago. I have enjoyed the diverse group of people I have met and worked with first as a student tutor at Smith College and as an English instructor in the Czech Republic. I have continued my writing experience as an English instructor, doctoral student and writing tutor in English at Rutgers University, and most recently as a writing specialist at the UConn Greater Hartford campus.

Michelle Driscoll

Hello! My name is Michelle Driscoll, and I'm originally from Bristol, CT and currently make my home in Springfield, MA.  I am happy to be tutoring and teaching here at the Hartford campus after a few years at Storrs, where I received my MA in English and am working on my Ph.D.  My primary areas of interest are Twentieth-Century American Literature and Gender and Sexuality Studies.  When I'm not working, I can be found hiking and geocaching in the Hidden Hills of Western Massachusetts with my wife Aimee, who is a lawyer in Northampton, MA. 

David T. Lyons

As a graduate of UConn, I feel “twice blessed”: I’m both a staff member and an alumnus. I can identify with our students here at the Greater Hartford campus because I too commuted, lived at home and worked too many hours to pay my way through. I wish there had been a writing/resource center when I was an undergraduate; we were coldly thrown into the pool to reward those who could “swim” and to fail those who couldn’t. Every writer at every level, including us, benefits from having an editor/tutor/coach. I can think of nothing more effective in building rhetorical strength than having a one-on-one writing conference with a writing instructor. See you there.

Ron Glaz

I currently live in the village of Collinsville in a 19th century Victorian on the Farmington River. My roommate happens to be a 105-lb. dog named Anuk.  I am working on the second novel of a quartet titled A Gallery of Rogues and earn a living teaching English at Capital Community College and working as a writing specialist at the Greater Hartford campus. I have been involved with the First-Year Experience Program and W & Q Center since the fall of 2002.

Shade Gottgens

Hello, I’m Shade! For most of my life I’ve been the worst of writing/English students.Then one year with the help of a beloved English teacher I opened up to writing and now I can’t imagine life without it.

A huge part of my identity is that for half my life I grew up in Jamaica.An interesting part of my heritage is that I’m a Maroon on my mother’s side (A Maroon – from the word marronage or American/Spanish cimarrón:
"fugitive, runaway" - was a runaway slave in the West Indies).  The town my family originates from is called Accompong Town, one of the oldest and the largest Maroon settlement. It exists as a sovereign state inside Jamaica.  Every January we all go back to the town to celebrate its founder; there’s a lot of voodoo involved (not that I believe in voodoo, but its tradition). 

Gurchetan Randhawa

I am a lifelong Connecticut resident and I started my UConn career as a freshman in the fall of 2006. Currently I am pursuing a B.S. in biological sciences. I became interested in joining the Writing Center after taking ENGL 110 in the spring of 2007. After visiting the center and realizing how it had a very positive impact on my writing, I wanted to become a tutor and help others. When I am not in the center or busy with university work, I can be found cheering for my favorite team, the Boston Red Sox.

Philip Burnham

Hi! My name is Philip Burnham. I am a writing tutor in the Hartford W & Q Center. I have been a student at UCONN Hartford for the past five years were I have studied English. My favorite authors are F. Scott Fitzgerald, Theodore Dreiser, Toni Morrison, and John Grisham.
            While on campus, you can usually find me in class or in the W & Q center. However, in my free time I like to read, write, draw, garden, and listen to all kinds of music.

Sarah Zolan

Sarah Zolan I’m an English major, and I take classes at both the West Hartford and Storrs campuses. I started working at the Writing Center in the fall of 2007. I had the hardest time actually deciding on a major, because I think everything is interesting, so one of my favorite things about reading other students' papers has been learning, through their work, about subjects I never studied, or books I never read.