Mohsine Bensaid, director of the Writing and Communication Center (WCC) and reading and writing instructor of the ACCESS program at Ashland University, was hired as a Fullbright Scholar in 2010.

Bensaid did his undergraduate degree in his hometown of Kenitra, Morocco with a major in literature and linguistics.

When Bensaid moved to the U.S., he first came to Denison University in Granville, Ohio and got another bachelor’s degree in communications.

After finishing his degree in communications, Bensaid went back home to Kenitra and taught for two years at a Language and English Business school teaching students of all ages. After two years of teaching in his hometown, Bensaid came to AU and began working for the ACCESS program.

Bensaid decided to come and teach at AU when he saw there was an opening and decided to apply.

“I had some friends who went to AU and had previously visited the town, so I was kind of familiar with the place,” said Bensaid. “My wife is also from Ashland and grew up here, so we have her side of the family in town.”

The ACCESS program at AU stands for the Ashland Center for English Studies. This program offers an intensive English program to international professionals, undergraduate, and graduate students.

ACCESS equips students with knowledge, skills, and experiences in English that people need to fully engage. They also teach research and writing skills particular to western thought.

Bensaid worked for the ACCESS program for eleven years before getting his official position at AU as director of the writing and communications center; he also teaches some English classes at AU.

“I like teaching English 100, I enjoy the fact that I get to work with native speakers and also international students who are beginning to learn the ins and outs of academic writing,” he said.

He also enjoys the “Accent on the Individual” here at AU, saying, “my classes are usually small, so I have the opportunity to see what students need and ask them questions in person and meet with them in person versus people who teach at bigger institutions where they have 30 plus students if it’s a composition course.”

Bensaid said his biggest motivator teaching here at Ashland is “seeing students grow over time.”

Being the director of the writing and communication center, he said, “we take an approach [called] the ‘non-directive’ approach. Our coaches don’t really give answers, but instead they guide students to find their own answers. We help students with any type of assignment that involves communication, for example papers, reports, oral presentations, etc.”

The writing and communication center is open for any undergraduate or graduate student on campus or an online undergraduate student. The appointments are live appointments or can be done over Zoom. Appointment-scheduling can all be done online at https://ashland.mywconline.com.

Right now, the writing and communication center is located on the first floor of Bixler, but once the renovation project at the library is completed, the writing and communication center will move to the first floor of Archer Library.