For more than 30 years, Jan Robertson has been a cornerstone of Bronx Community College’s writing community, supporting students through every kind of writing challenge. She often marks her time at BCC by the age of her son, who was a year old when she began in her role.

Robertson joined BCC in 1991 as an English adjunct professor and was appointed Director of the Writing Center in 2002. She continues to teach English and ESL as an adjunct and advises the Spoken Word Club.

As artificial intelligence reshapes writing and more courses move online, Robertson admits she misses the in-person energy of earlier years. Her admiration for BCC students, however, has never wavered.

“BCC students come from so many backgrounds,” she said. “They’re committed to learning.”

A longtime champion of student creativity, Robertson leads poetry workshops and organizes the twice-yearly Poet’s Café, which has drawn as many as 70 students. “Our students are so talented,” she said. “They have so much to express.”

One Poet’s Café regular who later returned as a guest poet is BCC alumna Oyindamola Shoola, now an award-winning writer with multiple advanced degrees and seven books of poetry; she also serves as Editor and Programs Director at Poetry Journal.

Beyond creativity, Robertson has built a Writing Center that is rigorous and engages nationally. She has taken students to 17 writing conferences across the country, and the Center has hosted four CUNY-wide tutor conferences at BCC.

Central to her work is tutor training. Writing Center tutors receive extensive preparation, including certification through the College Reading and Learning Association (CRLA). Robertson served for 15 years as a CRLA co-trainer and recently developed a certification curriculum for tutors across disciplines, emphasizing effective strategies for working with ESL students and supporting student retention.