Writing Fellows Information for Faculty

If you would like to partner with us on methods to teach students to plan, draft, and revise their writing, consider applying to the Writing Fellows Program. 

The Writing Fellows Program is designed to provide students with additional support to attend more closely to their writing by building in draft deadlines, providing one-on-one peer consultations outside of class, and encouraging revision of drafts. Writing fellows receive extensive education on how to provide detailed, personalized feedback to help each student improve, no matter their skill level or experience. 

The program also provides faculty with support around integrating writing into their courses and creates a forum for faculty to share ideas on writing assignments that improve critical thinking. Faculty who participate in the Writing Fellows Program commit to the program's emphasis on writing as a process and tailor writing assignments to be compatible with the program's approach to peer review. Faculty meet as a group multiple times per semester to share strategies, assignments, and goals for writing instruction in courses across the disciplines.

Course Requirements for Writing Fellows Program

• The course can be from any department in A&S or SOE, but it must be designed primarily for undergraduates, and it must be writing-intensive. 
• The course must allow writing fellows to meet with students at least twice: either for two different papers, or for one long formal paper broken into different sections, steps, or drafts.
• Draft deadlines must be created so that writing fellows have time to meet with their assigned students to discuss revisions.

Expectations for Faculty 

• Require all undergraduate students taking your course to meet with writing fellows at least twice each semester. (Please contact the program for guidance if graduate students are also taking the class.)
• Meet with your assigned writing fellows to discuss classroom policies, due dates, writing assignments, and your expectations of your students' work.
• Set and announce firm due dates at the beginning of the semester for the drafts and the revisions of the papers to be assigned. Do not change due dates without consulting your writing fellows or the program director first.
• Announce or introduce the writing fellows to your course by including a description of the program on your syllabus, adding your assigned writing fellows to Canvas, and inviting your assigned writing fellows to introduce themselves to your class.
• Work with the writing fellows and the director of the program to develop effective writing assignments, manageable due dates, and classroom policies for late papers.

Preferences (not required)

• A class size of between 20 and 60 students 
• Classes that primarily attract first-year and sophomore students, or upper-class students in a cross-listed class or a discipline that does not typically have a lot of assigned writing
• Assignments that allow students to choose all or part of their topic, that engage students in questions of genre or audience, and that allow students to organize their essays in different ways
• Course schedules in which both required writing fellows meetings occur before the last two weeks of the semester (if the class requires a long research paper at the end of the semester, we request that the paper draft be due by the penultimate week of classes)

Faculty Rewards

A small teaching supplemental is provided for faculty teaching in the program for the first time or for faculty developing a new course to be added to the program. 

For more information or to apply to the program, contact Hannah Herndon.