Get Involved - Faculty

Who are Writing Fellows?

Writing Fellows are undergraduates who assist faculty members in courses that involve writing. The students who serve as Writing Fellows are skilled writers who have demonstrated an enthusiasm for thinking and learning about the writing process as well as a commitment to helping their peers. They undergo a full semester of training in a rigorous seminar, in which they read recent work from composition studies, practice commenting on student drafts, conduct original research on writers and writing, and reflect on their own experiences as writers and tutors. The goals of the Writing Fellows Program are to improve student writing and writing processes, to promote collaborative learning, and to encourage instructors to use writing to learn in their courses.

What professors can expect from Fellows

As they write margin and end comments on student papers, Fellows bear in mind both the general principles they have learned about in their training and the specific issues that they have been directed to by their supervising professor. Their comments do not focus on the content of papers; rather, they accept the content a writer presents them with and focus their comments and face-to-face conferences on ways to improve the presentation and/or effectiveness of that content.

How faculty benefit 

• Faculty can concentrate more of their attention on issues of course content when evaluating student writing because Fellows have already talked with students about matters of structure and organization. 
• Working with Fellows can help faculty clarify their goals and expectations for students' written work. Sometimes, faculty will revise their assignments for greater clarity as a result of the feedback they receive from Fellows. In so doing, they increase the likelihood of seeing the type of results they are looking for in students' written work.

How can faculty get involved?

We're now recruiting the 2015-2016 Writing Fellows class. If you know students who write well and enjoys helping their peers, send Dr. Kathleen Gillis an email with their names and contact information. If you're interested in learning more about the program or having one or more Fellows assist in a course, contact Dr. Gillis to set up a time to talk.