Texas Tech University

CATALYZING Scholarship: Faculty and Student Writing Groups

Two people wrirtng and drinking coffee at a wooden table

Program Overview

At the start of each long semester (Fall and Spring), CATALYST organizes and supports writing groups for faculty and graduate students. This activity fills a present need to foster fellowship among faculty and/or students as well as provide time, space, and specific support to engage in deep and rich writing for scholarship (that includes but is not limited to proposals, projects, presentations, and/ or publications). 

We offer writing groups that are in-person, online, and hybrid, as well as groups for faculty only (i.e., early career, project-specific), graduate students only, and mixed groups.

What Participants are Saying About Writing Group:

Writing group provided me an opportunity to professionally collaborate. Knowing I had this group to attend (mostly) weekly, it helped me to reduce stress. Consistent collaborations with colleagues, accountability, engagement and interactions with colleagues led to increased belonging.

A program evaluation of CATALYST in 2025 and 2026 by students in EDIT 5326 revealed the values of sponsored writing groups:

Conclusion 1: Protected Writing Time Drives Productivity. Infographic slide with a large heading and explanatory text stating that structured, voluntary, non-compulsory writing time supported tangible scholarly products and a sense of professional community, contributing positively to scholarly productivity. Four highlighted outcomes are shown in labeled boxes: Manuscripts & Book Chapters, Conference Presentations, Fellowship & Grant Applications, and Cross-Disciplinary Collaborations.

Copilot said: Alt Text - Image 1 Conclusion 1: Protected Writing Time Drives Productivity. Infographic slide with a large heading and explanatory text stating that structured, voluntary, non-compulsory writing time supported tangible scholarly products and a sense of professional community, contributing positively to scholarly productivity. Four highlighted outcomes are shown in labeled boxes: Manuscripts & Book Chapters, Conference Presentations, Fellowship & Grant Applications, and Cross-Disciplinary Collaborations. Alt Text - Image 2 Conclusion 2: Writing Groups Build Professional Community. Infographic slide with three content panels describing benefits of writing groups. The first panel, Peer Mentorship, states that participants reported increased peer mentorship as an important benefit. The second panel, Sense of Belonging, states that participants described a stronger sense of belonging. The third panel, Feeling Valued, states that multiple participants experienced an unexpected feeling of being valued. The overall message emphasizes that writing groups help foster professional community and connection.

Additional Writing Opportunities at Texas Tech University:

Organizational Resources for Scholarly Writing:

Our Thanks to Those Who Have Serve/d as Group Leaders (in alphabetical order):

  • Dr. Gina Childers
  • Dr. Jeasik Cho
  • Dr. Sarah De La Garza
  • Dr. Michael Joseph
  • Dr. Johanna Keene
  • Dr. Kristin Mansell
  • Dr. Rachelle Pedersen
  • Dr. René Saldaña

And thank you to all the faculty and students who participate/d in the writing groups!

College of Education

© 2026  Texas Tech University Aug 24, 2026 12:37 PM