Prospective WI Faculty

For more information on BMCC’s Writing Across the Curriculum program, e-mail Holly Messitt (hmessitt@bmcc.cuny.edu) or Rifat Salam (rsalam@bmcc.cuny.edu).

Deadline: Dec. 20, 2023

Thanks for your interest in joining the WAC program to promote writing at BMCC! Since the fall of 2008, all entering students have been required to complete at least one Writing Intensive (WI) course to graduate, and we’re working hard to train enough full-time faculty members to meet the demand for WI courses—particularly evening and weekend classes.

Writing Intensive Courses

A course is considered to be “writing intensive” when writing is used both as a primary means of assessment and as a way of teaching and reinforcing content. Students in WI courses must produce 10-12 pages of formal, revised writing over the course of the semester, in addition to more informal or “low-stakes” writing assignments completed on a regular basis. WI courses are capped at 25 students. Please note that certain courses (including composition) cannot be designated as WI. Check with your department to see if there are any special restrictions.

Training and Certification

Training sessions for faculty interested in teaching WI courses are held each semester. The training consists of five three-hour workshops facilitated by the WAC coordinators and Writing Fellows. Each faculty member partners with a Writing Fellow during the training session and in the following semester. The Writing Fellow will help you develop your course and be on hand to help you with any unexpected challenges as you pilot your WI course. Read more about the training and download an application.
More about WAC Certification

Refresher Workshops

To support the ongoing work of teaching WI courses, the WAC program offers 90-minute refresher workshops. Topics of recent refreshers have included making the most of BMCC’s library resources and responding to student writing. These workshops are held twice a semester.

One-on-one consultations

WAC-trained faculty will be supported by a Writing Fellow during their first semester of teaching their WI course – the same course that they work on designing in the training. However, faculty may also request a meeting with a Fellow after their first semester, often to develop a new assignment or address a specific problem area. If you would like to schedule a consultation with a Writing Fellow, please contact us. We will do our best to respond to your request in a timely manner.