Writing Fellows

  1. Fellows are thinking partners for faculty to facilitate the practical implementation of WAC principles and pedagogies.
  2. Fellows help faculty put together their training and teaching portfolios.
  3. Fellows serve as a sounding board for the articulation of course goals, collaborating with faculty partners to shape formal and informal “low-stakes” assignments to meet those goals. Fellows help instructors define and clarify what students need to know and accomplish by the end of the course.
  4. Fellows help construct rubrics for evaluating student writing, which are communicated to students as part of the writing assignment.
  5. Fellows help faculty to develop useful, efficient ways of responding to student writing.
  6. Fellows don’t grade papers or “fix” grammar; however, they may read students’ work and share insights with their faculty partners about strengths and weaknesses of student writing (e.g., focus, organization, clarity, use and citation of sources). Fellows may also help identify assignment features that are successful or need clarification.
  7. Fellows may conduct norming sessions for grading on a sample of papers.
  8. Although writing fellows may maintain contact with faculty partners in person or email, they are not expected to meet individually with students.
  9. Fellows are not teaching assistants; they do not teach the class, but may come to observe a class.
  10. Fellows may do brief class presentations on writing-related modules on such topics as generating and organizing ideas, using and citing sources, reviewing scaffolded assignments, and proofreading techniques.