WritingInitiative

As a strand of the 2013-14 Graduate Writing Collaborative, in addition to

• a) Maintaining an inventory (or portal) of resources and activities and making it accessible to faculty and students; and
• b) Expanding the one-on-one tutoring available through the GWC (which might involve employing grad. students from English and possibly other writing-emphasizing graduate programs)
• c) Offering 1-credit courses through the English department

Workshops on Supporting Students' Writing Development throughout the Graduate Curriculum

Objectives

• 1. Build the community of faculty members at UMB who design their courses with the idea that graduate students' development as writers as integral to their development as scholars and professionals.
• 2. Produce models that show the range of ways this can be done (which, in turn, could be used to enlist faculty members who didn't think this endeavor was relevant to or possible in their subjects; see #1).
• 3. Develop capacity to run effective faculty professional development workshops and other activities within graduate programs around support for writing development. (An effective workshop is one that contributes to objectives #1 & 2 and makes participants more likely to bring the curriculum development to fruition, that is, put it into practice.)

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Publicity/Invitation

Workshops on Supporting Students' Writing Development throughout the Graduate Curriculum

Dear Colleague:

How many of your graduate school professors brought the crafts and arts of writing into their instruction? Do you have an interest in providing graduate students with support that you would have liked? The Graduate Writing Center invites you to participate in a new Faculty Development Initiative in support of graduate students' development as writers. This spring the Center will host a pair of half-day workshops for faculty members interested in revising their graduate syllabi to infuse writing development throughout, positioning that as an integral part of students' development as scholars and professionals. The first workshop will explore a range of ways this integration is already being done or might be attempted. A month later participants will present and discuss their revised syllabi. Faculty members who revise their syllabi and attend both workshops will receive a stipend of $200. A required part of the redesign will be development of ways or means to assess the effectiveness and impact of the writing support components. The Center hopes that sharing these syllabus revisions can stimulate faculty members who had not thought that supporting writing development was relevant to or possible in their courses.

The Spring 2014 workshops will be facilitated by Professor Peter Taylor, director of the Critical & Creative Thinking graduate program and recipient of the 2009 Chancellor's Teaching Award, assisted by professional tutors of the Graduate Writing Center.

To apply for participation in the workshop please send an email to gwc@umb.edu by March 7 indicating:

a) A brief description of the graduate course(s) you might infuse writing development into.
b) Availability for half-day workshops during the weeks of March 24 - 28 and April 28-May 2
First half-day workshop:
Friday, March 28 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
CC-1-1110

Second half-day workshop:
Friday, May 2 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
CC-1-1215

Participation is limited to 10 faculty members, drawn it is hoped from a mix of colleges. Funding for the stipends comes from the Critical & Creative Thinking graduate program and College of Advancing and Professional Studies.


Yours,


Meesh McCarthy, Graduate Writing Center Coordinator
Peter Taylor, Critical & Creative Thinking Director