faculty handbookwhat you can expect from your Fellows |
beginning the semester
Explain the program to your students. Faculty who actively support the Writing Fellows find that their students work seriously on their writing. The way that you introduce the program to your students on the first day of class will influence your students' responses to it. Few, if any, of your students will have worked with a Writing Fellow before. You'll need to explain to them that Fellows are not TAs: they do not help with course content or grade papers. You might also mention that you chose to work with a Writing Fellow, and explain your reasons for doing so. It's also important to stress that working with Fellows is mandatory.
Teach your students to value revision. Unless you give them a reason to think otherwise, many students will see working with Fellows as extra work rather than as a special opportunity to improve their writing. Explain to your students that you value the drafting process, that you see revision as a crucial part of all writing, and that you support the work the Fellows are doing. Saying these things just once will not be enough. Reinforcing them at regular intervals, when you discuss paper assignments and your goals for those assignments, will set a positive tone and enable the Fellows to work more effectively with your students.
Meet with your Fellows. Your Writing Fellows will contact you to schedule this meeting, which should take place in the first week of the semester if not earlier.
At the first meeting
| Give your Fellows the syllabus and a schedule of due dates. Because Fellows are students with demanding course schedules of their own, they will plan ahead to accommodate your schedule. If you need to change a due date for a paper, please inform your Fellows as soon as possible. They will need at least ten days' notice. Discuss your policies on late papers and missed conferences. Do you want Fellows to report students who do not turn in drafts or who miss conferences? Or will you determine which drafts are missing before distributing them to Fellows? Please do not expect Fellows to respond to late papers or to hold make-up conferences; some Fellows may graciously agree to do so, but requiring it punishes the Fellow rather than the student. Divide the class. If you have more than one Fellow, divide the class accordingly; each Fellow will work with the same group of students throughout the semester. Schedule future meetings. Setting times to meet during paper cycles (see next page) will help ensure that you can all get together as the semester gets busier. Schedule a time for the Fellows to visit the class. |
Introduce the Fellows to the class. Please reserve 5-10 minutes of class time in the first or second week of the semester for Fellows to come introduce themselves to the class. This visit gives students a chance to connect the Fellows' faces with names, and also gives Fellows an opportunity to reiterate their role and answer questions.