About the UI Writing Fellows Program
Current Writing Fellows and their Majors Student and Professor Response Selected Comments about the Overall Program Selected Comments about the Fellows’ Written Comments |
Teams of Writing Fellows, Professors, and Commenting Mentors
Spring 2007 Writing Fellows Olivia Myers and Nathan Sheehan, Professor Sara Mitchell, and Writing Fellow Sarah Raaii (not pictured: Commenting Mentor and Director Carol Severino and Fellow Claire Miller)
Writing Fellows is an undergraduate peer tutoring/writing across the curriculum initiative that began in the 1980s at Brown University and has since spread to many other colleges, small and large. The goals of the Writing Fellows Program are to improve student writing and writing processes, to promote collaborative learning, and to encourage instructors to use writing to learn in their courses. Because Iowa has no required writing courses beyond first-year Rhetoric, the Writing Fellows program extends writing instruction beyond the departments of Rhetoric and English and encourages instructors in departments across the College to consider writing instruction part of their professional responsibility. Writing Fellows are assigned to professors' courses and work with all of their students on drafts of two major course papers.
For the past eight semesters, beginning in Fall 2003, UI professors from American Studies, Anthropology, Classics, Dance, English, Exercise Science, Geography, Geoscience, Health and Sport Studies, History, Leisure Studies, Literature, Science, & the Arts, Political Science, Religious Studies, Russian, and Women's Studies have worked with Writing Fellows to help more than 600 students improve their papers.
The program currently has a director (Carol Severino), an assistant director (Megan Knight), and two commenting mentors (Kelly Ruth Anderson and Jen McGovern).
Spring 2007 Writing Fellow Dove Haase, Director Carol Severino, Writing Fellow Craig Moreau, and Professor David Cunning
Each Writing Fellow comments on drafts of two assignments of about 12 students each in a professor’s course. After returning the comments, the Fellow meets individually with those students to discuss the comments and ways to revise. To emphasize that all writers benefit from feedback on their drafts, all the students in a professor’s class work with Fellows. For example, a course with 36 students would be assigned 3 fellows; a course with 24 students would be assigned 2. We generally do not work with courses larger than 40 students because the logistics of scheduling meetings between the professor and four fellows are too unwieldy. Nor do we currently work in courses taught solely by TAs, as we want to offer this opportunity first to professors.
After the commenting and conferencing cycle, the professor reads both the drafts and the revised essays and grades the latter. The Fellows themselves do not grade; they only comment and tutor. The first semester that they work, Fellows take an Honors seminar called Writing Theory and Practice (143:102) taught by the program’s directors. This course trains them to comment on papers and to tutor their peers. For the first semester's work, they receive an honorarium of $600. For subsequent semesters of work, they receive $700 each semester.To be eligible to participate in the Writing Fellows program, professors must be willing to schedule two assignments that would go first to the Fellows for commenting and conferencing two weeks before they are due to them for grading. They must also be willing to meet with their Fellows to discuss goals for the assignments and how they reflect the goals of their courses. They also meet with their Fellows during the commenting process and after the first commenting-conferencing-grading cycle to evaluate and fine tune the procedure for the second paper cycle. Commenting mentors from the Rhetoric faculty look at drafts of papers and commenting letters during the week that their assigned Fellows are reading and commenting on drafts.
Spring 2007 Writing Fellow Molly Anderson, Professor Steven Hitlin, and Writing Fellow Jordan Jones (not pictured: Commenting Mentor Kelly Ruth Anderson)
The program was started in 2003 by Professors Carol Severino and Mary Trachsel from the Rhetoric Department. In 2002, Carol had attended a conference presentation by the University of Wisconsin Writing Fellows and thought that such a program was needed and would work well at Iowa. An outreach program with undergraduate tutors assigned to courses complements our other Writing Center programs which use graduate student tutors who work only in the Writing Center or in one of its satellites. Writing Fellows reach undergraduate students in CLAS who might not otherwise use Writing Center services. The University of Wisconsin Fellows program invited Mary and Carol to talk with their Fellows, with their professors across the curriculum who have worked with Fellows, and to attend the Fellows’ seminar. When they returned, they made arrangements with Honors to recruit the first class of Fellows.
Here is how Fellows recruitment works: Candidates for Fellows submit two papers from two different disciplines with explanations of why they chose them. They also submit a personal statement, answers to questions about their teaching or tutoring experiences, a transcript (they must have a GPA of 3.33), and a letter from a professor or instructor attesting to their intellectual and writing abilities and their social skills with both faculty and peers. After screening, candidates are invited for forty-five minute interviews to discuss their own writing process and their own and their fellow students’ strengths and weaknesses in writing. They are also given problematic scenarios with students and faculty, and asked to think through what they would do in such situations. Part of the interview involves teaching the interviewers a skill--how to do a card trick, how to do origami, etc.--in order to see how the candidate explains a process. More information on applying to become a fellow is located below under Application Information.
Spring 2007 Writing Fellow Sophie Speth, Commenting Mentor Jen McGovern, Writing Fellow Ginny McCalmont (not pictured: Professor Phillip Round)
The Writing Fellows experience has provided participants with professional opportunities on national and even on international levels. Mary Trachsel and Carol Severino took fellows Denise Dooley, Ryan Kunkel, and Lindsey Schneider to present at the Watson Composition Conference in Louisville, KY. Fellows Kelly Ruth Anderson, Nicole Nozicka, Amy Hildreth, Laura Goettsch, Susan Quesal, and Matt Brown presented at the National Conference on Peer Tutoring in Writing/International Writing Centers Association in Minneapolis, MN. Fellows Kevin Heintz, Lucy Sun, Laura Goettch, and Lindsey Schneider presented at the Midwest Writing Centers Association Conference in St. Louis, MO on October 26-28, 2006. In addition, Carol and Mary have published an article about the program's first year and the assignments we helped with in volume 11 of the International Journal of Learning.
Professors interested in working with the Fellows program for the 2007-08 academic year, should be teaching a class of 40 students or less, preferably by themselves without a TA. Send carol severino@uiowa.edu an e-mail describing your course and she will arrange to meet with you to talk to you about how the program might work in your particular class.
If you are interested in becoming a Fellow, you should be an Honors student (maintaining a 3.33 or above GPA) with excellent academic writing skills and interpersonal skills. You should enjoy writing and talking about writing. You should currently (as of Fall 2007) be a sophomore or junior, although we will consider exceptionally qualified students who are now first-year students. Because we want the Fellows to work for at least three semesters, we won’t accept applications of students who are currently (in Fall 2007) seniors or second semester juniors. At the beginning of October 2007, application materials can be accessed in the Forms section of the Honors web site at http://www.uiowa.edu/~honors/forms/pdf/writing_fellows.pdf
Spring 2007 Writing Fellows Suzanne Fox, Natalie Ehalt, and Melea Andrys (not pictured: Professor Rebekah Kowal, Commenting Mentor Kelly Ruth Anderson, and Fellow Abby Jares)
The Writing Center will be recruiting the next class of 20 Writing Fellows in Fall 2007. The application materials will be available on the Honors Web Site at http://www.uiowa.edu/~honors/. We will offer help with Fellows' applications in 110 EPB on Tuesday, October 23 from 3:30 to 5:20 PM. Although attendance at this session is recommended, you can apply to be a Fellow without attending the session. Applications will be due on Monday, October 29, by 4:30 PM in Carol Severino’s mailbox in the Rhetoric Office in 169 EPB. The application process is described at this site under Recruitment of Fellows. For more information, contact carol-severino@uiowa.edu.
Molly Anderson, English and History Melea Andrys, Music and Communication Studies Natalie Ehalt, English and Spanish Suzanne Fox, Music Dorothy (Dove) Haase, Marketing and Management Abby Jares, Mathematics Megan Johnson, English, Political Science, Social Studies Education Jordan Jones, English and History Neo McAdams, Geoscience Ginny McCalmont, International Studies, English or German Christina McClelland, Art Claire Miller, History and English Craig Moreau, History and English Tommy Morgan, English, Journalism and Mass Communication Olivia Myers, History Sarah Raaii, Journalism and Mass Communication, Political Science, and Business Alisa Rosenthal, English Nathan Sheehan, English Sophie Speth, English
Spring 2007 Commenting Mentor Jen McGovern, Writing Fellows Tommy Morgan and Neo McAdams (not pictured: Professor Teresa Mangum and Writing Fellow Alisa Rosenthal)
Shajia Ahmad, Journalism Kelly Ruth Anderson, Journalism Laura Avey, English Danielle Bradley, Anthropology Matt Brown, Sociology Caleb Chao, Journalism Denise Dooley, English/Religion Laura Goettsch, International Studies Rachel Goldberg, History Kevin Heintz, English Amy Hildreth, Political Science Elizabeth Hoover, Biology Alexander Ingham, Political Science, International Studies Quinn Johnson, Business/Economics Ryan Kunkel, Business Julia LaBua, History
Jenna Lassen, Cinema and Studio Art Amy Liss, English Rachael Munn, International Studies Kim Nelson, Anthropology/English Ali Nielsen, Biochemistry Nicole Nozicka, Education Barry Pump, Political Science Brett Roberts, Journalism and Mass Communication, Political Science Susan Quesal, English/Spanish Lindsey Schneider, English/Economics Tessa Sommers, English Anna Steele, Art History Lucy Sun, Open Emily Wemmer, English Andrea Woodward, Education Emily Zaentz, EnglishMeredith Alexander, Literature, Science, & the Arts Douglas Baynton, History (Fall 2007 course: 16A:051 Colloquium for History Majors) Ann Budd, Geoscience Michael Chibnik, Anthropology Rudi Colloredo-Mansfeld, Anthropology Cary Covington, Political Science David Cunning, Philosophy (Fall 2007 course: 026:061 Introduction to Philosophy) Jane Desmond, American Studies Emanual Eneweke, Literature, Science, & the Arts Eric Gidal, English Michel Gobat, History David Gould, Leisure Studies Scott Grau, History Lezlie Hall, English Vicki Hesli, Political Science Steven Hitlin, Sociology (Fall 2007 course: 143:060:001 Honors Seminar: The Social Psychology of Good and Evil) Julie Hochstasser, Art & Art History Rex Honey, International Studies Marjorie Jolles, Women's Studies Meena Khandelwal, Anthropology Rebekah Kowal, Dance (Fall 2007 course: 137:040 Introduction to Dance Studies) Susan Lawrence, History Ellen Lewin, Women's Studies Teresa Mangum, English (Fall 2007 course: 008:187 Changing Concepts of Women and Literature: 19th Century Vamps, Virgins, and Victors) Sara Mitchell, Political Science (Fall 2007 course: 30:178 The Causes, Consequences and Management of Civil Wars)
Dee Morris, English John S. Nelson, Honors Program Donna Parsons, Music Beth Pelton, Health & Sport Studies Ben Read, Political Science David Redlawsk, Political Science Phillip Round, English (Fall 2007 course: 008:087:001 Selected American Authors I: Thoreau) Sonia Ryang, Anthropology Janine Sawada, Religion Gina Schatteman, Exercise Science Anne Stapleton, English Doug Trevor, English Russell Valentino, English Stephen Vlastos, History Fredrick Woodard, African-American Studies
Spring 2007 Writing Fellow Christina McClelland (not pictured: Professor Douglas Baynton, Commenting Mentor Kelly Ruth Anderson, and Fellow Megan Johnson)
In the statistics we calculated from fall 2003 evaluations of the program, 100% of students reported that they used their Writing Fellows' suggestions, 62% frequently or always. 96% of students found their overall interaction with their Writing Fellow to be some degree helpful. 72% found their interaction helpful or very helpful.
Here is what some students have said about the program, especially about how helpful it was to get a second opinion--an outsider's perspective--on their writing to help them with problems they might have missed or overlooked. You will notice how both the Fellows' comments and the writing conferences helped students clarify their thinking and their language and discover and focus their arguments. Sample student comments about the overall program and about written comments and conferences are followed by sample professors’ comments.
Selected Comments about the Overall Program
"I was apprehensive about the program at first, but now I wish I had a Fellow in every class.
"It helps you write your papers earlier so you aren’t so rushed in the end, and it was nice to have an editor."
"I think this was a great opportunity for both the Fellow and for us."
"I think this is a really good idea. No matter how good a person believes themselves to be at writing a paper, it is always beneficial to have an outside perspective--thank you."
"Unfortunately, this was another program on campus that I hadn’t even heard of. As an involved junior/senior on campus, that’s frustrating and sad because the program was really great for me, despite initial reservations."
"This is a good process—it keeps you honest."
"I would like this program in all classes."Selected Comments about the Fellows’ Written Comments
"The written comments helped me expand and clarify my argument throughout my paper."
"I liked how my Fellow broke down each paragraph and gave us suggestions in both grammatical and idea-based situations."
"The comments helped me better organize my paper."
"The written comments helped me find my focus."
"The comments helped to combine arguments and ideas, to give the most clear interpretation I could of the works. They also helped to weed out anything that was unnecessary in the thesis."
"The comments focused me more on the topic of my paper so I didn’t stray and helped me with my word choice."
"It’s good to get a second opinion--she pointed out mistakes or made suggestions about things I had missed."
"The Fellow helped me with problems that I had not only in this class but that I could improve on in other papers in other classes."
"She gave me ideas and leeway while still allowing me to create the paper on my own.
"She made me think more about what it is I wanted from my paper."
"Just having a reader’s reflections on what was unclear and where things were missing from the argument was helpful."
"The help on overall organization was superb."
"The comments let me know my weak areas and helped me formulate questions for the conference."
"The comments helped the development of my thesis. She helped guide me, especially when I got off track."
"The comments made me go back and rethink parts of my essay."
"My Fellow gave excellent suggestions on how to fix problems, not just pointing problems out."
"The written comments helped with my writing confidence level."Selected Comments about the Tutoring Conferences
"It was good to meet with my writing partner so she could explain the comments."
"I found the reassurance helpful, plus the ability to openly discuss issues."
"The face to face opportunity to ask questions was helpful."
"It was a way for me to organize my thoughts while having someone there to help you along."
"My Fellow was open to my ideas and where I wanted to take my paper while offering quality suggestions about keeping in mind an outsider’s point of view. She asked questions to gain a better understanding of my goals and listened closely to my objectives."
"My Fellow was very easy to talk to--really helpful with helping me make a better, more fluid paper. I found her help to be above my expectations."
"In the conference, I could clarify my argument and work on better internal organization."
"The Fellow gave me her opinion. One more pair of eyes on my paper is always better than none."
"The conferences helped sort out a priority of information."
"It helped to discuss and get a view of how another person reads and perceives the paper."
"In the conference we could talk and see if the ideas I had to improve my paper were good."
"She would ask questions about certain areas, and I would talk aloud about what I was trying to say. This provoked new ideas."
"She helped me state things more clearly. She’d ask questions and then what I really wanted to put on paper finally came out. She helped me organize it better."
"She was able to push me further in my writing process."
"In the conferences we could discuss what I was trying to say compared to what she got from reading."
"The conferences made me reread my paper a week later with a clearer head."
"It was helpful to sit down one on one. I never do that with a prof!"
"The conferences gave me a chance to explain why I wrote something the way I did and hear why it was confusing and needed to be changed from the Fellow. This really helped me get a feel for what should be completely changed, what could be slightly revised, and what could be left alone."
"What was helpful was that she made sure I directed where the conversation was going to ensure that all of my questions were answered."
"What was helpful was that she was prepared with notes and we made an outline of the changes which could be made to improve the paper."
"The conferences were extra time that forced me to work on the paper."
"The conferences forced me to look through and analyze my paper another time."Comments from a Sample of Participating Professors
"The Writing Fellows did an admirable job of pressing students to focus and develop their ideas. Reading over their comments, I was continually impressed with their ability to clearly perceive and articulate the central issues, limitations, and problems with student drafts." (English)
"The papers I received this semester were much better [than those submitted by comparable classes I’ve taught.] It’s likely that in most cases the fellows saw the papers I would have received as 'final drafts' of the essays I assigned. This way students had a chance to re-think what they were doing as they approached their final drafts…I appreciate [the Fellows'] hard work and attention to my comments and explanations. I also appreciate the respect that they showed to each student and the value they placed on communication." (Dance)
"It was a pleasure to work with [the Fellow]. He proved to be an effective collaborator… The second set of papers was better [than those submitted by comparable classes I’ve taught.]" (Religion)
"The papers were definitely better [than those submitted by comparable class I’ve taught]... The greatest improvement was in organization and logical development of argument. There was also improvement in use of evidence and syntax... I would be absolutely willing to have a Writing Fellow in a subsequent semester." (History)"Overall the papers were better in terms of having a clear thesis and roadmap. The second batch of papers was better than usual in almost every way... the overall experience was very positive." (Anthropology)
"My Fellows did a wonderful job helping the students clarify and sharpen their arguments as well as clean up their grammar and spelling. I appreciate the help, and I am sure most of the students do, too." (Geography)
"My Fellows all gave such an organized committed effort to this. I was very impressed by their determination to do this right... The papers I received were structured better, have far fewer grammatical errors, and contain better arguments." (Classics)
Updated 31 August 2007
