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Writing Fellows Program

The Writing Fellows Program embeds trained Writing Center tutors in your course, providing individualized writing assistance to each student on select assignments throughout the semester.

We welcome applications from any faculty who assign multiple writing assignments in their undergraduate course, but availability is limited. Generally, we will assign two fellows to a class of 20 students. Please complete the brief application below to express your interest and tell us a little about your class. Contact us at writadmin@umd.edu if you have any questions. 

More Information for Faculty

The fellows are selected from among current undergraduate Writing Center tutors. They will

  • Attend classes when relevant assignments are initially assigned and discussed, or meet with the instructor to clarify expectations
  • Offer advice to students during the week the initial rough draft is due; follow up during the week the final draft is due
  • Communicate with the instructor to clarify assignment details or instructor expectations and to provide feedback about general trends and progress
  • Fellows can attend additional classes to discuss their role in the class, promote sessions in the Writing Center, lead lessons on writing, facilitate workshops, participate in peer review or just further familiarize themselves with the coursework

Faculty should, ideally 

  • Require at least two writing assignments during the semester, spaced out by several weeks
  • Require drafts two weeks before the final version is turned in, allowing the fellow time to work with each student individually 
  • Communicate with fellows before or immediately after the assignment is assigned and discussed in class, or better yet, invite fellows to attend classes in which assignments are discussed
  • Invite fellows to attend class during the first week of the semester to allow fellows to introduce themselves and to show that the instructor endorses the fellows’ work
  • Require all students to work with the fellows
  • Communicate periodically with the fellow to clarify assignments/expectations, receive reports about trends and general student progress

 

Application for Faculty

  1. Which assignments do you think fellows might assist with? How long are the papers? 
  2. How far apart are they scheduled? Can you assign a draft approximately two weeks before the final version is due?
  3. Are there other ways in which you envision your students working with the writing fellow?