Constructing Student Learning through Faculty Development: Writing Experts, Writing Centers, and Faculty Resources - CEA Forum Summer/Fall 2013

Oct 15, 2026

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Focuses on how a writing and research center can strengthen campus writing culture by extending faculty development beyond support for student writers. Proposes writing centers as faculty development centers that host opportunities such as writing accountability groups, which create a structured, supportive space for research and professional writing goals. Addresses institutional requirements for writing instruction amid gaps in faculty training and outlines workshops to build writing pedagogy capacity across the campus.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages14

Reading Time35 min

AccessFree to download

Constructing Student Learning through Faculty Development: Writing Experts, Writing Centers, and Faculty Resources

Writing centers as faculty development centers

Faculty accountability groups (WAGs)

Writing pedagogy workshops and faculty training

Rationale for faculty workshops (WAC context)

THE CEA FORUM Summer/Fall 2013 Constructing Student Learning through Faculty Development: Writing Experts, Writing Centers, and Faculty Resources Courtney L. Werner Hope College How many times in the course of a semester do we ask our students to visit the writing center, suggest they visit the writing center, or insist they visit the writing center? Like many instructors, when I find that a student can benefit from conversations about her writing (as all of my students can), I suggest she sit down with a writing assistant at our Center for Writing and Research (CWR). What we teachers often fail to do, though, is think about how the writing center can help us. What does the writing center offer faculty? At my college, our center is only in its second year, but we already have plenty of interest from students. As the college strives to develop a writing across the disciplines (WID) approach to writing instruction, the Director of the CWR sat down to brainstorm with me. Both the English Department and the CWR are invested in enhancing student writing across the campus, and we want to use our combined energy to uplift student and faculty writing. How, though, can a writing center uplift a campus culture of writing if it only focuses on student writers? Many of our institutions ask students (both undergraduate and graduate) to use the center, but how many encourage the faculty and staff to do so? In this piece, I describe oneway a center can support faculty as a pedagogical resource in the hopes that other writing centersand other English departments might be able to take up the example and bolster writing THE CEA FORUM Summer/Fall 2013 instruction on their campuses, too. More specifically, I recommend that writing centers act as faculty development centers for writing instruction, hosting various faculty development opportunities throughout the semester. Because the CWR is a center for both writing and research, it can serve a multitude of functions while being a hub for research-based writing. So far, for faculty, this has meant encouraging and facilitating the development of faculty writing accountability groups (faculty often refer to these as WAGs). The purpose of the WAGs is to allow faculty members a safe space for discussing their research and publication strategies (and woes) with colleagues from across the campus. Additionally, each WAG member comes to the weekly meeting with a list of goals achieved and goals to set. Each week, when a WAG gets together, group members describe what they accomplished the previous week and what they hope to accomplish the next in regards to their research and professional writing. These are meant to be small-scale goals to help faculty break their research and writing processes down into manageable chunks. For example, a goal might be to review a journal’s objectives, call for papers, and submission guidelines. The goal for the next week might be to draft an introduction or locate three or more sources for a literature review. These WAGs have only been functioning for one semester, but the director informs me that he has received positive feedback. I am also a participant in a WAG, and I, too, find being part of the group motivates me and enhances my work. Hosting faculty accountability groups, though, is just one way writing centers can help faculty, and these groups have more to do with faculty writing rather than the writing instruction they incorporate into their classrooms. As the campus’s ideas about writing progress, the administration has asked every faculty member to include some degree of writing instruction in her classes. This is meant to bolster the THE CEA FORUM Summer/Fall 2013 WID culture we are crafting. However, a very real concern on our campus is that many of our faculty have no training in writing pedagogy. This may be true for many campuses, where English department faculty take for granted that other teachers support their students through

FAQs

How can a writing center support faculty as a pedagogical resource?

By acting as a faculty development center for writing instruction, hosting development opportunities throughout the semester and helping faculty strengthen writing pedagogy.

What are faculty writing accountability groups (WAGs) and what do they do?

WAGs provide a safe space for faculty to discuss research and publication strategies. Members set small weekly goals, report progress, and plan next steps for research and professional writing.

Why does the author recommend writing pedagogy workshops for faculty?

Many faculty lack training in writing pedagogy, so workshops are used to remedy that gap and support the writing across the disciplines (WID) culture the institution is building.

Oct 15, 2026

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