Queensborough Community College Graduate Writing Fellows

Six CUNY Graduate Writing Fellows are hired each year by the Queensborough Community College WID/WAC Co-Directors in coordination with the CUNY Graduate Center and the CUNY Office of Academic Affairs.

Main Responsibilities

1. Fellows have a twofold mission: the advancement of writing pedagogy for faculty to support the development of writing intensive (WI) courses and the enhancement of students’ learning and writing abilities.

2. Fellows are also responsible for such academic, administrative, and technical tasks as deemed crucial for further development of WI classes.

A. Faculty Development and Collaboration

Fellows act as a theoretical and practical resource for faculty designing and teaching in WI courses.

1. Each Fellow is partnered with 2-3 faculty members per year in developing (fall) and piloting (spring) WI courses.  Fellows meet regularly with their faculty members.

2. The process of developing and piloting WI courses includes the development of a writing intensive syllabus, the design and revision of potential formal and informal writing assignments, and the modeling of strategies for commenting on student writing. Though Fellows assist with reading and responding to student writing, they do not grade. Fellows conduct research on the uses of writing specific to their faculty members’ discipline(s).

3. Fellows may attend their faculty members’ classes to observe how they use writing in their teaching, especially when the faculty try out new in-class writing assignments.

4. Fellows collaborate with each faculty member in the preparation of a two-part portfolio: planning (fall) and execution (spring).  In addition to the course syllabus and writing assignments, the Final Portfolio includes samples of various drafts of students’ writing with faculty comments toward revision and a cover letter in which the faculty member reflects on what has transpired in the development of the WI course.  This portfolio is required in order for the faculty member to teach a WI class. 

B. Working with Students

1. Fellows often lead short class discussions on aspects of writing and other related activities that their faculty members consider important.

2. Fellows hold weekly office hours to meet with students.

3. During that time, a Fellow helps students identify and resolve any cognitive, grammatical, or other difficulties that they are struggling with in writing assignments.     
   For example, Fellows can assist students in clarifying the purpose of each writing assignment and in revising papers.

As a result, Fellows provide and strengthen  communication between faculty and students and in so doing create a “feedback loop” in which faculty can learn from Fellows what students are struggling with and thereby make necessary adjustments to the assignment and clarify particular writing issues.

C. Collaboration with the WID/WAC Co-Directors
The WID/WAC Co-Directors provide the overall supervision and guidance of Fellows’ work for the development of WI courses and for the independent projects mentioned below (Section E).

1. Once a week, the WID/WAC Co-Directors and the Fellows have a plenary meeting.
   In the meeting, each Fellow reports the ongoing progress of the planning and execution of WI courses, shares experiences and ideas, and receives advice from the WID/WAC Co-Directors and other Fellows.

2. In the meeting, Fellows often read and discuss scholarship on the development of reading and writing abilities and report the progress of their own projects.

3. The WID/WAC Co-Directors and Fellows also prepare professional development workshops for faculty members teaching WI courses.

D. Professional Development Workshop

1. The Co-Directors and Fellows plan and run professional development workshops for faculty members who are designing and teaching WI courses. These workshops take place monthly during the academic year.

2. In the professional development workshops, Fellows encourage faculty members to share experiences and ideas on writing pedagogy and writing assignments.

E. Independent Projects

Fellows work on a number of projects aimed at the development and promotion of WID/WAC programs at QCC.

In the 2007-08 academic year, Fellows are working on the following projects: the preparation of an IRB proposal for student focus groups, the updating of the WID/WAC Program website at QCC, the review of faculty surveys, the creation of a brochure about goals for student reading and writing, and the cognitive analysis of writing assignments in WI courses.