Writing Groups - Academic Year
Would you like dedicated writing time to work on that chapter, article, grant proposal, or creative project? If so, consider joining one of the CTLT's Faculty & Staff Writing Groups. These groups are designed to help you achieve your writing goals. They are open to all faculty and staff working on writing projects such as academic journal articles, grant proposals and reports, creative writing, and more. We will offer opportunities each quarter to join an existing group or to create new groups adapted as much as possible to changing work schedules. We offer Summer Writing Retreats as well.
Overview
During the academic year our plans for completing ambitious writing projects may get sidelined. Our schedules fill up as we devote time to our teaching, our service commitments, our administrative duties, and our personal responsibilities. If your research and writing time is often overrun by other commitments and you would like to change that, joining a CTLT writing group may just be what you need.
Participation in a writing group will allow you to carve out a weekly block of time to work on new and/or ongoing writing projects. The CTLT will assemble the groups, help arrange places for you to work, and provide coffee/tea. All you need to do is show up for the weekly meetings, check in with your group members, and write.
Purpose
The primary purpose of the CTLT writing groups is to offer Cal Poly faculty and staff space and time to work on writing projects that might otherwise get lost in the shuffle of day-to-day commitments. In addition, participants are likely to (1) develop more effective and efficient working strategies that they can apply to future writing projects and (2) benefit from membership in a community of peers supporting each other’s writing success.
Eligibility
Any faculty or staff member with an academic or professional writing project at any stage is welcome.
Facilitators
- Dianna Winslow, CTLT Writing Specialist
Logistics
The CTLT Faculty & Staff Writing Groups program is based on the faculty writing group model in place at Texas Tech and Indiana University. The model suggests 3-hour weekly meeting times that begin with a half-hour discussion (sharing writing goals, discussing strategies for working productively, checking in with group members, etc.) and reserving the remaining 2½ hours for individual writing time. This model has proved particularly successful in supporting female faculty and staff members in promoting dedicated time for individual research with a supportive writing community.
All Faculty & Staff Writing Groups will include the following characteristics:
- A minimum one-quarter commitment (with the option to continue in subsequent quarters).
- Regular meeting times and dates (e.g., a weekly writing block of three hours or three hours split over two days).
- Sessions that begin with a brief check-in to discuss your writing goals and perhaps share productivity or writing strategies.
- Members’ commitment to full participation and regular attendance.
- A common set of expectations for collegiality, creating a productive group environment, sharing weekly writing goals, and confidentiality.
CTLT Support
The CTLT will support the groups by:
- Facilitating signups and assembling the groups.
- Facilitating participants’ coordination and communication to determine meeting frequency, times, and locations.
- Providing participants with ideas and options for organizing and running their group during the quarter.
- Providing on request facilitation of topic-specific workshops on effective writing practices and strategies.
- Providing participants the opportunity to select a book on academic writing to support their development as an academic writer.
Questions?
Please contact Dianna Winslow (diwinslo@calpoly.edu), CTLT Writing Specialist.
