👩🏽‍🏫 Introduction

Some instructors build time into their course syllabus for drafting and revising projects and require all students in their course to work with the peer writing tutors in the

Writing Fellow program. Writing Fellows meet with instructors periodically throughout the quarter to best help students succeed in particular assignments and focus on specific writing goals.

Writing Fellows serve as authentic, interested readers for writers and help writers find and engage in writing processes that allow them to produce thoughtful final drafts. The Writing Fellows assigned to each course are a cohort, and each cohort works closely with their course instructor to help writers with any genre of writing in any course across the University.

🗣️ Program Mission

The Writing Fellows program manifests our core belief that "all writers, no matter how accomplished, can improve their writing by sharing their work in progress and revising based on constructive criticism." To that end, Writing Fellows work to share the benefits of revision-oriented feedback in the writing process.

Building on the belief that all writers, regardless of experience or skill level, can benefit from revising their work, the Writing Fellows program helps instructors incorporate peer revision into coursework and class expectations. Tutors give feedback to students in cohorts ranging from LSP 100 classes to Doctoral-Level courses. All tutors are fully capable of giving feedback to any writer!

📚 Components of Writing Fellows

The organization of a Writing Fellows quarter can vary from course to course because each course and instructor will have different requirements and needs based on their assignments.

Writing Fellows quarters will involve 1 to 2 assignment rounds, with each round having 1 to 2 appointments.

The modality of the appointments you and your cohort will conduct will depend on the needs of the class, and your cohort will be labeled as one of the following:

Written Feedback Fellowing (Only Written Feedback)

Zoom Fellowing (Only Zoom)

Combo Fellowing (Zoom and Written Feedback)

Common exceptions to this format include providing feedback on only 1 assignment.

You will receive all information about your Writing Fellow quarter during your first cohort meeting, including what the structure of the quarter will be.

Reflecting on Assignment 1 & Preparing for Assignment 2

After Assignment 1 but before Assignment 2 begins, you and your Writing Fellows cohort will meet with the course instructor to discuss and reflect on Assignment 1 with them. You will also have a second meeting with the Instructor to discuss the next assignment and the new agenda points to cover for that round of fellowing.

👩‍👩‍👦‍👦 Cohorts

So that you can conduct critical work and maintain an open dialogue with one another about your experiences, you and the other members of your Writing Fellows cohort will be blocked off for cohort hours at some point in the quarter. In most cases, you and your cohort will be blocked off for one hour each week throughout the quarter. These meetings help you and your fellow members of your cohort to stay organized and on the same page.

Making the Most of Your Cohort Hour

For the initial and final meetings, your Point-of-Contact will lead you through the tasks you need to complete. They will be present at some other meetings throughout the quarter as well. Sometimes, you will check in with your point of contact after each assignment to chat about how that round went.

Often, your POC will delete any unnecessary cohort hours to free up your schedule. If you are unsure as to what you should be doing for an upcoming cohort hour, just slack your point of contact to check in!

📄 Boilerplates for Fellows

Writing Fellows will use a variety of boilerplates to guide your language when sending emails to classes and instructors. Pay close attention to who should be CC’d on each email and who the recipient is. These boilerplates are the copy of the emails, that you will fill in with specific information about your cohort. You can find these boilerplates in the Tutor Resources on the Notion page for your cohort.

🤗 Expectations

👥 Communicate Effectively

Effective cohort collaboration comes down to one thing: communication. Slack, Zoom, and Email are the three main means of communication used for Writing Fellows. All communication with your cohort and POC within the Writing Center will be conducted through Slack, and meetings will be held on either Zoom or Slack huddles. All communication with students and professors outside the Writing Center will be conducted through your DePaul email, and meetings will be held on Zoom.

Communicating with your Cohort

Most of the time, you will collaborate in person or over Zoom with the other Writing Fellows in your cohort during your paid work shifts. In addition to your weekly cohort meetings, it is important to stay in contact with your cohort members regularly.

Communicating with the Writing Fellows Student Managers & the Writing Fellows Coordinator

The

Writing Fellows Student Manager (WFSM)(s) and the Writing Fellows Coordinator are responsible for scheduling and managing all Writing Fellows cohorts. They are happy to help you address any questions and concerns that you may have.

Because the Writing Fellows program only works well when Writing Fellows in a cohort work effectively with one another and the course instructor, Writing Fellows Student Managers will check in with each cohort early in the quarter to make sure you are building a solid foundation for good collaboration and to address any issues.

During these check-ins, you’ll discuss how the initial meeting with the instructor went and address any questions, comments, or concerns that may have come up with the process so far. Talk about your expectations for your assigned course and the goals you hope to achieve with your group of writers.

Remember that the Writing Fellows Student Managers and Coordinator are here to support you. Please reach out to your point of contact if you ever have any questions.

✅ Check In

There may be times when issues arise that need to be addressed before your next meeting, be sure to check Slack and your DePaul email when you clock in for your shift, even if you are not scheduled to do any fellowing that day.

For communication within your cohort, you will have your own private Slack channel. You will also be added to the #writingfellows Slack channel for general communication.

When checking your email, should a writer from your cohort email you directly, forward this email to your point of contact and Slack message them to discuss the best way to respond to the writer. Also, be sure to forward any scheduling emails to your point of contact and Slack them directly.

🗓️ Plan Your Time Efficiently

In any given quarter, you may have a larger cohort and collaborate with a group of eight tutors, or you may have a small cohort of only two tutors. Regardless, it is important to plan your time efficiently in order to stay on top of everything. Your cohort meetings are the ideal opportunity to discuss your Writing Fellows timeline and schedule tasks with cohort members. Additionally, as much as possible, you will be blocked off to complete Writing Fellows work at the same time as other cohort members. This gives you the opportunity to consult other cohort members if you have questions while conducting appointments.

If any changes or schedule conflicts arise that may inhibit you from completing all your scheduled appointments, be sure to Slack your Writing Fellows Point-of-Contact immediately, and they will be happy to assist your cohort in addressing these concerns.

🧑‍💻 Keep Occupied

If you find yourself without a Writing Fellows appointment, complete any outstanding Fellowing-related tasks, such as forwarding student emails to your Point-of-Contact, reaching out to your Fellowing Point-of-Contact with any questions, updating the Participation Report, etc.

If you do not have any Fellowing work to complete, check your schedule to see if you’ve been assigned work by a director, coordinator, team leader, receptionist, or other Writing Center Leader. If not, unblock your Fellowing time on WCOnline so that you are available to meet with writers. If a writer does not schedule an appointment during this time, do Sidework.