Faculty Requirements

Participation

Faculty who request Writing Fellows (WFs) receive assistance in improving students’ writing and communication skills. WFs do not grade assignments. They support faculty by providing feedback to students on the first draft of an assignment. WFs can also give insights to the instructor about how well students understand assignments and early warnings about struggling students. If instructors choose to use WFs, they must require that every student meet with the WF or have a penalty if the student chooses not to meet such as: loss of points on the assignments or not having paper accepted for grading. The WF can also assist instructors in making assignments more clear to the students and answering students’ questions.

Requirements for Using Writing Fellows in Your Course

Funding

WF positions are funded by the Provosts’ Office at $750 per semester (for a maximum of 50 hours of work). Colleges assist in paying administrative costs of the WF Program.  Usually one Writing Fellow is assigned for every fifteen students. 

Request a Writing Fellow

If you are interested in having Writing Fellows for your course, please visit the Request a Writing Fellow Page.

Note: Due to demand for WFs we cannot work with courses with over 100 students.  We hire Writing Fellows in the spring for the following academic year. Writing Fellows are assigned to courses during the months preceding Fall and Spring semesters. While you may request WFs at any time, requests made from April-June (for Fall semester courses) October-December (for Spring courses) are most likely to be accommodated.. Please email Lezlie Christensen Branum if you have any questions at lezlie.branum@usu.edu.

Writing Fellow Experience

At the end of any semester we ask that the faculty complete a WF Evaluation and make the link accessible to their students to evaluate their experience. Please access the Qualtrics Survey here for faculty and students who have received assistance from the Writing Fellows program by the last day of class each semester.