Applications Open for WSU WORD Fellows Spring 2026 Cohort

The Washington State University Writing Program invites faculty systemwide who are interested to apply to be members of the WORD Fellows cohort for spring 2026. The WORD Fellows program supports faculty across the disciplines in their efforts to teach students to write more effectively in their courses and their major, while also promoting deep learning of disciplinary content in the process.

Fellows will become part of an interdisciplinary community interested in supporting student writing across and in the disciplines. They will also finish the program with new ideas for writing assignments, effective strategies for teaching writing, and helpful approaches for writing-intensive courses, as well as suggestions to take back to their departments on how to improve the overall teaching of writing for their majors, minors, and graduate students.

“At the end of the program, we hope Fellows return to their departments to present their ideas and make suggestions for ways to integrate writing into their courses and programs to meet specific disciplinary goals” states Director of the WSU Writing Program Angela Mitchell, who will be one of the facilitators of the WORD Fellows Program.

For this spring 2026 cohort, 10-12 participants will be invited next semester to collaborate in experiential workshops, exploring with peers and invited writing experts innovative and research-based approaches to teaching writing to WSU students. According to Wendy Olson, a co-facilitator for this year’s WORD Fellows workshops, “One approach we will explore is writing transfer, looking at how we can better support students’ transfer of writing knowledge, skills, and strategies across disciplines to help them repurpose and adapt for new writing purposes, audiences, and contexts.”

Twelve group sessions will begin at the end of January and end in April. Meeting times will be determined by the cohort participants. Fellows are compensated for completing the program successfully and faculty on all campuses are welcome.

Angela Mitchell (angela.m.mitchell@wsu.edu) is available to answer questions about the WORD Fellows program.