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The Writing Program

WSU Writing Program Presents Impact Awards to Five Students

Daniel Rieck

Jelani Christopher, Brianna Halter, Josh Latella, Ally Pang, and Taija Williams-Adams received Harold and Jeanne Rounds Olsen Awards for Outstanding Contributions to Writing Center Initiatives. The awards represent praise for their “tremendous impact on the center and its clients, and for keeping the program steady and effective.”

PULLMAN, Wash.—Five Washington State University students received Harold and Jeanne Rounds Olsen Awards for Outstanding Contributions to Writing Center Initiatives, praising their “tremendous impact on the center and its clients, and for keeping the program steady and effective.”

Presented by Writing Program Director Lisa Johnson Shull and Writing Center Director Brooklyn Walter, the undergraduate Writing Center consultants receiving the awards are:

  • Jelani Christopher
  • Brianna Halter
  • Josh Latella
  • Ally Pang
  • Taija Williams-Adams

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Graduate Writing Center Consultant Richard Shafer Lands Fulbright

makhani

Richard Shafer, consultant and editor for the Washington State University Graduate Writing Center, has received a Fulbright Fellowship—his second—to establish a similar writing center at the Kabale University School of Medicine in western Uganda.

Shafer will also lecture and conduct science and medical writing seminars and workshops there beginning in January.

“The dissemination of scientific and medical research is critical to human health and well being worldwide,” said Shafer. “Graduate student and faculty researchers can be assisted to disseminate their results effectively through improved writing and editing skills. Those are fostered by the WSU Graduate Writing Center and the one we hope to establish at Kabale University.” » More …

WSU WORD! Fellows inspire faculty to teach writing in their disciplines

Daniel Rieck

Pullman, Wash.—Eleven Washington State University faculty members are at work on special plans for the coming year: assigning and evaluating their students’ writing assignments in new ways.

As invited participants in the inaugural WORD! Faculty Fellowship Program—called “Word! Fellows”—the professors spent 12 weeks as learners themselves. In weekly workshop sessions, the experienced educators from several disciplines—most of whom teach large classes—were challenged to think about how to help students write as members in their disciplines.

They discussed topics such as how to incorporate wonder and play into writing assignments, the difference between observation and evaluation during assessment, and how to support students’ transfer of prior knowledge into specific contexts and types of writing, such as business letters, extension bulletins or lab reports.

The benefactors of their efforts will be the students they teach, who will be better suited to communicate within their disciplinary communities. » More …

Significant New Changes Impact the WSU Junior Writing Portfolio for All Undergraduates

Daniel Rieck

Pullman, Wash.–The Washington State University Writing Program announced a new submission process and other changes for the requisite University Writing Portfolio, effective in October and impacting all undergraduate students.

“We have launched a new online submission process and simplified the requirements and format of the portfolio,” said Lisa Johnson Shull, interim director of the award-winning program.

“All of this should minimize barriers to student progress to graduation,” said Brooklyn Walter, director of the program’s Writing Center.  All undergraduates are required to submit their portfolio by the time they reach 75 credits or earlier; they must complete the portfolio to graduate. » More …