News & Highlights

Writing Program Honored at DAESA Awards Ceremony 

The WSU Writing Program celebrates multiple community members recognized at this year’s DAESA Awards Ceremony, including Jamie Comstock, recipient of the DAESA Excellence Award for Classified Staff, senior writing consultants honored with the Jeanne Rounds Olsen Award, and Dr. Wendy Olson, winner of the Writing Program Award for Contribution to Writing Across the Curriculum.

Cougar Spirit mark. Washington State University.

Coug alum launches fund to support Undergraduate Writing Center

Suzanne Desilet Cofer (‘71 Engl.) knows full well the power of a college education. Throughout her college years, and following into her storied career, Cofer saw the impact of writing on her success, and the success of the students who came through her classroom. This knowledge inspired Suzanne, and her husband Don, a retired Assistant Attorney General for Washington State, to establish the “Suzanne Desilet Cofer Undergraduate Writing Center Excellence Fund” and strengthen student writing support at WSU for future generations.

Cougar Spirit mark. Washington State University.

Dr. Jeannie Griffin Bennett hired as Pullman Writing Center Director

Angela Mitchell, Director of the Writing Program, is pleased to announce that Jeannie Griffin Bennett has been hired as Writing Center Director for the Pullman campus. Along with her dedication to peer tutoring as a model for effective student learning, Dr. Bennett also brings a spirit of collaboration and inquiry to the Writing Center.

Jeannie Griffin Bennett, Undergraduate Writing Center director for the Writing Program starting in spring 2026.

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.

Cougar Spirit mark. Washington State University.

Writing Program’s Johnson-Shull, consultants land awards

The WSU Writing Program Associate Director Lisa Johnson-Shull and five Writing Center consultants were recognized for their outstanding performance and contributions at the annual Division of Academic Engagement and Student Achievement (DAESA) Awards Celebration on April 22, 2025. “The accolades received by our Writing Program members are well earned and well deserved, and we could not be prouder of all of them,” said Angela Mitchell, program director. “We appreciate their excellence and contributions to our programs.”

WORD Fellows Applications Open for Spring

The Washington State University Writing Program invites faculty system-wide to apply to be members of the WORD Fellows cohort for spring 2025. WORD is the acronym for Writing Occurring Rhetorically in the Disciplines. Twelve group sessions will begin Jan. 30 and end April 24. Fellows are compensated for completing the program successfully.

Cougar Spirit mark. Washington State University.

Undergraduate Writing Center Consultants Detail Decades of Student Impacts

The WSU Undergraduate Writing Center is in its fourth decade, and its director, Brooklyn Walter, and five student consultants presented on the program Oct. 18-20 at the National Conference on Peer Tutoring in Writing in Tacoma. The conference promotes the teaching of writing through collaborative learning, said Angela Mitchell, director of the Writing Program.

UWC director Brooklyn Walter stands with student writing consultants in front of a projection screen for their presentation. The title of their talk, “The Washington State University Writing Center at 40,” appears behind them.