The Writing Fellows program helps instructors across DePaul’s Colleges & Schools incorporate drafting and revising in writing assignments.
We assign Writing Fellows—peer writing tutors—to your course, and the Fellows work with you to offer your students writing support from brainstorming topics to detailed feedback on paper drafts.
Students who work with Writing Fellows make substantive and meaningful revisions on their drafts before handing them in for a final grade.
Overall, The Writing Fellows program supports you in your effort to make writing in your course more authentic—more social and iterative.
If you are looking to make writing in your course more authentic, social, and iterative, then Writing Fellows may be a great fit for you!
The core requirements of working with Writing Fellows are:
The Fellows are equipped to tutor writing across DePaul’s departments and colleges. Fellows have worked with students in undergraduate and graduate courses in a range of colleges and schools from Liberal Arts and Social Sciences to College of Education to Computers and Digitial Media to the College of Science and Health to the Liberal Studies Program. Fellows have received resounding praise from faculty and students alike.
If you’re interested in having Writing Fellows in your course, the process for doing so begins the quarter before. We will make the Writing Fellows Request Form available by week 4 or 5 of each quarter. You may also contact Writing Fellows Coordinator Edward Evins for more information about requesting Writing Fellows—including specific dates when the Writing Fellows Request Form will be live for course sign ups.
As an instructor, you have the option to have Writing Fellows work with your students on either one or two writing assignments and provide feedback anywhere from one to four times in a quarter. Generally speaking, Writing Fellows can help your students with writing assignments that are at least 2 pages long and would benefit from drafting and revision.
Here is a sample timeline for an instructor’s role in implementing Writing Fellows into a course in a given quarter:
I just wanted to say that I met with my writing fellow this morning and it was wonderful! She was helpful and I really liked the requirement to meet with one because I otherwise wouldn’t have. I’m glad I did!
- Former LSP 112 Student
A Writing Fellows appointment is different from meeting with a writing center tutor, but the core beliefs of the program are still the same as the Writing Center. At the Writing Center, we believe that there is no universal writing process, and that anyone who writes anything is a writer. It is our hope that you will leave your appointment with new resources, tools, and strategies to help you express your ideas more clearly.
Writing Fellows appointments are distinct from regular writing center appointments because the Writing Fellows Cohort assigned to your class works with your instructor to set expectations for and gain a firm grasp on the assignments for your course. Writing Fellows are able to offer more specific insight on your writing based on your professor’s communication with them about the assignment expectations and goals.
If you are enrolled in a class that utilizes Writing Fellows, you will be required to meet with a Writing Fellow as a portion of your overall course grade. Most Writing Fellow Cohorts do 2 rounds of feedback, with each round consisting of a combination of Written Feedbacks, Face-to-Face appointments, and/or Online RealTime appointments as decided by your instructor.
Writing Fellows are here to assist YOU. Come to the appointment with topics that you would like to work on, questions that you have, and specific goals that you would like to reach. Through your participation in a class utilizing Writing Fellows, you will gain helpful insight and feedback on your writing and continue to hone your personal writing process.
Before the due date of your first writing assignment, you will be introduced to your Writing Fellows Cohort. Your professor will then direct you to sign up for your first appointment. You will have the choice of working with any of the Fellows assigned to your class. Each Fellow will have a certain number of hours accross various times during the Writing Center’s open hours that they are available to meet with you.
If none of these times work for you, let your Professor know and they will work with you and the Writing Fellows Cohort to find a time that you will be able to meet.
A “round” is the full cycle of feedback: a Face-to-Face/Online RealTime appointment and/or a Written Feedback appointment. The modality requirement of your Writing Fellows appointment will be determined by your professor. Your class may either have one or two rounds of Writing Fellows feedback depending on your class assignment(s).
If your professor requires a Written Feedback appointment, you will be required to turn your draft in to your instructor through D2L (or another medium they have specified) by the due date. Your Writing Fellow will return your draft the following week with carefully considered comments in the margins as well as a summary comment that you can review at your own pace.
The Synchronous appointment is when you meet in real time with your Writing Fellow. You may either meet in person at one of the two campus Writing Center locations, or online through Online Realtime.
Your professor will direct you in how to sign up for an appointment with a Writing Fellow. When you successfully sign up- take note of the time, the location, and the Writing Fellow that you are meeting with.
Every course is different. Some professors may require only an in-person or Online realtime appointment. Check your syllabus for your specific requirements.
If you know that you will no longer be able to make your appointment before it begins, or realize that you have missed your appointment, you can either email your class’s point of contact or call the Writing Center to let them know. To find your point of contact for your class, check your email for the original scheduling document. If you call the Writing Center, be sure to mention that you are a writer who is working with a Writing Fellow and provide the receptionist with the name of your instructor. The receptionist will work with you to find a new appointment that works with your schedule.
