22 Replies to “A New WAC Faculty Sourcebook for a New Academic Year”

1. I loved reading this post, Brad!

   I was absolutely thrilled to see the new version of the sourcebook when I picked up my copy last week (and I’m honored to have a couple of my assignments included alongside materials from all of these fabulous faculty and instructors!).

   While working as Assistant Director of the WAC program from 2015-2017, I carried my copy of the sourcebook around just about everywhere I went. In consultations, workshops, discussions, and trainings, I found it to be one of the most valuable resources that I could offer to faculty, instructional staff, and TAs. Why? Because the sourcebook reveals something that isn’t always made evident in other contexts, namely, that a LOT of UW-Madison faculty, instructional staff and TAs from a LOT of different disciplines are teaching with writing, and they’re doing it in a LOT of smart and creative ways.

   Although it has been over a year since I served as AD of the WAC program, I have continued to keep the Sourcebook close. I find myself returning to it quite often, not only in the context of my WAC work, but also in the context of my own teaching. And each time, I come away with new insights, refreshed motivation, and “locally-sourced” inspiration. Needless to say, I can’t wait to continue digging into the newest version of the sourcebook.

2. Thanks, Brad, for this wonderful summary of our summer 2018 Writing Center work and a preview of the new edition of the WAC sourcebook!

   This post comes at an opportune moment as I design new assignment and redesign old ones. Although I am teaching a composition course, I am continually inspired by the many creative and critical ways instructors across disciplines teach with writing. I genuinely enjoy creating writing assignments and as WAC has taught me, I view each assignment as an argument to students that what I am asking them to do is a productive means of reaching our learning goals.

   I have also used the WAC sourcebook when educating Undergraduate Writing Fellows. When I taught English 403: Seminar in Tutoring Writing Across the Curriculum, a required seminar for new Undergraduate Writing Fellows, I hauled stacks of sourcebooks into our classroom when we discussed the debate over disciplinary versus generalist tutoring. I asked Writing Fellows to select a handful of sample assignments from the sourcebook and do some detective work about what kinds of thinking and skills they attempt to teach. Students found that in general, even across disciplines, many instructors hope that their writing assignments will teach similar kinds of thinking and skills. While Writing Fellows are sometimes intimidated by the idea of tutoring writing in a discipline they are unfamiliar with, this activity helps Writing Fellows see that while disciplinary conventions and content may vary, some of the thinking and writing skills remain the same. More than anything, though, Writing Fellows are simply AMAZED at this wonderful resource and they request to take a copy of it home with them, even if it weighs down their already-heavy backpacks.

3. Hi Brad,

   Thanks for this post about the WAC sourcebook, which gave me a really interesting window into the culture of writing instruction across the university! As a writing center instructor who gets to see the great variety of assignment prompts that students bring in, it’s clear to me that the WAC sourcebook and WAC programming have had a profound influence on the way professors approach writing in their course design. Writing is foregrounded here as a way to learn, and it’s thanks in part to everyone who has worked on the WAC sourcebook!

   I was also really interested in your mention of Neil Simpkins’ workshop about communicating with professors about access needs. To me, this workshop seems unique because it takes an explicitly activist approach to the discussion surrounding academic writing and disability. I can’t wait to hear more about it.

   Thanks again for this post, Brad!

   —Brenna

4. Hi Brad (and everyone),

   Thanks so much for spreading the word about the new sourcebook. I enjoyed editing it and I hope everyone takes the time to learn about the strong culture of writing across campus–these new additions (and really everything in the sourcebook) are a great starting point for that.

   As I worked on the new edition, I was most excited about the multimodal assignments (Skop), the peer review resources (Sharma; McKinnon), and the resources for teaching online (Easter) that we added. I learned a lot from those additions and I am confident teachers across the university will find them helpful too.

   I also think readers of the new sourcebook can learn a lot about the ways they can use writing in-class (I’m thinking of Kita’s assignment you cite above). While we can encourage teachers to use writing in their classes, some will not be able to assign longer papers due to large class sizes/lecture courses. Nonetheless, I think there are countless opportunities for using low-stakes writing in the classroom, and I’m happy that we value that in the sourcebook.

   -Mike

5. Thank you for writing about the latest additions to the WAC Sourcebook. and the Online Writer’s Handbook. I think the new additions to the Sourcebook especially is a testament of your argument’s effectiveness, Brad! So many faculty have joined the Writing Center’s commitment to creating a culture of writing on campus, and hopefully more will come.

   What I like about Sourcebook is not only how many professors from different disciplines feature writing assignments in their courses but also that some writing assignments mirror genres that students may write themselves in their actual profession. For example, Professor Amber Epp’s status report assignment caught my eye; writing isn’t confined to the Book Review or the Research Paper (which is what I had to write in high school and in my freshman year in college). Writing is flexible. It’s versatile. it shape shifts to meet writer’s rhetorical needs. And that can make both writing a thing do and a fun thing to teach. The Sourcebook brings the range of assignments together to really underscore this point.

   Congrats to everyone working in the UW-Madison Online Writing Center and in Writing Across the Curriculum on these new editions! I hope it’s a great year for you, the faculty and, most important, the students!

   Antonio Byrd
   2017-2018 Assistant Director of the UW-Madison Writing Center

6. Thank you, Brad, for this post and sharing this remarkable WAC Faculty Sourcebook for those who are not at UW. It really is amazing on so many levels.

   First, in terms of writing process, I have used the sections on assignment sequencing with my colleagues here at Suffolk University (giving full credit to Brad Hughes and Rebecca Schoenike Nowacek of course!). Faculty have found it remarkably helpful.

   Moreover, the sheer range of assignments contained in this book is simply stunning. After reading about writing assignments for an English class on mystery and crime fiction, I found myself looking at an assignment from a science class that contains symbols in a formula that I didn’t even know existed! It simply reinforces one of the central messages of this book: one can strategically use writing in every discipline as a means of promoting reflection, engagement, and deeper thinking.

   Finally, reading this book makes one realize that one can always learn new ideas from others regardless of how long one has been teaching writing. The 50-word assignments in Professor Cohen’s class provides a much better model of something I have tried myself in the past. I completely agree with the premise behind this assignment: challenging students to summarize succinctly the main point of a reading (or a lecture, or a series of maps, etc.) requires them to truly grapple with the essence of that “text.” I plan on using a variation of this assignment in future classes.

   Wisconsin is so lucky to have you, Brad, as well as the many people who compiled this incredible resource. My sincere thanks for your generosity and for sharing it with the world!

   Bryan Trabold
   Associate Professor, English
   Suffolk University

7. *scurrying off to bookmark the latest Sourcebook immediately*

   It’s so energizing to read about these latest updates to the Sourcebook. It has been invaluable for me in its various incarnations as I find ways to engage in WAC work, whether through creating workshops for faculty across campus about incorporating writing into their courses or developing our fledgling Writing Fellows program. The variety of assignments is wonderful, and the depth of the partnerships both the Sourcebook and the WAC program as a whole represent is impressive. Kudos to you, Brad, and to everyone involved!

   Rachel Azima
   Writing Center Director and Assistant Professor of Practice, English
   University of Nebraska-Lincoln

8. “Locally Sourced”–such an apt title for this invaluable resource. Can anyone claim credit for it?

   Thank you SO much to all involved in the production of this latest version AND for making it accessible online. The productivity and generosity of those involved in the Writing Center and WAC program at UW-Madison is truly inspiring.

   And thanks, Brad, for the big-picture reminders about WAC work and the sampling of new materials in the sourcebook.

   On, [WAC at] Wisconsin!

   Dave Stock,
   Coordinator, BYU Writing Center
   Assistant Professor, English

9. Brad–All the work done at your Writing Center and on the Sourcebook during the summer is impressive! I read your post with great interest because we don’t have a WAC program or even the signs of a university-wide WAC culture here at Iowa. The irony is that we call ourselves “the Writing University” mainly because of our creative writing programs. However, we do have a Writing Fellows Program and a multifaceted Writing Center that serves 55 departments in our liberal arts and sciences college and courses with writing in 4 other colleges within the U. So there’s potential.

   In fact, in our Center, we’ve designed a university-wide faculty survey to find out who uses writing in their courses and if so, what types of writing they use. Your post and the Sourcebook inspires me to use the survey to include the explicit message that if instructors share and upload their writing assignments, we will compile them into a sourcebook also and use it like you do–to train faculty and also to recognize and commend instructors who use writing-to-learn and learning-to-writie (professionalizing) assignments in their courses.

   Carol Severino
   Professor of Rhetoric and Director of the Writing Center
   The University of Iowa

10. Thank you, Brad! Downloaded Locally Sourced and will be reading it riding the Broadway local. You must be exhausted, doing all of our jobs for us!

    Seriously, though–I WAS being serious! I have learned more from you, including what I’ve been doing right, what I could be doing better, and what (if we had the budget and staff) we could be doing, than I have from any other single source in the field. It helps, as it helps us all, to have extraordinary colleagues, in the Center and across the curriculum. But you demonstrate, in your rhetorical self, the principled ethos of Centers and WAC: the generosity of spirit that is not only enthusiastic about learning, but excited to share that enthusiasm with other learners.

    And you look great on a boat–

    Dennis Paoli
    Coordinator
    Rockowitz Writing Center
    Co-coordinator
    WAC Program
    Hunter College, CUNY

11. Brad, I really enjoyed reading your updates and, as always, am so impressed by the work you and your wonderful staff are able to do. No gathering moss at the UW-Madison Writing Center and WAC Program!

    While, like others, I eagerly will download and share sections of Locally Sourced (yeah, kind of ironic that we’re using your local work in our local context), I do wonder what you might now about how your target audiences engage with this text, particularly online. Any data analytics re: downloads and page views? Any research on what engagement with the material might look like? I’m very curious, partially just to know but also as we try and figure out how much of our own material to develop as we try to cultivate a nascent WAC program.

    Thanks!

    Neal Lerner
    Writing Center Director
    Northeastern Univ.
    Boston, MA

12. Impressive work by you and your team, Brad! When I was serving as Director of Clemson’s Pearce Center for Professional Communication, which houses many of the university’s WAC initiatives, we used to emphasize a point you illustrate expertly here: that there is exceptional writing instruction already happening all over the university, and one of the most important things we can do is locate and promote that kind of work. That is, our job is not to proselytize or act as if our colleagues can’t teach writing without our expertise; rather, we want to add our expertise to good work that is already happening. Another point that you illustrate terrifically here: that you’ve created a robust and sustainable culture of writing at the university — so admirable!

    Michael LeMahieu
    Associate Professor of English
    Clemson University

13. One of the (too many to count!) impressive things that stick with me about the UW-Madison WAC program is this amazing resource. I still have my physical copy from 2009-2010, when I was last working for the Writing Center as a grad student. And I requested a physical copy last year, as I was beginning to head into administration of our Composition program at University of Pittsburgh.

    Of course, the contents of the sourcebook are **amazing** and Brad and the WAC director do such wonderful work in soliciting them. But a few aspects of the framing of this content are particularly striking to me as being sheer brilliance:
    -The physical presence of the book on campus. While those of us in the UW diaspora can all download the sourcebook in the UW, the circulation of the sourcebook **as a physical copy** is so important. While digital resources are often more convenient, it’s easy to ignore them or miss them. It’s hard to miss the substantive tome of resources the sourcebook provides when it’s a physical book!
    -The explicit and implicit arguments that the book and Brad make about the importance of writing across campus. Some of the explicit arguments are reminders to those of us in the field, but they’re new information to others. And it’s wonderful to have these arguments readily available as we have to make the arguments for resources and buy-in from willing but also pinched deans and other administrators. Brad has always been exceptionally savvy about Writing Center and WAC rhetoric! The sourcebook is a physical reminder of this need and also how to respond to it.

    Thanks, as always, for sharing these resources and strategies, Brad!

    Annette Vee
    Associate Professor of English
    University of Pittsburgh

14. Oh, Brad! When I read this post, even though I was taken aback by the new offerings and great work by all the faculty, staff, and amazing graduate students at UW-Madison, I was most moved by the consistency of the tone. It’s a tone of caring about writing and people involved in making writing happen for others. What I’m trying to express is how clear it is to me in any and every sentence (“Lots!”) that you care about writing and about helping people to care about their writing, and the writing they do with, and for, others. Everything that the other wonderful individuals (in the above comments) have said is true, and insightful, and what they said is a testament to how you have trained, and helped, and inspired so many others who have worked and learned their way through the UW-Madison Writing Center to train, and help, and inspire others with a caring message about writing.

    When I think of the work that I am trying to accomplish at my own institution, I think about all the explicit and implicit training I received, all of the learning about what to do and how to be, and I can only admit to being thankful, and that I will continue to count myself lucky, undoubtedly, as long as I can continue to make active all the administrative and mentoring lessons, and all the pedagogical and philosophical lessons, and most of all, the lessons that teach us about how writing provides us with an opportunity to show how much we care for others in and through the act of writing.

    Christopher J. Syrnyk
    Director of the Oregon Tech Honors Program
    Associate Professor, Communication

15. I always love a good behind-the-scenes special, so I delighted in reading this post; I see it as “The Making of the WAC Sourcebook.” Some of what you recount, Brad, brought back memories of seeing past Sourcebooks come together, but I also gained a new appreciation for the scope of the project that is WAC at UW. What an amazing range of disciplines and assignments you all have assembled. What an impact this work has on student learning.

    As a WC [and now WAC] director preparing to launch a new WAC program, I appreciated the way your discussion pushed me to think about the argument a WAC program makes. As administrators, we become so used to making certain kinds of arguments quite frequently; we know what resonates with upper administration when it comes to budgets, and we have a good sense of the best points to make when urging students to visit a writing center. But being forthright about how we believe WAC will improve the experiences of our students and faculty makes an altogether different sort of argument–a compelling, local case for doing what we do.

    As always, Brad, thanks for making me think harder and smarter. And thanks too for the stack of well-worn, colorful Sourcebooks I still keep on my shelves. On Wisconsin.

    Mary Lou Odom
    Professor of English
    Director, Writing Center & Writing Across the Curriculum
    Kennesaw State University

16. Dear Brad,

    your wonderful post has me thinking about the role a Writing Center can play as some kind of collective memory of an institution.

    As you said, great examples of teaching writing and designing meaningful writing assignments are worth being collected, shared, and remembered. And your source book is doing that in so many different ways.

    At a university, people come and go. That means we need constants otherwise we will forget the good things that have been invented, tested, evaluated by many generations of teachers and researchers.

    A source book also encourages people to think about how other disciplines shape their body of knowledge, how they work, and how they teach the essential skills of their “trade”. From my experience, there are still not so many opportunities where faculty members are enabled (and encouraged) to think “outside their box”. Your book provides its readers with incredibly many and tempting learning opportunities, I still have my paper copy and I will *never* let go of it!

    Your book may be called “locally sourced” but that is actually deceiving, because it has caused ripples in places that are far, far away from your own institution. It is a treasure trove of inspiration and should therefore be renamed as “globally used”. 🙂

    Stephanie
    ********
    Dr. Stephanie Dreyfürst
    Director
    Academic Writing Center
    Goethe University
    Frankfurt am Main
    Germany

17. In my office here in Minneapolis, I have a poster of Bucky in front of me and a bookshelf of WAC Sourcebooks behind me, giving me the energy, inspiration, and concrete resources I need to work with student writers and those who teach with writing across my institution and throughout the state (yep, still doing the “Wisconsin Idea” in the state next door!).

    Thank you, Brad, for sharing this insightful look at the history and present day of the WAC Sourcebook. As perhaps the oldest former WAC Assistant Director chiming in on this thread (though I bet Rocco would have even more good stories to tell!), I remember the tears I shed converting an old WordPerfect version of the Sourcebook to MSWord in the mid-1990s. That memory makes it even sweeter to see how the Sourcebook grew and evolved past those early technical challenges to become the big, beautiful, and accessible resource it is today. Indeed, as many of you have noted, the Sourcebook is “locally sourced” and “globally used” and, let me add, universally loved!

    Kirsten Jamsen
    Director, Center for Writing
    University of Minnesota – Twin Cities

18. Thanks, Brad, for another inspirational post. We’re just beginning talks of reviving our long-lost WAC program at UT-Chattanooga, and I’ll be sharing this post with my colleagues!

    Like Annette, I still have my 2009-2010 copy of the sourcebook, and I see the latest version as a model for what we can do locally! Hopefully!!

    Dr. Rik Hunter
    Director of English Graduate Studies
    University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

19. Thank you for sharing again all the wonderful things you do in your writing center, Brad. It is always so inspiring! I am especially grateful that you offer the wac sourcebook so generously online. Although I totally agree with you that having a local resource is very valuable, because it encourages faculty especially at your university, it is also very useful for as at the European University Viadrina in Germany, because it shows the variety of possible assignments. As you know, for faculty in Germany the idea of giving written assignments to students is still new. We just started a new program for faculty that allows them to take workshops on integrating and facilitating writing in their teaching and we hope that at some point we will be able to generate a local resource here, too. I am especially delighted about your text on why faculty should use writing assignments. Not only will it help us for our argumentations, but also you provided us with some hints to studies you refer to that I did not know yet. Thanks again and greetings from Germany
    Katrin Girgensohn
    Academic Director of the Writing Center
    European University Viadrina, Germany

20. Brad, I loved reading your breakdown of the different arguments made by these locally sourced materials presented together in the WAC Sourcebook. I too have my copy sitting by my desk to refer to for inspiration, courage, and persistence as I work to bring more communication and writing assignments into courses at Waterloo using “globally used resources” and–as I learned from Brad–to highlight the excellent teaching my colleagues are already doing “locally.” Both sides of that coin matter; both are crucial for faculty.

    @Mary Lou: you’re launching a WAC program?! We’ve got to talk soon!
    @Kirsten: I laughed when I read your comment about shedding tears when converting documents. It made me recall the late-night expletives echoing down the halls of Helen C. White from my office as I tried to print pages for my team of copy editors waiting with pizza…
    @Katrin: I miss you!

    Stephanie White
    Instructional Developer, TA Training and Writing Support
    Centre for Teaching Excellence, University of Waterloo

21. Brad, thank you for this piece. I am so appreciative of your (and the entire WAC staff’s) generosity.

    I was immediately struck by the workshop about communicating accessibility needs with professors. What a brilliant idea! This got me thinking about how important it is for students to learn how to advocate for themselves effectively. Of course, that’s rhetoric at work. Rhetoric, it turns out, is not just persuasion, but also writing in a way that acknowledges and speaks to your audience’s point of view. This is, I think, one of the implicit arguments of the WAC Sourcebook.

    Reading other faculty members’ assignments (especially in fields outside my own) makes me read like a student again. I think “Wait, what is this assignment asking me to do?” One argument the Sourcebook is making is that our assignments are rhetorical. The Sourcebook reminds me that writing assignments are most effective when they attend to the point of view of the students who are completing them.

    Thank you for the ongoing opportunities to examine my own teaching practices!

    Lauren Vedal
    Instructor, Kwantlen Polytechnic University
    Surrey, British Columbia

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