Overview

The OFD offers the following resources to support faculty members' scholarly writing:

The Faculty Writing Place

The OFD and the UMass Amherst Libraries are co-sponsoring the Faculty Writing Place (“FWP”) – a quiet, comfortable, fully wired common space reserved solely for UMass Amherst faculty. Use the space to review your research materials, sort through notes, start a new manuscript, or revise an existing one.

Conveniently located in Room 1602 of the Du Bois Library, the FWP is equipped with comfortable tables and chairs, live internet jacks with cables, a computer, a printer, a dry erase board, reference books, and writing supplies. You can use the space on your own or with fellow faculty pursuing the same goals. Feel free to pick up a cup of coffee at the Procrastination Station on the Entrance Level and bring it upstairs to enjoy while you write.

For access to the FWP, simply check out the room key with your UCard at Circulation Services on the Entrance Level of the W.E.B. Du Bois Library.

Monthly Mini-Writing Retreats

The OFD also hosts monthly mini-writing retreats at the FWP where you can schedule regular, distraction-free writing time—anytime between 9 AM to 5 PM. Please let us know in advance if you’ll be joining us to ensure there is enough coffee and pastries to go around. Contact Lily Ladewig to reserve a spot for one or more of the following dates:

• Friday, September 25, 2009 (reserve by Monday, September 21)
• Friday, October 23, 2009 (reserve by Monday, October 19)
  
• Friday, November 20, 2009 (reserve by Monday, November 16)

Faculty Writing Retreats

The OFD hosts a variety of large-scale faculty writing retreats throughout the year, including our long-standing “A Room of Your Own” retreat in June, led by professor emeritus Peter Elbow; our August Writing Retreat, which helps faculty prepare for the upcoming semester; and our new January Writing Retreat. These highly rated events offer faculty a comfortable, relaxing, and collegial environment in which to work on their writing. For upcoming retreat dates, please see our calendar.

Summer Online Writing Fellowships

The OFD's Summer Online Writing Fellowship Program is a special Internet-based writing group designed for UMass Amherst and Five College faculty and facilitated by a professional writing coach from Academic Ladder. Participants in this program log their writing progress daily, interact with other faculty about the process of writing, and receive help and feedback from their coach, who creates a warm, positive, and encouraging online environment for faculty participants across the disciplines. The goal of this summer program is to encourage faculty to write daily during one or more moderately short writing sessions, rather than “binge writing,” which studies have shown to be less productive than daily writing.

Here’s what faculty who participated in last summer’s program had to say about the experience:

“It fostered a sense of community around writing as well as a sense of accountability, both of which helped to motivate and keep one in ‘writing mode.’”

“I loved this program. It truly helped me to establish a daily writing routine. This, in turn, helped my ideas flow better, pushed my productivity up, and also made me feel less guilty about the time when I was not writing.”

“I highly recommend this program to colleagues, especially those in the early stages of their careers.”

Fellowships are generally one-month long, with two available sessions (one in June, and one in July).

Applications are no longer being accepted for 2009 fellowships.

For more information on the online sessions, please see the Academic Ladder website.

If you have any questions, please send an email to Brian Baldi / OFD.

Information on Editors and Writing Coaches

The OFD does not endorse any particular editors or writing coaches; however, we do provide to faculty an alphabetical listing of editors and their services and experience. We encourage you to review this information.