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Additional Opportunities
Although teaching Basic Writing and College Writing is our primary mission, the Writing Program does offer TOs a variety of opportunities to gain additional experience. These opportunities range from developing your own writing workshop to serving on one of our committees to participating in placement of first-year students. We encourage all our teachers to take advantage of these opportunities and to become involved in our teaching community. Below are brief descriptions of these opportunities.
Teaching Opportunities
Experimental Writing Workshops: Depending on funding, each Spring the Writing Program offers several 200-level Experimental Writing Workshops. All teachers in the Writing Program are invited to submit a proposal to teach one of these workshops. The workshops fulfill two needs—they provide additional writing courses for undergraduates who want to continue writing after they complete College Writing, and they give our teachers a chance to develop and teach their own writing course. The courses are taken Pass/Fail and capped at 12 students. Since the Program encourages team-taught courses, they also provide instructors with experience in collaboration. Instructors whose proposals are chosen receive an additional stipend and enroll in the English 698C Experimental Writing Practicum. (Please note this is in addition to your regular Practicum.) Examples of past workshops include: Collaborative Writing; Experimenting with Text in Writing and Art; Queer Writing/Queer Texts/ Queer Rhetoric; Writing for Audio;The Graphic Novel; Digital Storytelling; Poetry in Performance. (See the website for other previous offerings.) Experimental Writing students showcase their work at the annual Celebration of Writing.
Tech Fellows. Technology Fellows, or “Tech Fellows,” are graduate student TOs in the Writing Program who engage in questions of teaching writing with technology, both theoretically and practically, through reading, discussion, and hands-on play with technologies. Fellows meet in a small-group setting, led by the Tech Fellows Directors, generally a TO who participated in the Tech Fellows program the previous year. Tech Fellows meet on the Mondays opposite Writing Program Practica. Participation is open to any graduate instructor in the Writing Program regardless of technology experience. In fact, the Tech Fellows program provides a great opportunity for those less familiar with technology to explore the various ways technology can be incorporated into the writing classroom. Fellows are selected for the academic year; a small stipend accompanies the fellowship.
College Writing Continuing Education Instructor: The UMass Continuing & Professional Education Division offers one section of College Writing during the summer. During the academic year, sections of College Writing may also be offered through Continuing & Professional Education and University Without Walls.
Special Project Money: The Writing Program has available a small amount of money (generally up to $200 each) for instructors to do a class project that will enhance the 111 or 112 curriculum. Project funding may be used for the purchase of special class materials, entrance fees to relevant on-campus or off-campus events, the publication of a class book, or stipends for off-campus guest speakers. Although projects vary widely, all must show a clear and purposeful relationship to the Basic Writing or College Writing curriculum by somehow enhancing or extending a particular essay unit or the course as a whole. Past funding has supported such special activities and projects as class attendance at a play or film related to a particular essay assignment; design and creation of a publication; costs for in-house conferences involving one or more sections of 112; and stipends for guest speakers. Examples of projects done using special project money are on display in the Resource Center Room (Bartlett 308). The proposal form and guidelines to apply for special project funding are available on the Writing Program website.
Additional Employment
The Writing Program offers a range of additional employment opportunities to our veteran teachers. All positions carry an additional stipend. Below are brief descriptions of these positions. Full descriptions of the job duties, requirements, and application guidelines will be announced in the Writing Program Weekly “Blast” and will be posted on the Writing Program website.
Resource Center Mentor: Four veteran graduate instructors serve as mentors to new TOs and also work to enhance our teaching community. Resource Staff mentors visit classes of new TOs, are involved in the planning and running of orientation, assist with the Resource Center online database, and attend meetings every other week. Resource Center mentors also teach College Writing. These positions last for one year.. Any teacher in our program who has taught two semesters of College Writing is encouraged to apply.
Technology Coordinator: As a member of the Resource Center Staff, the Technology Coordinator will provide technology pedagogical support to the Writing Program teaching staff in the form of workshops and be available for one-on-one consultations. Like other members of the Resource Staff, the technology coordinator is involved in the planning and running of orientation, assists with the online database, and attends meetings every other week. This position lasts for one to two years. Any teacher in our program who has taught two semesters of College Writing is encouraged to apply.
Placement Assistant: This is a summer and academic year position that assists the Placement Coordinator in developing essay questions, selecting training essays, revising the rating criteria, and conducting the three summer placement test readings and reader-training sessions. The Placement Assistant also shares with the Coordinator responsibility for placement testing conducted during the academic year.
Placement Readers: Placement readers read and score the Writing Program placement test administered to all incoming first year students during the summer New Students Orientation.
Lecturer Pool: On occasion, the Writing Program may need to hire part-time lecturers in order to meet our staffing needs. These positions are usually for one semester only and range from one to three sections of College Writing. The lecturer pool consists mostly of former UMass Amherst graduate students who have taught in the Writing Program. The most recent graduates are given priority.
Committees
The Writing Program has several standing committees that meet throughout the academic year. Serving on a committee is a great way to participate in our teaching community, shape the courses we teach, and gain valuable experience. All committees consist of members of the Writing Program staff and graduate teaching instructors.
Curriculum Committee: This committee meets monthly to review the College Writing curriculum. Each year the committee identifies specific areas of the curriculum that need to be re-examined. The committee may recommend changes in the curriculum and to our overall training. Members may also develop additional resources and materials for our teachers. Participation in this committee provides useful first-hand experience in curriculum design and development.
Textbook Committee: Depending on the year, the purpose and goals of this committee vary. When the style handbook used for our courses needs to be reviewed, members of this committee review and select a handbook. When a new edition of our Basic Writing textbook or Other Words: A Writer’s Reader needs to be done, this committee takes on the process of editing the new editions. Membership on this committee provides invaluable experience in the process of developing and editing a textbook for a multi-section writing course.
Student Writing Anthology Committee: The Student Writing Anthology is a collection of essays from our Basic Writing, College Writing, and Junior Year Writing classes. Every semester, teachers are encouraged to submit exemplary essays from their classes. This committee goes through the entire process of constructing the upcoming year’s Anthology, including the selection and editing of essays. Members of this committee gain valuable experience in all the steps of constructing an anthology for a multi-section course.
Diversity Action Group: For the 2006-2007 academic year, the Writing Program received a small grant in diversity funding from the University. As a result, the Diversity Infusion Group was formed in order to develop curricula through a diversity-based lens. Each year DIG develops and explores a particular question centered on diversity and the teaching of writing in order to develop resources and workshops for all teachers in our program. This is a year-long committee that meets twice a month. Not only does this committee provide invaluable experience in developing workshops for teachers, but it also offers space to discuss and explore a range of diversity issues.
Best Text Judging Committee: Each year the Writing Program sponsors a Best Text Contest for students enrolled in Basic Writing, College Writing, and Junior-Year Writing Courses. Awards for Basic and College Writing are given for first, second, and third, as well as an award for best multi-media project. The winners are honored at the Writing Program’s annual Celebration of Writing held on Reading Day before final exams during Spring semester. This committee works through the process of reading the submissions and selecting the winners for Basic and College Writing. This is a great way to see what kind of writing our students are doing across all our sections of Basic and College Writing. The time commitment involves reading the submissions and meeting three-four times during the year.
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