By WIC Team

The WIC program and staff would like to congratulate the 16 faculty participants of the Fall 2016 WIC Seminar. We are pleased to have these members of the WIC community committed to seeking professional development in the teaching of writing across the disciplines.

This year’s seminar reflected growing interest in peer review within WIC courses and between WIC faculty. Our participants were so encouraged during a peer review session of class assignments that they expressed interest in future opportunities to consult their WIC colleagues. As a result, the WIC staff plans to organize peer review sessions for WIC faculty beginning in Winter 2017. Seminar participants also found discussion on feedback and evaluation strategies helpful, many of them vowing to improve the feedback students receive in their classes. Not to worry though, their students will have many opportunities to practice writing before evaluations in the form of minimally-graded writing-to-learn activities our faculty tried and enjoyed during the seminar. In general, seminar participants were enthusiastic about taking activities, strategies, and ideas from discussion and implementing them into their classes.

In evaluating the seminar, participants noted that they enjoyed the interdisciplinary collaboration. One seminar member saw this collaboration as a reminder of what writing challenges our students navigate on a daily basis:

The best part of the seminar was “discussing things in small groups with faculty from other programs. I think hearing other perspectives is helpful in understanding how they use writing because I do end up teaching many students from other schools and colleges.”

It was a privilege and pleasure sharing the learning space of the WIC Fall Seminar. This year’s participants were:

• Julia Bradshaw (Art)
• Rachael Cate (Electrical Engineering)
• Marjorie Coffey (Academic Success Center)
• Ashley D’Antonio (Forest Ecosystems & Society)
• Kimary Fick (Music)
• Reem Hajjar (Forest Ecosystems & Society)
• Elizabeth Helman (Theatre)
• Nicole Holck (New Media Communication)
• Ian Munanura (Forest Ecosystems & Society)
• Ted Paterson (Business)
• Matt Powers (Forest Engineering, Resources & Management)
• Walt Ream (Microbiology)
• Ana Ribero (Writing, Literature & Film)
• David Rothwell (Human Development & Family Sciences)
• Kirsten Winters (Computer Science)
• Mila Zuo (Writing, Literature & Film)

We were excited to work with you and look forward to continuing to do so in the future!