CWAC Faculty Resources

A plant on a desk in the Writing Center.

We guide the sharing of ideas among colleagues to help professors show students how writing can be used to learn disciplinary content.

 

Throughout the semester, CWAC provides a number of resources and development opportunities for faculty.

 

We also work with faculty to provide writing support for their courses through CWAC's services.

Students and a facilitator in a Writing Circle in a busy Writing Center.

For you

  • Pedagogical consultations about topics such as incorporating writing into your courses, responding as a reader and offering feedback, scaffolding assignments, and more!
  • Workshops for your department or program, tailored to your discipline.
  • 1-1 or group sessions to support your own writing projects.  

    To access these CWAC materials for WiD faculty, click here.

For your students

Students discussing an essay while sitting on sofas in the Writing Center.

Schedule an orientation for your class

Request that a CWAC Writing Adviser visit your class, or even better, bring your class to the Center. Your students will have the chance to talk with a Writing Adviser about CWAC's services for 10-20 minutes.

Schedule a workshop for your class

Schedule a hands-on workshop on any writing topic, tailored to your course. See the "Workshops" tab below to learn more.

Schedule here

Required Sessions

If you would like to require 1-1 sessions for your students, you can coordinate with CWAC.

We will work with you to schedule the best week for the sessions and for the orientation and sign-up the week before.

This prevents CWAC from being bombarded by too many students trying to visit all at once and not being able to serve everyone, and it also prevents students from misunderstanding CWAC’s purpose.

When handled well, required visits can be a positive experience for students who might not venture into CWAC on their own.

Extra Credit Opportunities

Give your students extra credit for a CWAC visit.

You could request they write a reflection on how the visit affected their revision process.

We can also provide proof of attendance by request, if needed, although the results often speak for themselves.

Writing Circles

Each Writing Circle (1 CU) is made up of 3 to 4 students who meet weekly to workshop their writing in a discussion facilitated by a CWAC staff member. As with all CWAC services, the Circles are open to all students, undergraduate through graduate level, of any course. To encourage your students to participate in Writing Circles:

  • E-mail your students before classes begin and/or announce this on the first day of class.
  • Request that a CWAC Writing Adviser visit your class on the first day to conduct an orientation and explain the Circles.

Other Resources

Preparing for WiD Courses

Sample Syllabi

  • Anthropology Example Syllabus
  • Biochemistry Example Syllabus
  • Communication Example Syllabus
  • English Example Syllabus (uses Susan Hubbuch's "Writing Research Papers Across the Curriculum" throughout scaffolded research project)

WAC Resources 

CWAC offers workshops for any audience or discipline, at any level. Each workshop is tailored to the discipline and the students' stage of writing.

 

  • We customize workshops to fit your course.
  • We enjoy designing brand-new workshops – please brainstorm with us! All workshop templates listed below arose out of such brainstorming with colleagues.
  • Workshops can be held either in your classroom or in CWAC (De La Salle Hall).
  • Workshops are a mix of instruction and hands-on work; therefore, they generally run the full class period.
  • To schedule a workshop, please contact Director Joe Zeccardi before or at the start of the semester. At the bare minimum, we need two weeks to tailor a workshop to your students' needs.

APA Style: Students become more familiar with the APA manual, including citations and strategies for integrating sources. They also workshop their own drafts.

Chemistry Abstract Writing: Students learn about the format, preferred writing style, and appropriate voice of a chemistry lab abstract. They also engage in workshop exercises to learn how to effectively implement the strategies into their own abstracts.

Evaluating Sources: Students practice evaluating sources on the basis of credibility, relevance, reasonability, and accuracy. Students also go over strategies for using sources to support their theses and to develop counterarguments.

Integrating Sources: Students learn to methodically integrate sources by identifying the components of source integration: introductory element, evidence, and analysis. 

Facilitated Peer Review: Students learn to consider their peers' papers, and their own, from the reader's point of view. A Writing Adviser instructs students in audience awareness, post-outlining, and commenting through description rather than evaluation. Then, students work in small groups, with a Writing Adviser facilitating at each table.

Quotation, Summary, & Paraphrase: Students discuss the purpose of each of the three methods of evidence incorporation, and they work on their own drafts to determine which method is the best for particular circumstances.

Revision Strategies: Students learn the differences between revising and editing, as well as why revising is essential. Students learn revision strategies such as post-outlining and apply these strategies during small-group collaboration.

Thesis Development: Students learn the key components of a thesis (observation, interpretation, and purpose) and use them to develop or refine their theses.

Research Writing: Students learn the process of researching and writing and map out steps for their own projects.

The Undergraduate Spectrum Journal

Have your students produced exemplary writing this calendar year? Encourage them to submit to The Undergraduate Spectrum, CWAC's annually published journal featuring excellent student writing across the curriculum.

If you’d like to use The Undergraduate Spectrum essays as models or readings for your class, please feel free browse our past issues.

The Center for Writing Across the Curriculum (CWAC) is a free resource for members of the Saint Mary's community, of all disciplines, at any stage of the writing process.

  • Individual or group sessions are available in person or online via ConexEd, by appointment or drop-in: De La Salle Hall, Rm 110.
  • Writing Advisers guide their peers toward expressing ideas clearly, always weighing audience and purpose.
  • Authors share their drafts or course materials in order to brainstorm ideas, revise, or work on specific aspects of writing, such as organization, citation, grammar, or research methods in any genre or discipline.
  • For more information, please visit stmarys-ca.edu/CWAC or call x4684.

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