The Grassroots Organization of Faculty Writing Groups

One approach to meeting the growing demand for faculty writing productivity is to create spaces in which faculty can “experience themselves as writers” (Banks & Flinchbaugh 2013 p. 243). Such spaces can take many different forms. At the mid-sized regional state university where I work, faculty development is comprised of a decentralized and mostly grassroots approach. This environment creates experimentation spaces, where faculty can try out different writing support systems. Based on this experience, I have witnessed the strategic value in creating overlapping opportunities for engaging with faculty writers, comprised of faculty writing groups that follow different models. This approach works because it creates multiple spaces for faculty to opt into, depending on their preferred work patterns, needs for writing support, and social interaction. Implementing a model with diverse opportunities is particularly useful when faculty engage in multiple models as a way of identifying what strategies for writing productivity are the best fit for them. Finally, this approach encourages a culture where faculty can take these lessons and form their own writing groups. This presentation will describe the various of models around which faculty writing support has been organized at GovState. These models include groups focused on discussing writing processes and members’ writing productivity (Jensen 2017), creating a time and space for writing production (Quynn 2020; Plummer et al 2019), and organizing symposia for workshopping works in progress.