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DOI: 10.7330/9780874219029.c011 11 G u i d i n g P r i n c i p l e s f o r S u pp o r t i n g Fac u lt y a s W r i t e r s at a T e ac h i n g M i s s i o n I n s t i t u t i o n Michelle Cox and Ann Brunjes At many universities, support for faculty writing is motivated by the need for faculty to publish in order to attain reappointment, tenure, and promotion . In fact, at some institutions, access to such support as faculty writing retreats is made most available to junior faculty, the faculty in most need of securing publications. In this chapter, we argue for the importance of support for faculty writing at teaching-mission community colleges and universities, where the tenure process privileges teaching and service over publication. This support is particularly important at institutions that emphasize student writing across the curriculum, ask faculty to teach writing-intensive courses, and promote engaging approaches to teaching and learning. In this chapter, the directors of a Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) program and an Office of Teaching and Learning (OTL) draw from a faculty writing retreat initiative at Bridgewater State University (BSU) to argue that support for faculty writing fits the missions of WAC and OTL programs at teachingmission universities, but that writing retreats at such institutions should be distinct from programs at research-intensive universities in several key ways. First, we discuss why it makes sense for faculty at teachingmission universities to write, drawing from literature on teacher-writer identity. Next we describe the distinct aspects of faculty writing retreats at teaching-mission institutions. We then shift focus to the BSU Writing Retreat as a case study, drawing on the program evaluation, participant final reports, and an IRB-approved anonymous survey conducted ten months after the retreat. 192   Michel le Cox and Ann Br unjes W hy W riting M akes S en se fo r TeachingMis sion Colleg e an d Un i versi ty Facult y Despite a long scholarly emphasis by rhetoric-composition scholars on the linkage between teachers’ experience as writers and teaching effectiveness , in recent years WAC programs tend not to focus on support for faculty writing. The reigning assumption may be that faculty are already writing, as publication is necessary at many institutions for tenure and promotion. At teaching-mission colleges and universities, though, faculty may become distanced from their writing, thus missing an opportunity to keep their knowledge and practice around the teaching of writing invigorated and effective. Tim Gillespie, a long-time National Writing Project affiliate, has argued that the experience of writing and the teaching of writing are strongly connected. In “Becoming Our Own Expert—Teachers as Writers,” Gillespie (1985) outlines three reasons why teachers should also write: • “When teachers write, we help demystify the act of writing. . . . If we share our projects or write in front of our students, they can see what a sloppy, difficult act writing is for all writers.” • “When teachers write, we learn empathy for our students.” • “When teachers write, we become partners in a community of writers, full participants in our classroom writing workshop.” At WAC workshops, leaders regularly advise faculty to share their own writing-in-process with students, and yet we don’t ask faculty if they are currently writing or offer support for this writing. We try to create empathy for student writers by sharing information about the student writing experience, yet we don’t place faculty into the shoes of a writer. We attempt to create a community of teachers through WAC programming , but we rarely extend this into a community of writers. By including support for writing in WAC programs at teaching-mission universities , WAC program leaders are able to harness some of the success and energy that has fueled the National Writing Project for decades, drawing on the strengths teachers gain from expertise in writing. Support for faculty writing also makes sense for Offices of Teaching and Learning at teaching-mission universities. One of the primary goals of Teaching and Learning Centers is reinforcing the importance of reflection on one’s own practice as teacher, scholar, and writer, in the belief that this reflection leads to more effective teaching practice and richer learning experiences for our students. Once we accept a clear linkage between the depth...

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