ACS WAG Program '24

In most faculty members’ long "To Do" lists, "Write that article!" is often pushed down when urgent but less important tasks emerge.  Writing is thus perennially relegated to summer, potentially productive months but also when we’re the most schedule-free and isolated from our colleagues--two traits that can become challenges for writing productivity.

If accountability, structure, and community sound like helpful writing assistants to you, join the ACS Summer Writing Accountability Group (WAG) Program.  Participants will be placed into multi-institutional groups that serve as mutual accountability partners throughout the summer.  

Rhythm of the WAG Program

• The program begins with the development of a personal writing plan and a required one-hour meeting of all participants (Tue, June 6, 4-5pm EDT, a time that accommodates participants who are also part of the ACS Summer Teaching Workshop).  

• For the 7 weeks from June 12 through July 28, participants will meet with their accountability group for one hour each week to establish and celebrate specific milestones, track their progress, talk through moments of feeling stuck, share advice on all things writing, cultivate a writing practice they can live with, and (most importantly) get some writing done.  Each WAG will set its own weekly schedule according to group members' availability, and participants must commit to attending at least 6 of the 7 meetings.

• The program will end with a required celebratory virtual gathering (Thu, July 27, 2-3pm EDT).  Prizes will be awarded!

Stipends

Participants who complete the program will receive $500 stipends. 

This program is supported by the Associated Colleges of the South (ACS) and their Summer Workshops and Working Groups program.

A WAG is not the same as a typical writing group in which participants may just simply write.  A WAG is about accountability, structure, and community.

To be precise, a WAG is “​an active writing group that meets once a week over a 10-week block [Note: ours is 8 weeks] and follows a strict agenda of 15 minutes of updates and goal-setting followed by 30 minutes of individual writing, and then 15 minutes of reporting and wrap-up (there is no peer review of your writing – the WAG is focused on developing a process and habit of writing).  A WAG is limited to 4-8 members and you MUST commit to attending at least 7 of the weekly sessions. I guarantee that if you adhere to the plan, you will achieve increased writing productivity (quantity and quality), have greater control over the writing process, experience improved goal-setting and time management, and as a bonus, you'll establish relationships with new colleagues and friends.”   --Johns Hopkins School of Medicine’s Office of Faculty Development

Nancy Chick is Director of the Endeavor Foundation Center for Faculty Development at Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida.  In 2020, she ended a nine-year run as the  founding co-editor of Teaching & Learning Inquiry (the journal of the International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning/ISSOTL) and editor/co-editor of several books in the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL).  In addition to her experience as an editor, she has a faculty developer with a PhD in English and is keenly interested in faculty members’ roles as writers. Some of her favorite professional experiences have been hosting day-long (in-person) faculty writing retreats in various sites off campus. She looks forward to the day when she can do this again.  To learn more about Nancy, visit her website.

TBA!