UW Faculty Writing Workshop Aug. 26

Helping busy University of Wyoming faculty members find the time to focus on writing so necessary to a successful academic career is the goal of a half-day workshop hosted by the UW College of Education’s three endowed chairs.

The Aug. 26 session, titled “Publish & Flourish: Become a Prolific Scholar,” will bring 75 faculty members from all seven UW colleges to explore research-informed methods for creating more time and focus for academic writing.

Tara Gray, associate professor of criminal justice and founding director of the Teaching Academy at New Mexico State University, will lead the four-hour workshop. Gray is the author of three books, including “Publish & Flourish: Become a Prolific Scholar.” She has presented workshops to more than 10,000 scholars in 120 institutions, 35 U.S. states and internationally.

Wyoming Excellence in Higher Education Chairs Vicki Gillis (literacy education), Cindy Brock (literacy education) and Tim Slater (science education) are the event organizers.

Inspiration for the campuswide event came from Gillis, who participated in a workshop Gray offered at Clemson University.

“I remember what a huge difference it made,” Gillis says.

Like many higher education faculty, Gillis struggled to keep a full plate of journal article and other writing projects on track. In the Clemson session, Gray involved participants in techniques designed to help scholarly writers eliminate common roadblocks. Gillis adopted her strategies with the help of Gray’s recommendations and saw almost immediate results.

“It absolutely freed me,” she says.

The UW session is designed for active learning and application. Participants will bring writing samples, which they will use in exercises that explore revision methods, peer review strategies and more.

Response to the professional development opportunity was quick and positive, as 75 registrations were recorded shortly after the first campus announcement. In addition to the workshop itself, participants receive UW institutional member access to resources provided by Textbook and Academic Authors (TAA), “a nonprofit, interdisciplinary organization dedicated to helping textbook and academic authors thrive,” for a year. TAA is a workshop co-sponsor.