Young and Fulwiler's Tips for Conducting WAC Workshops

Limit participants to approximately 20--too many will allow non-participation for some; too few will limit diversity of ideas

Present testimonials--invite as panel members/presenters faculty members (especially outside of the English  department) who have designed successful and effective writing assignments (for ideas, see Art Young's booklet,  Teaching Writing Across the Curriculum, 3rd edition Prentice Hall Resources for Writing ISBN 0-13-081650-7).

Work with faculty members who are interested in WAC-don’t try to convert faculty.

Choose the best time--but don't wait on the perfect time for everyone. Not everyone will be able to come, so select a time slot with minimal conflicts.

Decide on the best span of time--can you fit in a 75-minute workshop for your busy colleagues, or is there a window for an actual retreat of 2-3 days?

Choose a comfortable location--preferably away from campus, if your budget allows. Getting away from the physical reminders of our routine roles will do wonders for stimulating us to "think outside the box," to tap into our creativity.

Select one topic and design the workshop around that topic, keeping in mind goals and objectives for the workshop (i.e. be realistic and clear about what is to be accomplished during this workshop).

Provide some fun and engaging examples of writing assignments as well as sample student responses to such assignments.

Provide as many opportunities as possible for faculty to write throughout the workshops so that they might learn by doing.

Be sure that faculty leave with a concrete idea that they can implement into their class(es) immediately--handouts, suggestions, examples.

Place yourself, as much as possible, in the background--removing the facilitator from the spotlight will encourage more faculty participation--and will, perhaps, help generate more creative ideas.  For example, design activities that promote paired and/or group interactions during workshops.

Raise enough interest to expect at least as many faculty who come to one workshop to attend the next.

Articulate goals of the workshop at beginning, but be flexible in the execution of those goals.

Set your workshop agenda, as much as possible, by drawing on the interests of workshop participants--either before or during the workshop.  If you set the agenda before, you may, for instance, ask faculty to bring relevant material to the workshop so that they spend their time more productively. 

Invite graduates of your institution to talk about the kinds of writing they do in the workplace.

Don’t forget to do some follow-up work on faculty who participated.

Never underestimate the importance of good food and drink!