Writing Program Committees & Initiatives

• Committee membership (current and archived)
• Service expectations for full-time faculty members
• Committee minutes, reports, and newsletters (current projects)
• Archive of Writing Program meeting slides and announcements

General descriptions of committees follow; for more up-to-date information about current committee projects, please refer to the most recent Committee Newsletter at the top of this page. 

Curriculum Committee

The Curriculum Committee (CC) is a standing committee that advises the Writing Program’s director on matters related to curriculum and teaching such as shaping our curriculum, curating teaching resources, and planning our program portfolio assessments. Full-time faculty are assigned to the CC each year.

The CC is usually led by two co-chairs, each of whom serves for two-year offset terms. Incoming chairs are full-time faculty selected by the current CC. Those selected as chairs should have a history of membership on the committee.

Faculty Issues Committee

The Faculty Issues Committee (FIC) is a standing committee that advises Writing Program’s director on policy matters related to faculty appointments and quality of life such as review and retention procedures for full-time and part-time lecturers, and expectations for teaching, service ,and professional development. The FIC also advises  the director on  full-time faculty service expectations and other issues related to workload. Full-time faculty are assigned to the FIC each year. The FIC holds meetings open to all instructors (full-time, part-time, and GWF) each semester.

The FIC is led by two rotating co-chairs, each of whom serves for two academic years. Incoming chairs are full-time faculty selected by the current FIC. Those selected as chairs should have a history of membership on the committee.

Graduate Writing Fellowship Selection Committee

The GWF Selection Committee is constituted annually in the fall to plan for new fellowships, including reviewing applications, interviewing, and recommending candidates to the director. Full-time faculty are assigned to the GWF Selection Committee each year and interested GWFs may nominate themselves to join. 

Search Committee

A Search Committee is constituted when needed to plan for new lecturer positions, review applications, interview, and recommend candidates to the director. Full-time faculty are assigned to the Hiring Committee in consultation with the Writing Program’s DEI Committee. Interested part-time faculty and GWFs are welcome to participate in the hiring process through lunches and job talks. 

Journal Committee

Deerfield (formerly WR) is the Writing Program’s annual e-journal, which publishes a selection of the best undergraduate papers from WR classes. The Deerfield committee reviews all submissions in an anonymous process and selects 10 to 15 papers for publication each year. The three Curriculum Coordinators are the editors.

Observation Committee

The Observation Committee is trained to use research-based classroom observation practices in order to create a more equitable and robust culture of feedback and conversation about teaching. The committee assists directors in conducting formal observations (with official reports for reappointment/promotion purposes), while the Curriculum Coordinators and the Collaborative Mentoring Initiative continue to provide informal observations and feedback.

Diversity Equity Inclusion & Justice Committee

The CAS Writing Program Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion & Justice Committee was formed in December 2018, in response to recent ongoing conversations in the program concerned about issues of gender, race, ability, and other dimensions of equity. The committee focuses on issues of equity and inclusion affecting both current and prospective faculty (e.g. regarding current faculty, faculty climate, retention, unconscious bias, and training and hiring) and also curriculum and students (e.g. employing universal design and inclusion principles, inclusive classrooms, developing best practices for teaching racially/linguistically-diverse student populations, defining definitions of writing excellence, and increasing access to excellent, inclusive, equity-based pedagogy, and inclusive course offerings, and reading lists). 

Beginning in Fall 2022, affiliates of the DEI committee will also facilitate several affinity groups for faculty who share particular identities or experiences to connect and support one another. Current groups include:

• Faculty of color (Contact: Swati Rani raniphd@bu.edu)
• Faculty with disabilities (Contact: Amy Bennett-Zendzian albz@bu.edu)

Collaborative Mentoring Initiative

CMI is a mentoring and collaboration program consisting of clusters of two Graduate Writing Fellows (GWFs) and two faculty members. Each cluster meets regularly throughout the year in order to break down divisions between different groups teaching writing, mentor new instructors, and circulate innovative ideas about the instruction and assessment of college writing. All faculty members and GWFs are welcome to participate. New cohorts are formed each September.

Communications Committee

The Communications Committee communicates about the life of the Writing Program, which may include creating social media content for student-facing audiences,  publicizing Writing Program events, and compiling newsletters and other materials to communicate with our own faculty as well as other offices and audiences across BU.

The Communications Committee will be led by a full-time faculty chair and will include the Senior Staff Assistant, as well as one or more student social media and communications interns, who will be directly supervised by the Associate Director for the Writing Center.

Curriculum Coordinators

The Writing Program currently has three Curriculum Coordinators and one Writing Center Coordinator; these positions each include a single course release per academic year as they require substantially more service than a committee chair.

Faculty Groups & Gatherings

The Writing Program hosts a variety of ad hoc committees, working groups, gatherings, and events each year. Faculty can keep up to date by reading the Writing Program faculty list notices (writingfaculty-list@bu.edu), consulting the Writing Program events page, and checking the WP calendar.