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FWC in the Classroom

Farnham Writers’ Center

Supporting writers since 1984
Farnham Writers' Center logo

Information for Faculty

The Farnham Writers’ Center is a student-facing component of the Colby Writing Department and provides various services (e.g., one-on-one tutoring, credit-bearing courses) to promote a culture of writing among Colby’s diverse student body. Our peer writing tutors complete a semester-long course which covers the theoretical and practical aspects of tutoring before they are hired to join our staff. Our center operates under a collaborative model which views a tutoring session as a dialogic learning process where both the tutor and the tutee need to be equally involved in order for learning to take place. These collaborative sessions could range in focus from brainstorming to outlines to rough drafts to revisions; they could also center around any writing-related questions about content, structure, argument, grammar, and style. To help build students’ autonomy as writers, the FWC does not offer copy-editing services; instead, our writing tutors work with students to locate “patterns of error ” that might need their further attention. 

How can you assist us in supporting your students?

  • Provide clear assignment prompts
  • If you use rubrics, share them with your students when the assignment is introduced
  • Break down large writing assignments into smaller, deliverable chunks that will deter students from procrastination
  • If you notice that a student in your class might need additional writing support, please meet with them to identify areas they need to work on before referring them to the FWC
  • Refrain from incentivizing students (with extra credit, etc.) to visit the FWC. This might sound like a good idea in theory, but it is likely to put our tutors in awkward situations where students come to a session for the credit, rather than to work on their writing.
  • Share with your students that the FWC’s philosophy is to engage students in collaborative conversations about their writing rather than to“edit” or “fix” their work for them.

Add Us to Your Syllabus

To make it easy for your students to access the FWC information, feel free to include the paragraph below in your syllabus:

The Farnham Writers’ Center offers writing services to help support you as you write for this class or any other writing-intensive class you are taking. Our writing tutors are trained to work with you on brainstorming, outlines, rough drafts, revisions, as well as answer any writing-related questions about content, structure, argument, grammar, and style. To support autonomous writing, our tutors do not provide any copy-editing services; instead, they will work with you to locate “patterns of error” that might need further attention and build your confidence as a writer.

To make an appointment, please visit our website: web.colby.edu/writers-center. For any writing-related questions, please email us at [email protected]. We hope to hear from you soon!

Location: Miller Library, Room 206
Hours: Monday – Thursday from 11:00 a.m. – midnight and Sunday from 2:00 p.m. – midnight

Classroom Visits

Our tutors are now available for brief (10-15 minute) classroom visits to discuss what we do at the FWC with you and your students. To request a visit, fill out this form. Please note that we need a minimum of at least a week of advanced notice to fulfill your request. We also request that you are present when one of our tutors visits your class.

Supporting Multilingual Writers

In line with the mission of the Writing Program at Colby aimed at “supporting a culture of writing,” the Multilingual Writing Specialist, Dr. Chaoran Wang, provides expertise and resources to both students and faculty that center around multilingual pedagogy to enrich students’ experiences on campus. To that end, the Multilingual Specialist offers the following writing support options.

As a faculty member at Colby, there are different ways you can take advantage of the support the Multilingual Writing Specialist provides.

You can either:

a) attend the Pedagogy Lunches that are offered by the Writing Program that focus specifically on multilingual pedagogy, or

b) schedule a one-on-one meeting with the Multilingual Writing Specialist if you wish to discuss any issues related to multilingual students you have had in the past, or you currently have in any of your courses.

Additionally, you can refer any multilingual student in your class, who might be struggling, to the Multilingual Writing Specialist. Based on previous experience, this referral works best when the student you wish to refer is copied on an email you send to the Multilingual Writing Specialist, rather than having the student initiate this process.

This service provides ample opportunities for multilingual writers to hone their writing skills in academic American English. These opportunities include:

a) workshops that are geared towards second language writing and writing issues and

b) one-on-one sessions with the Multilingual Specialist that focus on working with students on their Colby-related writing.

There are two ways that a student can seek the help of the Multilingual Writing Specialist; they can either email the Multilingual Writing Specialist on their own ([email protected]) or have a faculty member refer them.