Service to Benefit Undergraduates

Undergraduate Writing Showcase

The University Writing Showcase allows accepted freshman writers to present posters or presentations based upon their work in writing classrooms. The Showcase offers encouragement, professional and design experience, and the ability to learn from peers. Sometimes, it is connected to our university celebration of the National Day on Writing, a program I am also involved in.

Each semester, the showcase committee sees upwards of fifty proposed projects and determines groupings, acceptances, revisions, and awards for presenters through panel and poster judging. In many ways, it is akin to a brief, one day conference.

While I have served as judge and reviewer of panels since Fall 2017, my roles have expanded. Since January 2019, I have served as the Lead Editor, Lead Judge, and Program Designer for the showcase. Subsequently, I’ve coordinated locating, preparing, and establishing judging, and I created our judging criteria, still used today.

Reviewer for WRIT: A First Year Writing Journal

Beginning in Spring 2018, I began serving as a reviewer for submissions to Bowling Green State University’s undergraduate writing journal. I currently serve on the committee under our new director and editor, Dr. Neil Baird, and continuing editor Brian Urias.

Reviewers of Writ offer feedback on all submissions, emphasizing the good students have done in their writing, as we recognize the courage it takes to submit your work. Frequently, we encourage major revisions and set the writers up for success with mentoring and guidance. That said, we are highly selective, with less than 10% of submissions published.

Cohort and Program Service

Committee Membership

Regardless of the institution, I dedicate my time and energy to serving the program at an institutional level. This is frequently demonstrated in the committees I’m involved in and the leadership roles I’ve taken on. A few examples follow

• Two years at Bowling Green as a representative and mediator of the Grade Appeals Committee
• Four years across Rutgers and Bowling Green as a member of a mentoring initiative, building connections and support to new members of the program.
  • As of 2019, I am the one coordinating mentorship within our program and across all cohort levels.
• Committee member of 21st Century Englishes Conference for three years
• Committee member of the Rhetorical Society of the Black Swamp (RSA student chapter) for three years
  • As of 2019, I am the secretary for the organization.

Telos

In Fall 2019, I developed and founded a department wide newsletter. Dubbing it Telos, after the rhetorical concept of purposes, I have spent the semester developing and sharing program updates, news, and events, recent conversations within our discipline, and relevant topics from the larger BGSU community.

The program events are coordinated by a calendar and listing I’ve created, with additions on professional development or invited speakers across the university. I’ve coordinated with the Center for Faculty Excellence to ensure I represent accurate descriptions of their newest events. The Institutional Review Board and their events are also considered and represented in my broadcast.

I’ve also included conferences, publication opportunities, workshops, or other discipline specific events in Telos. Recognizing faculty, staff, and students of all levels and interests read my newsletter, I carefully balance what topics are represented and how frequently. At least three different aspects of the discipline are covered at a time, ranging from writing centers, digital publishing, pedagogy, feminist histories, online writing, accessibility studies, to offer a few examples.