Workshops and wolves and faculty, oh, my!

Writing workshops are a great way for faculty to focus their efforts.

Introduction to Grant Writing Workshop

Just before the start of fall term 2019, Eric Dickey of the WOU Sponsored Projects Office conducted two workshops with the intent to introduce faculty to the world of grants and grant writing. Each four-hour workshop had about 10 to 14 participants ranging in disciplines from Art to Biology, Education to Criminal Justice.

After an introduction to grants presentation, attendees were treated to Lightning Presentations by WOU faculty members with active grant projects: Chad Ludwig, Darryl Thomas, Amanda Smith, and Patty Flatt (Click to download PDFs of presentations, Ludwig, Thomas, Flatt). Lightning Presentations provide presenters a short amount of time, five minutes, for example, and a limited number of slides, around three-to-five slides. These quick overviews can help initiate conversations about our work, and can also inspire those in the audience to imagine themselves pursuing their own grants, research, and scholarly interests.

After the Lightning Presentations, the workshop provided a platform for the participants to talk about their own work through a Speed-Networking exercise. Each person had one-and-a-half minutes to talk about their own work, and then they listened while another participant did the same. Imagine having that same conversation five different times within 15 minutes. Speed-Networking allows participants to really hone their message about themselves. This session was a highlight of the workshop.

Following the Speed-Networking exercise, Eric asked the attendees to think about their work in contexts. How could someone in criminal Justice incorporate Climate Change into their work? How could someone in Art incorporate Immigration into their work? This exercise is based on major topics that funders are supporting. Both the National Science Foundation and the Department of Education, for examples, as well as other funders, have their own funding priorities. NSF calls theirs the Ten Big Ideas. When looking at the funding landscape, these big ideas are the kinds of topics being funded. The point of talking about our work in these contexts is to be responsive to our communities’ needs, locally, regionally, nationally, and beyond.

The Basic Fundamentals workshops were very well-received by the participants. A survey showed that 100% of the participants would Strongly Agree and Agree to recommend the workshop to colleagues.100% of the participants rate the workshop as Excellent and Very good.

Here are some of the comments from the survey respondents when asked what was most valuable about the workshop:

“Connecting with others and chatting”

“The Lightning Presentations”

“Basics of vocabulary, resources, and connecting with colleagues”

The Sponsored Projects Office intends to offer this Basics workshop every fall term. So, stay tuned for the announcement, and be sure to register once you see it. Your colleagues and students, past, present, and future, will benefit.

Write-to-Publish

At the end of fall term, the Sponsored Projects Office conducted a Write-to-Publish workshop. Twenty-three faculty registered for this workshop. Seventeen registered within the first 24 hours of the announcement, showing the great need for WOU faculty members to carve out writing time in their schedules. The purpose of this workshop was to help faculty work toward their writing goals. Whether pursuing grants, writing for a professional organization, or working on journal articles, a productive faculty will help elevate the institution.

The Sponsored Projects Office recognizes the participants in this workshop. Research and scholarship are benchmarks to which institutions of higher education aspire. The following attendees in the Write-to-Publish workshop helped make the workshop a success, and help WOU continue toward its goal of academic excellence laid out in strategic plan.

Cornelia Paraskevas, English Studies Margaret Manoogian, Behavioral Sciences Mari Sakiyama, Criminal Justice Elisa Maroney, Deaf Studies & Professional Studies Rob Troyer, English Studies Kara Gournaris, Deaf Studies & Professional Studies Erin Baumgartner, Biology Amanda Smith, Deaf Studies & Professional Studies

Kristen Pratt, College of Education Leanne Merrill, Mathematics Earlene Camarillo, Politics, Policy, & Administration Heather Holmes, DeafBlind Interpreting Chung-fan Ni, Deaf Studies & Professional Studies Jessica Dougherty, Education & Leadership Tandy Tillinghast, English Studies Jaclyn Caires-Hurley, Education & Leadership

Comments from the attendees:

“This workshop is the best!”

“Thank you so much for doing this.”

“I needed this workshop, Routlege is not going to wait!”

“Are you going to offer it again?”

Thank you to all attendees! Your dedication to your scholarship is commendable. All of WOU is better because of it. While the publish-or-perish debate is ongoing, data show that students benefit when professors publish. Publishing fuels teaching.

The SPO will offer it again. Hopefully participants will continue writing regularly, whether alone or in a group. A group workshop helps with accountability, but once people develop a writing schedule, it’s hard to break. The take-away is to carve out some writing time in your schedule and stick to it. Don’t give it up for anything!

What’s next?

Next up on the workshops front, a Spencer Foundation grant writing workshop series in winter term, and an NSF Early CAREER workshop series in spring term.  These series will help participants put together well-written, well-researched, competitive applications to these programs. Spencer funds education research, and NSF Early CAREER funds junior faculty who are pre-tenure and no more than six years after earning their doctorate. Interested? Watch for the announcement and register once you see it.

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