Undergraduate Student Writing Partners

Christine Harrington, Associate Professor in the Department of Educational Leadership, New Jersey City University

Student voices are often missing from conversations on student success. At the community college I worked at previously, I hosted a student panel where students shared how their professors encouraged and motivated them to be successful. It was one of my favorite professional development events. Faculty loved it, and a long line formed after the event because faculty wanted to hear more from the student presenters. This is when I decided a book centering on student voices was needed. This led to my co-authoring the book, Keeping Us Engaged: Student Perspectives (and Research-Based Strategies) on What Works and Why, with fifty students.

Let’s Talk Logistics

The first challenge was finding students who wanted to collaborate. Because I wanted to have a diverse array of student voices from a variety of institutions, I knew I would have to lean on my network. I used three approaches to find student contributors. When I reached out, I shared that I wanted to have a diverse group of student contributors in hopes that they would specifically invite students of color, LGBTQIA+ students, students with disabilities, and non-traditional aged students to participate in this project. Here are the recruitment actions I took:

1. First, I reached out to my colleagues on the National Resource Center on the First-Year Experience listserv as I know I can always count on the student champions in this network. This proved to work really well, with many colleagues answering the call to help identify students.

2. I also emailed faculty colleagues, directors of teaching and learning centers, and first-year experience directors whom I met previously at conferences or other professional development events.

3. Finally, I leveraged personal connections. As a parent of college students, I asked friends if their college students would like to contribute.

Students were sent emails with a description of the book project, including a draft table of contents, and a link to a Google form. The Google form asked students to provide their contact information, a brief description of the engagement strategy or strategies they wanted to write about, and which chapter they thought their story or stories best fit. I was not sure how many students would be interested and was beyond thrilled when over fifty students volunteered to be contributors; however, to be honest, I was also a bit overwhelmed by the idea of working with fifty plus co-authors.

I reviewed the student stories, and it became clear that the table of contents had to be amended. For example, several students wanted to discuss creativity with assignments, and that was not in the original table of contents. I created a table mapping out the different student stories that would appear in each chapter. Although it was not important to have the same number of stories per chapter, I looked for consistency and balance throughout the book. In some chapters, I needed additional stories, so I asked students who already agreed to write one story if they also had another story they could share. I also asked students if they had a friend who might be willing to contribute. After revising the table of contents and assigning specific student contributors to each chapter, it was time to begin writing. Here is an overview of the steps involved:

1. Developed the contract with the publishing company and emailed the contract to all students interested in contributing. I established a due date that was one month before the end of the semester. This way, we would be able to exchange drafts before the semester ended.

2. I provided students with a template for their story and an estimated word count so there would be consistency across the stories throughout the book.

3. I sent several reminders about the upcoming deadline and invited students to respond with questions.

4. After receiving their stories, I reviewed them. In some cases, the storie submitted took a different approach, and no longer fit the assigned chapter. Because some students never submitted stories, moving their story to a different chapter was a solution. In a few cases, I had to email the student asking them to revise their story to fit the chapter. In every case, I eventually found a home for each student story. The missing chapters meant I had to find additional stories. I again reached out to the students who already submitted a story to inquire if they would be willing to write another one.

5. Editing the stories was the next step. I was very mindful of ensuring that edits were primarily grammatical and technical so that the student voice was not altered in significant ways. In some cases, students submitted stories that were significantly over the targeted number of words. In these cases, more significant edits were needed.

6. All edited versions were shared with students, asking them to review and ensure that that the edits did not alter their intent or voice. Students were given a few weeks to submit revisions if they desired. Most students approved the edits without making further revisions. However, a few students really engaged in the revision process and their final products reflected their growth as a writer.

7. After identifying and placing all the student stories in the chapter, I started writing the text around the stories. The goal was to introduce the importance of each engagement strategy and review theoretical and research support for the strategy. The student stories then provided a personalized perspective on the value of each strategy.

8. As with all writing, several drafts were needed. At each step of the process, I contacted all student contributors, asking them to review and respond with any edits. I also kept them updated on the publishing timeline which was adjusted due to the pandemic.

I was impressed with the student contributors. They wrote inspiring stories and were professional and timely in responding to the numerous requests for edits. Several students sent personal emails thanking me for the opportunity. They were so excited when it came out in print!

Students are eager to collaborate on writing projects. In addition to having an outlet for their voice, which is so critical, this process also helped them learn about the publishing process. Not surprisingly, many were shocked at how long the process takes. Understanding publication processes can prepare students to publish in the future. For me as a faculty member, it was a rewarding process. I genuinely enjoyed working with so many students, and despite my interactions being primarily or exclusively via email, I felt like I was able to get to know many of them. In some cases, I had phone calls with students who were looking for clarity on the feedback I provided or wanted to learn more about the publishing process. At the end of the project, I sent each student a thank you note and encouraged them to share their contribution via social media and on their resume.

Tips for Faculty:

1. Invite a diverse group of students to partner with you. Specifically invite students who can bring different perspectives to the project. Lean on your network to identify potential student partners.

2. Establish a clear vision for the project and communicate this plan in writing to students. Providing this overview in a Zoom session with an opportunity for students to ask questions can also be a great way to set the stage for this project.

3. Determine deadlines that take into consideration student schedules. It will likely be easier to communicate with students during the academic year but be mindful of their increased workload at the end of a semester.

4. Send periodic reminders to students about initial or revised submissions and be available for questions.

5. Provide students with easy-to-understand feedback and clearly articulate what they need to do during the revision stages and how they should do it.

6. Acknowledge student contributions throughout the process and send a note of appreciation at the end of the project that also informs students how to share their contribution with others on their resume and social media.

Working with student contributors on a writing project requires you to develop a different type of relationship with students. Student contributors should be viewed as valuable partners who likely need guidance and support with the writing and publishing process because this is likely a new experience for them. In some ways, it is like supporting a colleague who is new to academia. Both have much to add, but may not be familiar with what to expect when publishing their work. They may also need to be reminded of their value and talents, as self-efficacy is typically lower for tasks they have not yet done successfully. Viewing students as partners who simply need some additional support and guidance and treating them as such can build their confidence and writing skills and make for a rewarding experience for all.

CONTACT

Christine Harrington: charrington1@njcu.edu