Detailed Description: Swarthmore College's Writing Associates Program

http://writing.swarthmore.edu

The Course Writing Associates (WA) Program aims to engage students in the writing process across the curriculum. This goal is largely accomplished through an extensive network of WAs, who are assigned to assist specific classes in writing. Trained by the program director, the WAs work with fellow students during all stages of the writing process: forming an argument, developing rough drafts, and refining a final draft.Typically WAs engage in a series of individual conferences with students, but they have also served as facilitators of larger peer-review sessions and workshops.In both capacities, WAs enable students to improve their writing within a particular discipline and to hone their prose in general.

Faculty request use of a WA for their course. WAs are placed throughout the curriculum, ranging from an introductory biology course to an advanced spanish seminar.Approximately 700 students, or half of the student population, were estimated to have worked with a WA each semester last year.