A Period of Rapid Growth

Shortly after Walvoord's WAC workshop at Central College, which we might think of as the first informal WAC program, the first official WAC program was launched at Carleton College, another member of the Associated Colleges of the Midwest. With support from a grant from the Northwestern Foundation, Harriet Sheridan, then dean of the college and past chair of the English department, hosted faculty writing workshops (called "rhetoric seminars") and began training "student rhetoric consultants" (now called "writing fellows") to support the use of writing in classes across the curriculum. Carleton's WAC program has continued to operate, with some changes in its name, since that time.

Other formal WAC programs would follow at institutions such as Beaver College (now Arcadia University), Michigan Technological University, and the University of Michigan.

Video: Carol Rutz discusses how Harriet Sheridan established the first writing fellows program at Carleton College. View the video at https://youtu.be/pp-wcrLG4e0.