In the past you may have recommended the Writing Center to your students or had us visit your class, but did you know that we also offer support for your own writing projects? At the Writing Center, we believe every writer needs a reader and, as a member of our UNL community, you get access to these services for free!
No one needs to write alone, and that includes faculty members: we have both graduate and undergraduate consultants who can provide concrete support and encouragement throughout the writing process. Our graduate consultants are engaged in writing extended writing projects themselves, and our undergraduate consultants can offer authentic feedback from a student perspective.
Writing Center Accountability Appointments
Accountability appointments have been a popular addition to the Writing Center. Because faculty writers often manage a variety of personal and professional responsibilities, it can be hard to find a space and a set amount of time to focus on writing. While goal setting methods such as tasks and word counts can be useful, there is a lot of proven success that comes from writing for a certain amount of time each day (e.g., Writing Your Thesis in Fifteen Minutes a Day). These appointments do not require a draft to be written ahead of time. Rather, it is a space where a consultant works in solidarity with you on their own writing with the option to set goals and have conversations during the appointment should you desire.
These appointments are offered in 25 and 50-minute blocks and can be scheduled on a repeating weekly basis with the same consultant. For more information on the benefits of accountability appointments, visit our Accountability Appointments page.
Additional Services For Faculty
Here are some further ways we have helped faculty writers:
- Working on drafts of book chapters and journal articles. This includes both global (content and organization) and surface level (grammar and style) concerns, as well as brainstorming ideas if you’re just starting the project.
- Providing feedback on conference posters and presentations. Practice answering questions and explaining your research to a small audience to help prepare you for the larger conference experience.
- Hosting writing events such as the winter break Write-A-Thon, the May writing retreat, and summer writing groups to help stay motivated and productive during academic breaks. Enjoy food, community building, and workshops that focus on maintaining the human component of writing in an increasingly digital world!
- Reviewing drafts of course syllabi, assignment sheets, and rubrics. What better way to make sure you’re reaching a student audience than having a student reader? Bring in either new or existing course documents you'd like to revise!
Interested in Making an Appointment?
Head over to https://unl.mywconline.com/ to create an account using your UNL credentials and sign up using our online scheduler!
Further Resources
UNL Faculty Writing Groups Interest Survey: We're currently working with UNL Faculty Success to gauge interest in forming faculty writing groups during the Fall 2025 semester. If you're interested in this opportunity, please fill out the survey!
UNL's New Faculty Resources: A general list of helpful tools and resources provided by the Office of the Executive Vice Chancellor and UNL Faculty Success.
The NCFDD 14-Day Writing Challenge: An additional program that can help organize and motivate you to approach your writing goals.