STLHE 2016 SAPES

Faculty—and increasingly, graduate students—work under intense pressure to publish. For faculty, scholarly productivity is the single best predictor of salaries regardless of institution type (Fairweather, 2005). Graduate students are also expected to produce large numbers of high-quality manuscripts (Aitchison, 2009). Nonetheless, scholarly productivity is elusive for many. Among faculty at four-year institutions, 28 percent of professors have not published a manuscript in the last two years (Eagan et al., 2014, p. 30). Low publication rates are also common for graduate students (Kamler, 2008) who have little knowledge about the process of academic writing and limited support for it (Lee & Aitchison, 2011; Humphrey & Simpson, 2012). Fortunately, educational developers can help without a big budget, a lot of time, or specially trained staff. Participants will hear an overview of three types of writing programs that double scholarly productivity: workshops, support groups and coaches. A review of studies where pre-post tests were available showed that each of these interventions improved publication rates at least two-fold (McGrail, Rickard, & Jones, 2006). Participants will also learn about a hybrid program that combines a four-hour workshop with writing support groups and some writing coaching. Preliminary results suggests that this particular program triples scholarly productivity and produces writing that is clearer, better organized, and more compelling (Gray, Madson and Jackson in progress). From the various models presented, participants will combine elements to propose a program to host on their home campuses and field questions about their proposal.