Karen Uehling, emeritus professor of English, recently published “Faculty Development and a Graduate Course for Pre-Service and In-Service Faculty: Finding and Enacting a Professional Identity in Basic Writing” in the Journal of Basic Writing. Her essay was part of a special issue on graduate education released in March.
This essay considers the critical need for pre-service and in-service basic writing faculty to define and enact a professional identity, specifically within the context of faculty development and graduate course settings. Uehling describes her innovative graduate course in teaching beginning writing offered primarily online with four in-person weekend workshops. Uehling also explores the issue of faculty development generally for basic writing professionals who are often working as contingent faculty and asks how a professional identity can be developed given these realities.
In addition, Uehling attended the National Council of Teachers of English Advocacy and Leadership Summit in Washington, D.C., April 8-9. She not only gained information on advocacy, but also had the opportunity to meet with the offices of Idaho Senators Michael Crapo and James Risch and Representative Mike Simpson. There, she spoke in support of policy recommendations endorsed by the council especially the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act, and particularly Title IV, which improves access to postsecondary education for “at-risk” students.