Dr. Keri Franklin’s research is in the field of writing, literacy, and teacher development. Currently, she is in the second year of a grant-funded quasi-experimental study of the impact of writing professional development on high school writing. She is the founding director of the Ozarks Writing Project, a site of the National Writing Project, and director of the English Education program (9-12). In the past, she has held writing retreats for K-University teachers.
Dr. Franklin looks forward to monthly writing retreats for Missouri State faculty and finding ways to support writing on campus. As Provost Fellow for Writing, Dr. Franklin will focus on four areas:
- Support conversations about writing on campus.
- Focus on helping writing happen on campus for faculty and students across all disciplines.
- Bring together writing resources and faculty across all departments on campus.
- Highlight writing of faculty and students already occurring on campus.
Dr. Franklin states: “As faculty, we all must write, and we want to improve our writing as well as that of our students. I’m looking forward to developing a dialogue about writing in all academic disciplines, and I’m excited for the chance to look at successful writing practices used at our university and other universities.”
Faculty Writing Retreat
The Office of the Provost and the Office of Student Success and Public Affairs recognizes the importance of providing a time and space for faculty scholarship by sponsoring monthly faculty writing retreats. These monthly writing retreats provide faculty with the following:
- Focused time to write without interruption.
- Support from faculty across disciplines at Missouri State.
- A monthly scheduled opportunity to write for a day.
- New and veteran faculty can find a supportive ally to encourage and assist with writing, editing, and publishing.
Logistics
The retreats are open to all faculty and instructors at Missouri State University and are held from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm in the Turner Hospitality Room in the Alumni Center. Parking is available on the third floor of the Alumni Center parking garage. Faculty may sign up for a morning, afternoon, or all-day session through the My Learning Community. A light breakfast, lunch, and an afternoon snack are provided.
The monthly retreat supports the writing and research demands of faculty at Missouri State. In the 2011-2012 academic year, the Provost’s Office hosted nine faculty writing retreats over 10 days. A survey was sent to 33 attendees who participated to varying degrees during the year. Instructors (5.6%), assistant professors (38.9%), associate professors (50%), and professors (5.6%) replied to the survey at a 61% return rate.
- 52% of faculty reported that the dedicated and flexible writing time increased submissions for publication compared to previous semesters.
- 78.9% reported increased research writing.
- 100% reported they would attend future writing retreats
- 79% reported that writing retreats helped them set better writing goals.
- 73.7% report that the writing retreats have increased productivity in the area of scholarly writing.
For more information, email Dr. Franklin.
Information provided by Dr. Franklin.