Catherine Bowlin, assistant teaching professor in English, presented “A Liberating Way to Take a Course: Linguistically Just, Collaborative Feedback and Assessment in First-Year Writing,” a pedagogical intervention she began piloting in her Fall 2025 courses (ENG 1100 and COR 1100). This question-based feedback model requires students to submit specific questions about their drafts before receiving peer or instructor feedback.

This approach is part of Bowlin’s broader commitment to linguistically just assessment practices that center student agency and challenge traditional grading structures that often reinforce linguistic hierarchies. Bowlin shared preliminary findings from three courses and received valuable feedback from scholars in writing studies. Early data suggests that structuring feedback around student-generated questions can increase students’ confidence, sense of ownership over their writing, and engagement with the revision process.

Paula Patch, associate teaching professor in English and associate director of the Common Reading and First-Year Foundations in the Elon Core Curriculum, participated in a roundtable discussion on career options after a faculty member has served as a Writing Program Administrator. Titled “‘Learning on the Bones’: Life After Writing Program Administration,” the roundtable featured five mid- to late-career faculty who spoke about their experiences as administrators, what they decided to do next in their careers, and advice they have for others. Patch spoke about the unique opportunities and sense of belonging that program and campus leadership offers for non-tenure track faculty.  The presenters also debuted a call for proposals for an edited collection on the same topic. Patch was the Coordinator of the College Writing Program at Elon from 2012 to 2019.

Associate Professors of English Heather Lindenman, first-year Writing coordinator, and Julia Bleakney, director of The Writing Center, and Associate Teaching Professor Greg Hlavaty presented the findings of a Spring 2025 study that piloted two versions of AI-integrated first-year writing courses (ENG 1100). This presentation, “Navigating Control and Trust: A Study of Two Pedagogical Approaches to Teaching First-Year Writing with Generative AI,” detailed two pedagogical models for engaging AI in the FYW classroom; shared an overview of the study’s findings from both survey and focus group data; and discussed pedagogical and curricular interventions being currently piloted in Elon’s first-year writing courses as a result of this study’s findings and implications.

Elon and ENG1100 have been leaders in research surrounding generative AI and writing pedagogy. These presentations contributed to conversations among Writing Studies scholars regarding pedagogical adaptations to support student and faculty engagement.

Developing AI assignment policies & AI-enhanced writing assignments
Monday, Sept. 9 & Tuesday, Sept. 17, 12:30 p.m. to 1:40 p.m.
113 Belk Library & 205 Belk Library

Both workshops (the same workshop held twice) will discuss what is commonly included in AI syllabi and assignment policies, share some examples, and review ways to integrate AI into writing assignments. Time will be reserved for participants to begin writing or revising their own AI policies and writing assignments, with the opportunity to share in small groups. Bring a laptop, as this will be a working session. Lunch will be served, so please

AI prompt engineering as a writing strategy
Monday, Oct. 21, 12:30 p.m. to 1:40 p.m.
205 Belk Library
Led by Tim Peeples and Paula Rosinski

Prompt engineering is a new kind of writing strategy emerging in this age of generative AI. Before this session, participants will be asked to complete a LinkedIn Learning video tutorial and a set of simple step-by-step prompt engineering activities. All faculty and staff have access to LinkedIn Learning, and detailed directions will be provided. The session will focus on experiences with these tutorials, along with activities that explore how prompt engineering could be integrated into professional lives and writing pedagogies. Lunch will be served, so please 

Doing teaching-related scholarship? We have grants for that!
Tuesday, Nov. 5, 12:15 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Belk Pavilion 208

Did you know there are lots of funding opportunities on campus to support your scholarly teaching and scholarship of teaching and learning? Join us to hear from colleagues who have utilized funding from WAU, the Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning (CATL) and the Center for Research on Global Engagement (CRGE) to explore teaching-related scholarship. Faculty panelists will share their work and how their teaching curiosities formed into projects. Participants will then have time to reflect on potential grant ideas based on their teaching. Panelists include Aaron Trocki (math), Elizabeth von Briesen (computer science), Dan Burns (English), Kai Swanson (cinema and television arts), and Nermin Vehabovic (education). The directors of WAU, CATL and CRGE will explain their respective grants, expectations and deadlines. Lunch will be served, so please .

AI & writing book club #1: Monday, Oct. 7, 4:20 p.m. to 5:20 p.m.
AI & writing book club #2: Wednesday, Nov. 6, 4:20 p.m. to 5:20 p.m.
AI & writing book club #3: Monday, Nov. 18, 4:30 p.m. to 5:20 p.m.
113 Belk Library

These three book club events will discuss Sidney Dobrin’s , an accessible introduction to what generative AI is, how it may be used in academic, professional, civic and personal writing and the ethical and social implications of using AI to write.

Book Club #1 will focus on “Part 1: Understanding Generative AI’; Book Club #2 will focus on “Part 2: Opportunities & Applications,” and in Book Club #3, participants will discuss ways they might use AI in their writing, when teaching writing and for engaged learning. Participants are encouraged to attend all three sessions, although this is not required. Colleagues from Eastern Michigan University will join online for the Book Club #3 discussion. After registering, participants will be notified when they can pick up the book in the Center for Writing Excellence. Snacks will be served, so please 

Informal & reflective writing-to-learn
Monday, Nov. 12, 12:30 p.m. to 1:40 p.m.
113 Belk Library

This session will explore ways to use informal and reflective writing in any discipline or context to help students learn content and engage in metacognitive thinking. Not only do these examples of writing-to-learn deepen student thinking, but they also highlight the importance of engaging in metacognitive talk about writing, something which has always been important to developing strong writers but may be of special interest to teaching in the age of generative AI. Lunch will be served, so please .

Chapter authors include 51±ŹÁÏÍű faculty members Li Li, Heather Lindenman, Travis Maynard and Amanda Sturgill.

“Writing Beyond the University” is part of CEL’s and can be for free. The collection introduces higher education faculty, staff and administrators to research on how all members of a campus community can prepare learners to be effective writers beyond the university, in personal, professional, and civic contexts.

“Writing Beyond the University” examines the importance of writing in higher education for lifelong and lifewide learning. The book shares research on writing in a variety of co-curricular spaces, such as student life, employment, career services, and internships. This edited collection bridges writing across courses, disciplines, and professions using research from multi-institutional studies conducted by participants in the 2019-2021 .

Professor of Student Engagement in Higher Education, Institute for Academic Development at the University of Edinburgh Catherine Bovill said, “Expanding on previous writing transfer research, this important new book demonstrates the power of connecting writing that takes place inside and outside the university. The editors and authors provide us with diverse research, experience, and insights from around the world to help us to envisage possible and desirable writing practices.

“We are encouraged to value the writing students do outside the university, which can be built upon to inform their university writing. Importantly, this book also provides evidence and impetus for university colleagues to ensure that we embed the best writing approaches and resources to enable students to maximize the benefits of writerly practices for their future lives and careers,” Bovill added.

The book is divided into three sections. The first section, “Adaptability and Learning to Write as a Lifelong Process,” operates as an introduction to the experiences that students will likely go through in relation to writing during and after graduation. These first three chapters examine how writers draw on and adapt what they have already learned in order to apply it in different ways.

Section two, “Supporting the Writing and Writing Experiences of Lifelong Learners,” builds on the information from section one and applies it to writing across a variety of lifestyles and professions. This section includes seven chapters that outline ways writers adapt their writing strategies for new contexts.

The third section, “Facilitating Writers’ Ongoing Self Agency and Networked Learning,” closes out the book with take-aways that provide a framework for assignments that prepare students for the versatility of writing across a lifetime. The content in these last three chapters explores writers’ ongoing self-agency as they take what they learned from college into the next stage of their lives.

Readers can access for free.

The Center for Engaged Learning Open Access Book Series features both authored books and edited collections that contain concise peer-reviewed information on research-informed learning practices. The series offers an alternative publishing option for high-quality engaged learning books that align with the Center’s mission, goals, and initiatives.

A Professional Writing and Rhetoric and Strategic Communications double-major and a writing consultant in Elon’s Writing Center, in the Center for Writing Excellence, Emily focused her research of a section of data from a larger research project. This larger project, based on survey responses from approximately 130 Elon students and alumni, explored how campus-originated writing experiences prepare students for writing tasks, especially in the workplace. These campus writing experiences include writing courses, writing tasks for campus organizations, work-integrated learning (such as internships), and on-campus employment (such as Writing Center consulting). Findings from this larger study, which Emily conducted in collaboration with Julia Bleakney, Li Li, Jessie Moore, and Paula Rosinski, will be published this fall in .

For her own research, working with research mentor Julia Bleakney, Emily focused on the survey responses from participants who worked as undergraduate Writing Center consultants while at Elon. She analyzed responses to questions such as their most frequently composed types of writing, their writing process, and their most valued types of writing. In alumni’s references to the Writing Center in open-ended survey questions, Emily noted how alumni used particular Writing Center consulting techniques (such as reading aloud or explaining the writing process to others) in their workplace writing. Emily found that in their workplace writing, Writing Center alumni used techniques they learned directly in the Writing Center, such as collaboration and awareness of the revision process, and other techniques they learned through the intersection of their Writing Center work with other university writing experiences.

Writing Center consultants know that their Writing Center experience helps them develop their writing process, shapes how they perceive and value writing, and prepares them for the workplace interactions around writing; the is an important replicated study that confirms this value. Emily’s research helps show how writing center work combines with other university writing experiences to benefit consultants in the long-term.

Fast forward to fall 2018, when the Koenigsberger Learning Center opened. The 11,000-square-foot, two-story addition on the east side of Belk Library reimagined how college students study, receive tutoring, academic advising or specialized services.

The visionary facility was made possible thanks to a $5 million gift from Robert and Dilek Koenigsberger P’17, of Greenwich, Connecticut, as part of the Elon LEADS Campaign. Their gift supported both the construction of the new center and also established an endowment that will fund annual operations of the center, including new staff positions and technology resources.

Now fast forward to fall 2019, when the benefits of the new learning commons became readily apparent. The Koenigsberger Learning Center was in use 24 hours a day, five days a week when classes were in session, said Becky Olive-Taylor, the founding director of the center and an important member of the team that planned and nurtured the learning commons atmosphere. Olive-Taylor, who retired at the end of the 2019-2020 academic year, said she often arrived at the KLC in the morning to find rearranged and recently vacated chairs and tables throughout the facility. Nearby movable whiteboards still displayed mathematical equations or other diagrams from a night of intense studies.

“Students not only found the space, they’re using the tools we have available,” Olive-Taylor observed at the time. “I am amazed at how fast the students just claimed it and made it theirs.”

Developing Elon’s iconic campus with outstanding facilities like Koenigsberger Learning Center is one of the priorities of the $250 million Elon LEADS Campaign. To date, more than 335,000 square feet of new construction has been added to the campus thanks to generous and dedicated Elon LEADS donors like the Koenigsbergers.

“This magnificent gift from the Koenigsberger family has provided a visionary facility that is preparing students for success on campus and in their careers,” said Elon President Connie Ledoux Book. “Watching the students embrace the Koenigsberger Learning Center as their go-to study and academic support space is inspirational.”

The KLC was designed with student access, comfort and inclusion in mind. It is connected to Belk Library by a large hallway and an engagement space, creating a dynamic and easily accessible learning commons. Students may enter through the KLC doorway facing Inman Admissions Welcome Center or via the main library entrance. The facility houses Academic Advising and Disabilities Resources, as well as a now full-time Learning Assistance program that is certified through the prestigious and internationally recognized College Reading and Learning Association. Students can use the center to receive help from an academic adviser, writing assistance, individual tutoring from student peers or aid through assistive technology developed to help students with a learning disability. Students also gather in the KLC to find private study spaces or collaborative engagement sites, all in a comfortable, spacious and bright environment.

Robert Koenigsberger praised the vision behind the facility during his remarks at the center’s dedication in fall 2018.

“This building is indeed spectacular,” he said. “However, most inspiring of all is Elon’s courage and wisdom to place the KLC in the heart of campus, attached to Belk Library. This permits convenient, seamless access to all these essential programs.”

A site for success

Early on, Ruelle envisioned a facility that would house resources to help every student succeed. Previously, peer tutoring, Teaching and Learning Technologies and the Center for Writing Excellence were housed in Belk Library, while disabilities resources and academic advising were located across the street in Duke Building. The KLC now brings together all three of those important resources under one roof, plus spaces for individual studies or group work. For students, the transition was seamless.

“The students know this is the place they go to get things done,” Ruelle said. “They know this is where they come to connect with experts and do their academic work.”

Hadley Anderson ’20, from St. Louis, earned a degree in Computer Science with minors in Business Administration and Communications. Before the COVID-19 pandemic struck last March, she spent a lot of time in Koenigsberger Learning Center, calling it her “favorite place to study.” The variety of study spaces is a major draw for students.

“I love how open it is. There’s a lot of space for collaboration,” said Anderson, who worked as a peer tutor during her junior and senior years. “All the furniture is movable. It’s definitely a creative space. When there are midterms or finals, you have to get there at the crack of dawn if you want to get a space, which is a good thing. It means the students are utilizing the space and it’s appreciated.”

Pivoting during a pandemic

The pandemic provided a new challenge for the staff in the Koenigsberger Learning Center. Last March, when students were sent home, classes moved online. Academic support did as well. Tutoring and other services were handled by virtual systems such as WebEx or Zoom.

Anne Bryan took over as executive director of the KLC last June following Olive-Taylor’s retirement. Starting a new job during a global pandemic provided a few obstacles, but the collaborative atmosphere fostered by the learning commons concept helped ease the historic transition.

“Our staff worked the entire pandemic, offering services safely in person, through email or Zoom calls. We haven’t stopped supporting students because of the pandemic. We’re just serving them in a different way,” said Bryan, who came to Elon from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.

The additional study space the KLC provides is critical during the pandemic when only 50 percent of the building can be occupied at one time. For example, group study rooms are now individual study rooms. And having all services in one place allows for staff to work together to meet the demands of students.

“We’re a very collaborative team,” Bryan said. “We might have a student in our caseload who uses disabilities resources but is also receiving peer tutoring. It allows us to be able to triangulate those services. We can work together to see how we can support that student best.”

Ruelle said the number of visitors to Belk Library and KLC is down, but that’s what’s needed while physical distancing advisories and mask mandates are in place. She is proud of how well students have adapted.

“Normally we would say, ‘rearrange the furniture at will.’ But we aren’t allowing people to rearrange the furniture now. We would normally say, ‘sit down next to me and let’s do this together.’ Now we look at how we can make connections through screens,” Ruelle said. “But we’re still us, we’re still very much who we are, and we’re really proud of that.”

Bryan is looking forward to welcoming more students back to the Koenigsberger Learning Center when it is safe, so it can reach its full potential.

“With Elon being a highly residential campus that prides itself on being high touch, we’re really looking forward to interaction with students. We get a better sense of how they’re handling challenges when we can see and be with them in the moment,” Bryan said. “It’s a beautiful building and a great place to work. I’m delighted to be here.”

The Koenigsbergers are parents of Amber Koenigsberger ’17. They have previously supported scholarship funding at Elon. Robert Koenigsberger is founder, CIO and managing partner of Gramercy Funds Management.

51±ŹÁÏÍű the Elon LEADS Campaign

With a $250 million goal, Elon LEADS is the largest fundraising campaign in the university’s history and will support four main funding priorities: scholarships for graduates the world needs, increase access to engaged learning opportunities such as study abroad, research and service learning, support for faculty and staff mentors who matter and Elon’s iconic campus. As of Jan. 11, donors have contributed $204 million toward the goal.

Every gift to the university—including annual, endowment, capital, estate and other planned gifts—for any designation counts as a gift to the campaign, which will support students and strengthen Elon for generations to come. To learn more about how you can make an impact, visit www.elonleads.com.

Within the Center for Writing Excellence, Elon’s Writing Center and Writing Across the University have adapted to these uncertain times by continuing to offer in-person resources while developing new virtual services for students, faculty and staff.

“We think writing is so central to what we do at the university, both academically but also personally and professionally,” said Paula Rosinski, director of Writing Across the University and professor of English. “Language and writing are primary ways a lot of us live our lives, and so we think it’s really important for us to keep that continuity.”

A new Writing Across the University initiative offers faculty the opportunity to receive feedback on writing assignments and supporting materials they design for their classes. Rosinski will personally answer specific questions about a writing assignment or a faculty member’s evaluation criteria, rubrics or peer-response handouts to help craft materials that achieve course goals and are clear and engaging for students, whether they are learning face to face or virtually.

“Faculty are teaching content through writing, but they’re also teaching writing,” Rosinski said. “The idea was to quickly get faculty feedback that would help them ensure that they’re developing assignments that can be productive for students in either context.”

The program also offers faculty anonymous feedback on their assignments from two experienced Writing Center student consultants, who will offer insight into how students are likely to understand, respond to, and approach the assignment.

Writing Across the University also offers several virtual Writing Boot Camps for faculty and staff to devote regular, uninterrupted time to any personal or professional writing. The Boot Camps, hosted twice a month on Saturdays, have traditionally taken place in person but have transitioned online this semester as a result of COVID-19 safety measures.

The remaining Writing Boot Camps for the fall 2020 semester are scheduled for , and , from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The Writing Center has continued to offer one-to-one and group consultations by approximately 40 trained student consultants. In addition to the typical face-to-face consultations, students now have the option of having virtual writing consultations throughout the semester.

“It’s been really important for students to have access to that sort of near-peer relationship both in person and virtually, especially when it comes to writing as it’s something students can be anxious or unsure about,” said Julia Bleakney, director of the Writing Center and assistant professor of English.

The Writing Center is also hosting a number of virtual workshops, including , a weekly drop-in writing session on Monday evenings open to all students at any time, and the following upcoming workshops:

• Nov. 23:
• Dec. 1:

See the full list of Writing Center workshops here, including workshops offered in partnership with Learning Assistance.

Bleakney says these virtual sessions allow students to stay connected while continuing to hone their writing skills with the support of their peers.

“We want to try to build community since we don’t have the same kind of community in person,” Bleakney said. “We’re trying to find other ways to do it.”

The Center for Writing Excellence is prominently located on the first floor of Belk Library. The Center – comprising The Writing Center and Writing Across the University – is both a physical hub and a symbol of 51±ŹÁÏÍű’s commitment to the centrality of writing to academic, professional and civic success.

Learn more about the Center for Writing Excellence and all of its offerings here.

The group is led by three seminar leaders from Elon — Julia Bleakney, director of the Center for Writing Excellence and assistant professor of English, Paula Rosinski, director of Writing Across the University and professor of English, and Jessie Moore director of the Center for Engaged Learning and professor of English. Of the 33 participants, 10 countries are represented in 10 time zones. Heather Lindenman,  assistant professor of English, and Amanda Sturgill, associate professor of journalism, are also representing Elon.

Other participants represent Allegheny College, Auburn University at Montgomery, Baylor University, Boise State University, Bowling Green State University, Drake University Law School, Eastern Michigan University, Florida State University, Georgetown University, Georgia State University, Hofstra University, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Justus Liebig University Giessen (Germany), Marquette University, Maynooth University (Ireland), Michigan State University, Singapore Institute of Technology (Singapore), Sohar University (Oman), Strathmore University (Kenya), University of Denver, University of Edinburgh (Scotland), University of Limerick (Ireland), University of Maine, University of Michigan, University of North Georgia, University of Surrey (England), University of Wollongong (Australia), VSB-Technical University of Ostrava (Czech Republic), and William Paterson University of New Jersey.

During the week-long meeting, groups of participants are working in multi-institutional teams to analyze data collected during their first year of research. They also continue to plan for a second year of data collection. Bleakney, Rosinski and Moore are navigating the setting change by using a variety of online platforms while maintaining a schedule attentive to different time zones from the U.S. pacific coast to eastern Australia. The seminar leaders are keeping participants working and engaged by providing asynchronous activities and deadlines, as well as synchronous meetings. For example, the seminar leaders use Microsoft Teams to communicate with all six research teams, posting writing prompts, keeping deadlines and sending reminders, and providing feedback to each team along the way.

Looking forward to the third summer, the will return to campus for a week-long meeting adjacent to the 2021 Conference on Engaged Learning. A call for proposals for the conference to be held July 11-13, 2021, will be available in August.

The hosts multi-institutional research and practice-based initiatives, conferences, and seminars. Visit for resources for faculty and faculty developers on high-impact practices for engaged learning. To learn more about CEL’s research seminars, contact CEL Director Jessie L. Moore at jmoore28@elon.edu.

By offering online appointments, The Writing Center continues to support collaborative peer learning for students and creates opportunities for them to connect virtually with fellow students.

Making appointments will be familiar to those who have already used The Writing Center and is an easy process for those who are just starting.

By visiting , students make an online appointment no matter where they are. This starts the process of being able to share their writing and meet with a writing consultant using the video, audio or text chat functions.

To spread the word and help students navigate the new system, the center has created an infographic with a quick overview of what to expect from an online appointment.

More detailed instructions on how to use the online interface are available on the Center for Writing Excellence website at .

In addition to online appointments, the CWE is increasing its social media presence to help build community among Elon students.

For instance, students can engage with the center on Instagram (@Elonwritingcenter) through a weekly writing prompt. Called “Take 5 Tuesdays,” the initiative was created by Writing Center consultant Mary Emmerling.

For more information about The Writing Center online, email Julia Bleakney, director of The Writing Center, at jbleakney@elon.edu.

Programs offered to faculty and staff through Writing Across the University, such as faculty and staff boot camps and writing groups as well as individual consultations, are also online. For full details, visit The Writing Center’s website at or email Paula Rosinski, director of Writing Across the University, at prosinski@elon.edu.

Using Joan Lippincott’s deep collaboration model, the panel offered lessons learned about planning, logistics, and troubleshooting along with strategies to help staff build successful partnerships with new building colleagues.

This Abstract Writing workshop is co-sponsored with URP and is aimed to support the development of research proposal abstracts. Led by Julia Bleakney, director of the Writing Center, and a Writing Center consultant.

Offered on Feb. 27 from 4:15-5:15 p.m. in Belk Library Room 113.

*This workshop is open to all 51±ŹÁÏÍű students working on a research abstract for a grant, fellowship or conference proposal.