At the Office for Faculty Excellence, we like to bring people together for motivation, accountability, and community. Many people just prefer to write together, even if it’s silently on Zoom. We offer research and writing groups in several different formats, so every researcher can find a group that fits their needs best.
Check our OFE Scholarship calendar on the OFE Events page to see when writing groups are offered. If you have questions, please send an email to faculty@montclair.edu
1. Research & Writing Intensives
During “breaks” — summer, winter, spring — we offer intensives that have a few defined tasks to support planning, intention-building, and accountability and lots of time for “Zoom” or in-library writing together.
2. Research and Writing Groups
Throughout the year, we offer weekly research and writing accountability groups for faculty and instructors of all ranks who wish to work on a research or writing project. We meet on the hour to say hello and set goals, and then write quietly together via Zoom with a break midway through and time to celebrate work done at the end. Breakout rooms are available to brainstorm ideas.
- Spring 2024 schedule: Wednesdays, 10-noon
3. Research Bootcamp pop-ups
In these 3-hour Zoom sessions, researchers are invited to come together to work on their solo scholarly projects. The idea is that many researchers have trouble prioritizing and making time for research. For many, teaching comes first too much of the time, and scholarly goals get short-shrift. By carving out time, and committing to it, researchers who struggle for time, make time. We come together, close email and other distractions, and work silently, the camera on or off. During the 3-hour period, the facilitator will pull people together 3 or 4 times, with brief focusing activities. Faculty are welcome to commit to the full 3 hours or whatever works.
- Offered on an ad-hoc basis.
4. Writing Circles
In writing circles, groups of faculty working in broadly related areas come together monthly to commit and report on research progress and to offer feedback to one or two faculty members’ research-in-progress. During these 75-minute sessions, the first 15 minutes are reserved for each individual to share his or her progress toward an identified goal and commit to a new or revised goal. The rest of the 60-minute period is for responding to research-in-progress. Faculty who join the writing circle commit to working on their own writing, sharing their research-in-progress at least once a year, and reading one or two draft articles or reports each month. Faculty are also expected to commit to attending most of the sessions.
Writing Group Successes
A list of publications, works-in-progress, and other successes by our recent writing group participants.
Last Modified: Wednesday, December 20, 2023 3:02 pm
EJI