4-VA was designed to encourage partnerships and resource sharing to advance higher education in Virginia. Bringing together researchers and thought leaders from around the commonwealth to work in concert has been key to the success of the program since its launch in 2010.
One area of higher education which has lacked comprehensive study is the pedagogy of public writing. Public writing is generally defined as writing that is intended for a general audience with the goal of informing, persuading, or creating change. While courses in this focus have increased in number and scope, they have received relatively little support and scaffolding. Consequently, when Michelle LaFrance’s proposal The Virginia Community and Public Writing Collaborative was received by 4-VA@Mason, it won approval. LaFrance, who focuses on Writing and Rhetoric in George Mason’s English Department, saw the need to connect faculty and students in this growing educational community to pool knowledge and address opportunities for professional development and student success.

LaFrance explains, “Classes in community literacy, community writing, and public writing have all seen an emergence amongst Virginia-based writing studies researchers in the last five years.” However, LaFrance recognized that few formalized lines of communication existed between the faculty who design, develop, and carry out research and deliver curricula at different institutions. Working in silos, she reasoned, was no way to advance the implementation of successful writing programs at this level.
Thanks to 4-VA, LaFrance brought together Sweta Baniya and Sherri Craig at VT, Jen Almjeld at JMU, David Coogan at VCU; and Steve Parks and Kate Stevenson at UVA to begin the work of collecting information and developing relationships. LaFrance then hired Emily Sok, a PhD student in Mason’s Writing and Rhetoric department, to coordinate the project and assist with the planning of the collaborative’s efforts and the creation of the website.
LaFrance also involved four Mason PhD candidates in Writing and Rhetoric as volunteers in the program: Tyler Martinez, Kelby Martinez, Kerry Smith, and Rosemary Pinney.
Fast forward one year from the grant award… Today, a variety of strategic outreach and communication efforts have come to fruition… The Virginia Community and Public Writing Collaborative has:
- Constructed an archive of shared online resources,
- Built a website (https://vacommunitywriting.org/) to foster the growing community,
- Established a conversation to implement both formal and informal mentoring mechanisms,
- Developed stronger relationships with off-campus communities and stakeholders and,
- Created an email list of Virginia faculty and graduate students to carry on collaborative work.
The researchers began by looking closer at the widespread and wide-ranging growth of public writing programs in the state: At George Mason, ENGH 302: Advanced Composition, a required course for all undergraduate majors, includes a public writing assignment. Within VT’s Center for Rhetoric in Society, a community and corporate writing project explored how to better serve local nonprofits via workshops about writing email, mission statements, and other storytelling. At JMU, WRTG 486: Writing in the Community is offered, as well as WRTG 484: Writing for Nonprofits, which teaches writing as a tool for socio-political engagement in local communities. In doing so, many JMU faculty members have developed partnerships with local public schools, hospitals, refugee resettlement agencies, public history programs, and other community agencies. At UVA, faculty and students created a “Community Writing Collective,” that includes partnerships with local nonprofit and civic organizations and seeks to make visible opportunities in teaching, studying, and understanding writing in community contexts.
The team facilitated several video-based meetings to discuss the shared goals, needs, and interests of those carrying out community writing and community literacy research and curriculum development in Virginia. These meetings allowed members of the collaborative to discuss shared research interests, identify additional funding sources, highlight ongoing research undertakings, and consider the mentoring needs of graduate students. Additionally, they reviewed potential opportunities for the team at the national Conference on Community Writing — which nine of the team members subsequently attended.
Next, they funded a speaker series for faculty and graduate students which featured scholars of community writing including Aja Martinez, Donnie Johnson Sackey, Ada Hubrig, and Jo Hsu.
The work continues. Recently, the team hosted Annabel Park, a nationally recognized community organizer, documentary filmmaker, and founder of The Coffee Party, as well as author Ryan Skinell.
Although much has already been accomplished, LaFrance sees an expanded future for the work. She envisions building on the groundswell of interest by establishing a research and pedagogical collaborative of faculty and graduate students from public universities and faculty at two-year colleges in Virginia, targeting emerging issues for the writing and rhetoric program.
“It was truly terrific to support graduate students and faculty with this grant—these achievements are important and energizing, as well as a key part of professional development,” says LaFrance. “Through this, we have shared information about the projects, partnerships, campus initiatives, and strategies for community engagement that have been our most successful undertakings within the state.”