faq

Q: Can I simultaneously be enrolled in the Professional Writing Minor?

A: Yes

Q: Can I simultaneously participate in the McNair Scholars Program?

A: Yes

Q: Can I get Honors credit if I participate in the Raab Writing Fellows Program?

A: Yes. For Honors Students, participation in the Raab Writing Fellows Program counts as an automatic Honors Experience.

Q: As a Raab fellow, can I apply for the URCA grant?

A: Yes.

Q: Are URCA grant recipients required to participate in URCA Activities?

A: Yes. URCA grant recipients are required to participate in one of the following URCA Activities: Poster Colloquium, Digital Colloquium, Conference Panels, and Slam. All activities will take place during the URCA Week (May 2-6). For more information, see https://www.urca.ucsb.edu/urca-week

Q: Do I need to be a recipient of the URCA grant to participate in URCA Activities?

A: No. URCA activities are open to all undergraduate students.

Q: Can I be a Raab Writing Fellow in my sophomore year?

A: Yes. The Raab Writing Fellows Program is open to sophomores, juniors, and seniors.

Q: Can I apply for the Raab Writing Fellows program more than once?

A: Yes.

Q: What is the application process like?

A: Applicants are required to fill out the APPLICATION FORM and submit it as a PDF file to lcoklin@writing.ucsb.edu by Tuesday, June 20, 2023. For more information about the application process, click on the applications tab.

Q: Can I propose a topic for my Raab project?

A: Yes. Students are encouraged to propose their topics for the Raab projects. In the past, students have worked in several different genres, and their projects often fall into one of the following four categories: academic, multimedia, creative, or personal writing. Very often, these projects grow out of a class assignment; other times, they’re interdisciplinary and do not easily fit into the existing course offerings. Students choose topics and projects that are meaningful and important to them. Take a look at the student projects tab to see the range of different projects the past fellows have worked on.

Q: What is the difference between the Professional Writing Minor and the Raab Writing Fellows Program?

A: The Professional Writing Minor is more involved than the Raab Writing Fellows Program. To get into the Professional Writing Minor, students need to take three upper-division writing courses and then apply to the minor in the fall quarter of their senior year. Once accepted, students take two capstone writing courses and do a writing internship. The Raab Writing Fellows Program does not have a course prerequisite and it is open to sophomores, juniors, and seniors, including the students enrolled simultaneously in the Professional Writing Minor. The Raab Writing Fellows Program is an excellent alternative and/or a complement to the Professional Writing Minor. It is also a great option for students who are interested in writing but cannot pursue the Professional Writing Minor for various reasons.

Q: How does the Raab Writing Fellows Program work?

A: The Raab Writing Fellows participate in the work of a year-long seminar (Writing 131ABC). The seminar meets once a week in the fall (2 credits) and every other week in the winter and spring quarters (5 meetings per quarter, each 1 credit). While the students participate in the work of the seminar, they also meet regularly with their writing mentors. Students submit progress reports in December and March and a completed project in June. All the fellows receive a $750 stipend toward their projects and participate in the year-end showcase in May.

Q: Are students responsible for finding a writing mentor?

A: Yes and no. Students often work with a Writing Program faculty with whom they are familiar. If the writing professor is not available to mentor a Raab Writing Fellow, applicants have two options. They can contact other Writing Program faculty to see who is available to mentor them, or they can contact Dr. Ljiljana Coklin, the Raab Writing Fellows Program Director, who can help them find a writing mentor (lcoklin@writing.ucsb.edu).

Q: Can my mentor be outside the Writing Program?

A: NO. Raab writing mentors need to be members of the Writing Program faculty.

Q: Can I have a faculty consultant outside the Writing Program?

A: Yes. If you need expertise in a specific subject area, you may reach out to a faculty member outside the Writing Program who will be only a faculty consultant on your project. Your Raab mentor will be a Writing Program faculty and will guide you on the project while a consultant from a different department may assist you with a subject-specific aspect of your project (e.g. If you’re writing a musical screenplay, you would discuss music-related questions with a Music faculty). Raab fellows are responsible for arranging for outside consultants.