Professor Alexis Pegram-Piper, the assistant professor of composition, proudly serves as Lakeland University’s writing coach coordinator, composition coordinator as well as the interdisciplinary studies director. During her time as the writing coach coordinator, she has improved the program in various ways. But most prominently, Piper has created a sense of community between the writing coaches and herself.
Before she arrived at Lakeland University, Piper had completed her bachelor’s degree at Marian University and her master’s degree at the University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh. For her master’s thesis, Piper focused on writing a collection of short stories, showcasing her creative side of writing.
After finishing her master’s degree, Piper continued her education at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, where she began working on her Ph.D. Her scholarly and research writing skills were heavily displayed in her dissertation, which delved into indigenous conceptions of the environment and how the perception of these had changed in literature over time. As a result, Piper had completed her educational journey and received her doctorate in English-Rhetoric and Composition.
While working on her dissertation, Piper worked as an adjunct professor at Lakeland University for about three years before getting hired by the University of Wisconsin–Whitewater. She worked at Whitewater for around five years before a job opening appeared at Lakeland, in which she immediately applied to and was accepted. Since then, Piper has been an essential part of Lakeland’s English department and deeply appreciated for her dedication to making the curriculum exciting and engaging for students.
Last year, the First-Year Seminar courses were changed to be based on the analysis of a specific topic such as Disney or The Hunger Games. Students around campus frequently discuss these courses and how fun they are, showcasing that the changes are having a positive impact on the student’s engagement. Piper continues to help shape the English composition courses and the interdisciplinary studies courses to ensure that students are happy with their experiences.
To give credit to the students and their accomplishments, Piper presented Lakeland’s first-ever “Award for Outstanding First-Year Writing” on April 16 during Undergraduate Research Day. She has mentioned that she is very proud of getting this award accepted by the school and was excited to present it to the chosen student! Piper opened this event by discussing her research on the importance and value of first-year writing in college.
Although giving awards to students is a nice perk of her job, Piper has said that her favorite thing is the student interactions and relationships she gets to form here at Lakeland. The close bonds that Lakeland faculty are able to form with their students are rare in a college setting. Being able to truly know students and learn about their strengths and weaknesses makes teaching easier and more directed to certain classes and students. The individualized help that the professors are able to provide is unlike any other university, making Lakeland a very unique and community-focused college.
Piper explained that her goal for the writing coaches is to make them feel like a family and to give them the opportunity to bond with one another and grow with each other. She thinks that by doing this, the coaches will be able to learn from one another’s mistakes and be able to identify ways to become better. During their monthly training sessions, the writing coaches talk amongst themselves about ways to improve their work, as well as ways to advertise their services around campus. She mentions that it is important for the coaches to take the initiative and to be proud of the work they do on campus. Many new ideas have been formed within the group, hopefully to be put into action at the beginning of next fall semester.
Recently, Piper has been enjoying teaching her technical writing courses because of the different viewpoints her students are able to present on their topics. The chosen topics can be very different from one another yet still contain some of the same themes as the others. Being able to compare the ideas that students provide and how well they write about them is something that Piper really enjoys about her job.
Piper established a new honors seminar this semester that is covering misogyny, witches and where the idea of witchcraft originated from. Covering things from the Salem Witch Trials to what we recognize as fictional witches today, this course will explore all things related to witchery and how it has become such a big part of literature. Piper has stated that she thinks this course will spark very interesting conversations and debates between students due to how complex and controversial the history of witchcraft is.
This upcoming semester, Piper hopes that the writing coaches’ ideas can become implemented and start to encourage students to reach out to them for help. She recognizes that the coaches are very kind people and are always ready to help where it is needed. She wishes to remind students that the coaches are there for them and are confidential. The coaches are there to help their peers and will do the best they can to make the criteria understandable. Not only are the coaches useful for anything to do with papers, but they also are available to help students create study guides, index cards or even just to be a study partner if needed.
To make an appointment with an academic coach, log onto Blackboard and click on one of the current courses. Each professor should have a Student Resources folder located within the Syllabus, Policies, Resources & Rubrics subject. This folder should contain a file labeled “Request an Academic Coach” which has two separate links. To directly book a meeting with an academic coach, click on the “Academic Coaching Form” link. To view all the current coaches, click on the other link, which will give their names, coaching subject, and their school email addresses.
Currently, Piper is searching for students who would be interested in becoming an academic writing coach. This position is highly flexible with college schedules and is a good fit for those who would like an on-campus job, but do not have the time to be on the job for long periods of time. Being an academic coach is also something that employers will find intriguing on resumes and cover letters. Any interest in the position? Contact Piper by utilizing her school email address as listed below.
If there are any questions regarding the writing coaches, such as how to set up an appointment, who to contact or even how to get in touch with them, Piper will gladly answer them by her school email: [email protected]. Questions regarding the other academic coaches can be sent to Karen Eckhardt by her school email: [email protected].