Praise for Writing Workshop
"This is the best program for a writing course I've seen."
Robert Boice, leading scholar on academic writing and faculty productivity

Following are anonymous evaluations of the Writing and Publishing the Academic Article workshop from 1998 to 2002:
     "This is the best writing course I have ever taken."
     "I learned skills this summer that would have taken me fifteen years to figure out on my own."
     "I am so thankful that I was able to take this class. It changed my whole orientation towards writing papers, which in turn changed my work habits, which in turn changed my life! Thanks to Wendy for the incredible service she does in teaching this course!"
     "Wendy Belcher is easily one of the very best instructors I've had at this university. She was wonderful."
     "I learned more in this course from this instructor than I learned in any of the preparatory classes I took during my doctorate program."
     "As a graduate student, I found this course the best I have ever taken here at this university."
     "As a way of decompressing anxieties and being held to firm but self-imposed deadlines, this class was without equal in my graduate career."
     "This was an excellent, practical, useful, interesting, supportive, fun, thought-provoking, and super-high quality class. The best. I would recommend this class to ANYONE who wants to write!"
     "After seeing how many faculty don't follow the lessons we've learned, I'm glad I had the exposure to this information--it would have been very easy to duplicate faculty's bad habits. I feel lucky to have taken this class!"
     "This course is an investment for life."
     "This class works!"

Praise for Copyediting Workshop
E-mailed comments from participants after introductory workshop:
     "Your electronic copyediting tutorial yesterday was exceptionally helpful. I always learn so much whenever you teach!"
     "You always give a really helpful and fun presentation."
      "What a great session we had yesterday--thanks to your presentation. It was really fun to have so many people not only in attendance, but participating."

Praise for Journal Publishing Workshop
E-mailed comments from participants after introductory workshop:
     "Your workshop helped us learn techniques to save time and money. Thanks so much!"
"The instructor was extremely well organized, articulate, knowledgeable, experienced, and made all the students feel welcome to contribute questions and ideas. The workbook prepared by the instructor is exceedingly helpful and easy to use. I plan to use (practically verbatim) many of the tips and worksheets (models) included in it."
"Wendy is the bomb! A great resource, really sharp, and a good organizer. She brought everyone's expertise and issues together to provide help for the novices as well as the veterans and I feel well prepared to get our new journal on the road. Thanks!"
    "Lots of information in an efficient quick manner. Instructor is very approachable, friendly, and always gives some feedback to any question or comment.
    "A great motivational workshop, incredibly informative. The workbook is an excellent way to structure workshop discussion and to have a lasting impression of material covered in the workshop."
    "Instructor is friendly, articulate, and encouraged participation. She is
willing to give direct answer when called for, this is very helpful."

More Praise for Writing Workshop
From anonymous evaluations of the course from 1998 to 2002:
     "This class demystifies the academic publishing process."
     "This course ambitiously attempts many things: writing training, teaching publishing 'tricks of the trade,' and instilling good writing habits. Amazingly it succeeds, largely due to the well-structured and balanced approach of the instructor."
     "Wendy Belcher offers practical, hands-on instruction that will improve your writing skills, extinguish writing phobias, and greatly enhance your chances of publication."
     "Wendy Belcher gives more feedback and more instructive comments than any instructor I've ever had."
     "The instructor was the highlight of the course. Not only did she present the course content well, but she was highly personable. She generously supplied us with knowledge difficult to find elsewhere and fostered an atmosphere where students felt enthused and motivated, everyone participated happily."
     "Wendy Belcher is very knowledgeable, tireless, encouraging, and smart."
     "This course would be very beneficial for all graduate students (and professors too)-should be a must for anybody working in academia."
     "This class is a wonderful and necessary tool for anyone who wants to survive in the academic world."
     "I recommend this class to others because it treats all the problems that we are not supposed to have in a serious way."
     "Take this class! I guarantee you'll be glad (and thankful) you did."
     "Treating academic writing as a particular skill to be learned has been very encouraging-what I'm not good at I can work on."
     "I learned in this class to begin thinking "I own this process," rather than "this process owns me."
     "This course was extremely well-organized and prepared. Ms. Belcher presented pertinent and valuable information concerning the topic of academic publishing. She is an excellent communicator. Not only did she relate all topics to the class superbly, but she made every single student comfortable to participate in discussions. All assignments were motivating and clarified the manner in which one should organize oneself to publish an article."
     "I would take this course again and would recommend it to anyone--it is an outstanding learning experience."
     "The information, skills, and confidence I gained from this class are beyond wonderful."
     "I would recommend this instructor and this course to anyone serious about writing for academic journals."
     "I recommend this class because it provides a community of writers engaged in a time-based structure for creating. The environment of the class offers knowledgeable guidance and a respite from the isolation inherent in writing."
     "A one-time investment offering huge returns."

From e-mails sent after the class:
     "Just a brief note to let you know that a new essay of mine was accepted for publication! Hurray! Thanks to all that I learned from you!" --art history student
     "Looking back after three years, your class was instrumental in enabling me to get some more publications. While several things stand out, the biggest one in my mind is your notion of writing 15 minutes a day (which I actually increased to 45 minutes). This gave me confidence that I could make progress on an article despite being busy with work commitments, since last fall I started an assistant professor position." --urban planning student
     "I never sent out the article I polished last summer, but I did use what I learned and put many of the ideas from that paper into one for a class in the fall. I've worked on it on and off during this very busy year, but will be sending it out on Thursday or Friday this week (to the same journal I was hoping to publish in last year)." --musicology student
     "My article is scheduled to be published in the summer of 2002. This publication is a direct result of your class. Thanks for your help!" --business student

Praise for One Week Writing Course
Anonymous comments from participants at the workshop in Europe:
     "I liked the to-the-point, instrumental, practical nature of the workshop. To my mind such a workshop should be mandatory for all research staff."
     "This course should be compulsory for all academic writers. It provides essential information about the writing and publishing process which most people have to learn on their own through lengthy trial-and-error processes. Here it is passed on in a very efficient (and fun!) way."
     "The course would be very useful for many environments outside Europe and North America where training of this kind is never provided. There are lots of clever people around, they just need good advice and proper stimulation."
     "The workshop has been one of the better social events at the institute for some time. A lot of fun and joy and laughter combined with serious work."
     "The message that 'you can get published' is the workshop's biggest achievement."

E-mail comments a year later:
     "It has been a productive year as regards articles, and the main reason is your contribution (the course and the comments), which I found very useful."