40 Hours for the Forty Acres Spring 2023

Who We Are

Even the best students struggle as they transition from a lifetime of rhetorical writing to professional communication. The Moody College Writing Support Program is the only writing resource on campus designed to meet the unique writing needs of all our majors. Peer writing coaches assist our students without charge whether they are writing news stories, advertising copy, press releases, screenplays or cover letters for internships.

What We're Fundraising For

Over the last decade, the Moody Writing Support Program has grown from 250 student appointments in its first year to more than 2,000 appointments annually. On top of those individual appointments, writing coaches assist professors with in-class workshops and host after-hours programs to boost students’ confidence and reinforce core skills. 

Last semester, we expanded our services to include support for the growing area of audio script writing/podcasting. This spring, we're adding additional support for our public relations/advertising majors. But because our budget is limited, these additions were only possible through financial assistance from other Moody College units. Students from all Moody majors, meanwhile, tell us they wish we could expand our hours or offer more appointments, especially during midterms and finals. 

Every dollar contributed during 40 for Forty will go to increasing student staffing to meet our increasing demand.

Your Impact

Students who use our program routinely tell us that even one visit helps them as they develop their writing skills. In a post-appointment survey sent to students, every respondent in the 2021-2022 academic year indicated they felt increased confidence after the appointment. Here are a few of the comments submitted to us from that survey in fall 2022:

• "The coach was awesome at helping me fix errors and find the best substitutes for iffy sentences. She provided only constructive criticism and made me feel loads more confident about my story." 
• "The coach always consulted with me before making a suggestion instead of just saying, "I don't really like this. Here's how I would write it." It made me feel much more involved in the revision process." 
• "My coach helped me reorganize the order I had my article in as the professor suggested changing the order, but I didn't know where to start with that." 
• "My coach was very nice when giving feedback and taught me skills that I can use outside of our session." 
• "I learned how to write active voice, and my coach did not make me feel embarrassed AT ALL for not writing a news article before." 
• "Having a different perspective on my writing from the coach made me feel much more secure about my assignment."