Promoting Student Writing at UC

A small volunteer group of students at the University of Cambodia (UC) have committed to improving their writing skills. They gather in the European Union (EU) corner in the Toshu Fukami Library every Monday and every other Saturday to learn how to write more effectively and to brainstorm ideas on how to promote student writing on campus.

UC students who gather every week to learn how to report stories and improve their writing skills

Most recently, the group invited Mr. Pen Sophal, an experienced journalist, to UC to conduct a reporting workshop.

Although the focus of the group is currently on how to write news articles for the UC Bulletin, the students are also exploring different types of writing and ways to share their writing with the UC community. The volunteer group is a part of the UC Bulletin Team, which was created in November 2010 to train students on how to write articles focused on UC activities.

For the past three months, the UC Bulletin Team has held weekly writing seminars at UC. The seminars, which were facilitated by Seng-Dao Keo, Editor of The UC Bulletin and Director of the Office of the President and UC Foundation, introduced students to journalistic practices and focused on consistency in writing for a publication, grammar guidelines, research and writing skills, rewriting and editing skills, and operations of a student journalism group. The seminars also highlighted policies focused on ethics in journalism, and students were reminded about the UC policy on plagiarism. Articles submitted for publication in the UC Bulletin must adhere to these policies, which aim to help students gain the requisite skills to be a productive student reporter. Through a review of best practices and guided practice, students were able to strengthen their writing and reporting skills.

One of the writing seminars in March focused on how to write a successful personal statement for scholarship applications and was open to all UC students. Several students who attended the event said they were unsure about what a personal statement was, and that they needed guidance on writing a personal statement to improve their chances for winning a scholarship to study abroad, a dream for many Cambodian university students.

 
UC students who are interested in improving their writing skills and sharing their writing with the UC community are invited to attend future writing seminars, which will continue to focus on student journalism.

The students listened intently to guest lecturer Mr. Pen Sophal at a reporting workshop on March 27

Source: UC Bulletin March 2011, Page 21