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The Writing Program serves an average of 1200 students a year. The scholars who devised this program and those who implement it today work hard to maintain a strong and effective curriculum. There are three opportunities in the semester for faculty to collect assessment data, which the program depends upon to insure the highest quality of service. Below is a partial list of additional duties current faculty complete in addition to their teaching responsibilities.

Starting the Semester

The First Week
  • Submit an extra copy of your syllabus to the front desk. The English Department keeps copies of all syllabi on file.
  • Administer a diagnostic writing assignment. Using the Diagnostic Writing Prompt found on p. 10 of the University Writing Guide, collect and score the papers, give them to the students for review, and submit papers and score sheets to Mary Wright no later than the third week of classes.
  • ENGL 223 Instructors: check roll sheets against list to confirm all students have successfully passed ENGL 123 with a C- or better.
The First Month
  • Submit University Writing Award entries from previous semester for judging.
  • Introduce students to the Alice Randall Writing Center. Consultants will either come to your class for a discussion or welcome classes (by appointment) for introductions.

    • The Midterm

    • Administer to all classes the Mid-Term Assessment: Informal Feedback on Teaching diagnostic. After reviewing the results, please submit responses AND a response in which you summarize the responses to Mary Wright.

    The Common Final Exam

    The students and instructors participate a "common" final exam where instructors administers exams and submit them to the Writing Program Administrator for a double blind grading exchange.
    Examination Breakdown
    • Several weeks prior to the exam, instructors vote on appropriate readings submitted throughout the semester.
    • Exam prompts are available to distribute to students the last Monday of the semester.
    • The week before exams begin instructors meet to discuss procedures and evaluate sample papers.
    • Within 24 hours instructors grade exams and draft responses to the instructor whose papers they graded. These are returned to Mary Wright.
    • After all papers have been returned to instructors, everyone must draft an Instructor Response to fulfill the program's assessment goals.
    Throughout the Semester
    • Collect papers to submit to the University Writing Awards contest. The WP committee selects the best papers to represent exemplary writing completed by a freshman student. Winners are introduced in an awards ceremony and receive renumeration.
    • Collect readings appropriate for use in the Common Final Exam.
    • Attend scheduled WP meetings, scheduled on Thursdays from 12:15-1:00
    • Attend the Norming Session where instructors evaluate a range of readings in preparation for the final exam.
    • Participate in the Common Final Exam exchange
    Textbooks
    • To maintain cohesion, the program requests instructors choose from a list of vetted textbooks.
    • All ENGL 123 and 223 students are required to buy The Wadsworth Handbook with a passcode to Insite.

    Consult Sample Syllabi for more information.
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