Writing

• Faculty and Academic Staff
• Writing Program Description
• Student Learning Outcomes
• Writing Minor Requirements

Faculty and Academic Staff

Faculty
Julie Gard, Assistant Professor
Jayson Iwen, Assistant Professor
Yvonne Rutford, Assistant Professor
Deborah Schlacks, Professor
Jamie White-Farnham, Assistant Professor

Academic Staff
Deborah Faul, Senior Lecturer
Elizabeth Grbavcich, Senior Lecturer
Susie Isaksen, Senior Lecturer
John McCormick, Senior Lecturer
Heather McGrew, Senior Lecturer
Allen Shepard, Senior Lecturer

Writing Program Description

The Writing Program, housed in the Department of Writing, and Library Science, offers a wide variety of courses in creative, professional, and academic writing. These courses range from introductory to upper-level writing courses, including the core writing courses WRIT 101 College Writing I and WRIT 102 College Writing II. We serve students of every major in the introductory courses as well as provide writing courses that serve specific populations of students, such as business majors and social work majors. In addition, we strongly encourage students in any major to take our courses as electives and to consider choosing a minor in writing. Our faculty and staff include many practicing and published writers and scholars.

Any student can benefit from taking writing courses. Writing is fundamental to a liberal arts education, and proven writing ability is one of the most valuable assets a graduate can have. Students who practice writing are able to more effectively respond to the writing assignments required in their courses. Employers frequently consider writing ability and expertise when hiring. Argumentation and persuasion of specific audiences are fundamental abilities required of informed citizens. Further, the study and practice of writing in its various forms provide an excellent opportunity for creative expression. Finally, the study of language, rhetoric, and writing helps students to become better critical thinkers and more informed consumers. For more information about specific courses, see Writing (WRIT) in the Course Descriptions section of this catalog.

Minor in Writing: Students in any major may choose a writing minor to complement the coursework in their major. This includes all Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science majors. Students in comprehensive majors may add a writing minor, and students in the teacher certification majors may add a writing minor in addition to their required, teachable minors.

Student Learning Outcomes

Rhetorical Knowledge

• Know foundational theories of language, rhetoric, and writing
• Understand the contextual nature of writing
• Identify and respond appropriately to a variety of exigencies
• Write for various purposes and audiences in a variety of genres
• Articulate their choices in arrangement, format, and structure in a variety of genres

Writing Process

• Recognize that writing is a process requiring time and revision across drafts
• Engage in all stages of the writing process from invention to publication
• Collaborate with others during the writing process to both seek and provide feedback for revision
• Develop personalized strategies for generating ideas, drafting, revising, editing, and proofreading

Writerly Identity

• Express an understanding of themselves in cultural context (whether personal, local, regional, national, ethnic, global, among others) in their writing
• Reflect on their growth as writers and integrate insights from one project into another
• Articulate their own perspectives as writers by way of examining strengths and weaknesses
• Produce a polished, representative portfolio of their writing for an audience that encapsulates their writerly identities

Reading and Research

• Demonstrate critical reading of form and content that informs their writing
• Use reading and writing for inquiry, learning, thinking, and communicating new understandings
• Integrate their own ideas with the ideas of others, appropriately "joining the conversation" of a given topic
• Understand and apply the conventions of citation and documentation

Knowledge of Conventions

• Understand the rhetorical implications of the use and manipulation of conventions of standard written English
• Build on their knowledge of conventions through experimentation and practice
• Articulate their choices in tone, diction, and the use or manipulation of conventions
• Seek out models of conventions in reference books and other resources
• Identify patterns of error and self-correct using personalized strategies

Writing Minor Requirements

21 total credits

Excellent employment opportunities exist for students who combine a writing minor with any major, since writing is required in most professions. For instance, a business administration major may minor in writing, and so may a biology, history, or English major. Note that our minor has been updated with new courses and some changes in requirements.

Writing required courses (3 credits required):

No courses that are also fulfilling General Education requirements can be used to satisfy this requirement.

200-level Writing required courses (3 credits required):

300- or 400-level Writing required courses (9 credits required):

or

Language and/or Rhetoric required course (3 credits required):

Writing (WRIT) course above 300 (3 credits required)