2017 Glossary and Notes

Below are explanations of terms used in the 2017 iteration of the Census. When a term has a discipline-agreed upon definition, we used it. However, certain terms remain contentious in the field, so we explain how and why we use them below.

Basic Filters Terminology

  • Carnegie Classifications

    are an established framework for classifying colleges and universities in the United States. The Census uses the classification information listed by the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS).
  • Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs)

    are institutions designated by the federal government as serving specific racial and ethnic minorities. The Census received enough response from three types of MSIs (see below) to allow searches for data on those types of instructions. We have also included an option to search all seven types of MSI, which includes the three types below, Predominantly Black Institutions (PBIs), Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs), Native American-Serving Nontribal Institutions (NASNTIs), and Alaskan Native or Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions (AANHs).
    • Asian American, Native Alaskan, and Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs)

      have a student body that is at least 10% Asian American, Native Alaskan, and/or Pacific Islander and have received a Title V AANAPISI grant.
    • Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs)

      have a student body that is at least 25% Latino/a and have received a Title V HSI grant.
    • Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs)

      are federally designated institutions that served a black population before 1964. The Census received enough responses from HBCUs to allow searches of them as a category in the four-year survey, but not in the two-year survey.
  • The Catholic Consortium

    are colleges and universities who may be members of the NSSE consortium of the same name.
  • Small Liberal Arts Colleges (SLACs)

    are institutions that are members of the SLAC-WPA Consortium, which are small liberal arts colleges that also belong to the Annapolis Group.

Question Terminology

  • Administrative positions

    are defined by which site of writing the person administers rather than by the generic term writing program administrator (WPA) or the title of a position on a given campus.
    • Basic Writing Administrator (BWA)

      is a person or persons who administers or directs the basic or developmental writing courses or program.
    • Chief Academic Officer (CAO)

      may be the dean or provost of an institution.
    • First-Year Writing Administrator (FYWA)

      is a person or persons who administers an aspect of or directs the first-year writing requirement. This does not include a department chair, chief academic officer (CAO), or chair of writing program or department.
    • Learning Center Administrator (LCA)

      is a person or persons who administers or directs a learning center with writing tutors, which may or may not include a designated writing center.
    • Solo Writing Administrator (SWA)

      is the only writing professional at an institution and often directs all sites of writing. This classification was not utilized when a chair or CAO oversaw the administrative tasks of a particular site of writing such as WAC or FYW.
    • Writing Across the Curriculum Administrator (WACA)

      is a person or persons who administers or directs writing across the curriculum initiatives or program.
    • Writing Center Administrator (WCA)

      is a person or persons who administers or directs a writing center.
    • Writing Program Director or Chair of Writing Department (WPD)

      provides leadership for most or all of the sites of writing at the institution and supervises and mentors the other sites of writing administrators within the program or department. For example, a WPD may have a FYWA and WCA report to them or with an Assistant Director they oversee all sites of writing at the institution with the Assistant Director managing the day to day operations of a particular site, most likely a writing center.
  • Basic Writing programs

    include any instructional courses for students who need extra learning support. Models for basic writing courses include:
    • The Directed Self-Placement Model

      of basic writing, in which students are given information about the course options, and they place themselves in one of several first-year writing courses/tracks.
    • The Intensive Model

      of basic writing, in which students are placed in an intensive version of the standard first-year writing course.
    • The Mainstreaming Model

      of basic writing, in which all students are placed in the standard first-year writing course; students can get support for writing through the writing center and other tutoring options, including additional help from the professor.
    • The Prerequisite Model

      of basic writing, in which students take a non-credit bearing course that must be passed before taking the credit-bearing first-year writing course.
    • The Stretch Model

      of basic writing, in which students take the standard first-year writing course over two semesters rather than one.
    • The Studio Model

      of basic writing, in which students take the standard first-year writing course, but they have additional small group meetings with an instructor.
  • First-Year Writing (FYW)

    programs are any required first-year courses that include instruction in writing. Types of FYW courses include:
    • First-Year Composition (FYC)

      which are first-year writing courses taught by faculty, adjuncts, or TAs in an English Department or Writing program/department.
    • First-Year Seminars (FYS)

      are first-year courses where writing is an explicit goal, but the course is not an official writing requirement.
    • First-Year Writing Seminars (FYWS)

      are WAC-based first-year writing course taught by faculty from across the disciplines.
  • Writing Fellows Programs

    employ undergraduate or graduate students to serve as course-embedded peer writing mentors; writing fellows may be assigned to particular writing classes.
  • Writing Intensive Courses (W or WI)

    are a writing requirement that extends writing beyond first-year writing. Each institution has its own criteria for what constitutes a WI course. Some schools refer to these courses by other names such as writing-enriched or writing-enhanced courses.