2017 Four-Year Institution Survey

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  • A full-time staff position seems to be in the offing.
  • This year, Basic Writing moved from the Learning Center to the Department of English. We plan curricular changes and are looking into other models of Basic Writing and placement.
  • We are hoping to do at least two things: 1.) Create a more robust placement process (to use more than just SAT scores for placement and to include directed self-placement) 2.) Vertically integrate the writing studio into the second-year course and (hopefully) beyond.
  • We are getting a new Tutoring and Writing Center Director, who I hope will spearhead some new support services for students.
  • We are currently revising the FYC program, including basic/developmental writing.
  • We are currently in the process of developing a DSP model for our diversely prepared students.
  • We are continuing to revise and assess the content of ENG 103, our alternative first-semester freshman composition course.
  • We are considering piloting a co-requisite model (College Writing II + extra lab in one semester), though that would require some additional faculty and professional development.
  • We are changing our placement policy to align with ACT benchmarks and to include high school GPA.
  • We are beginning a pilot developmental writing program in Fall 2018
  • We are accepting more diversely prepared students, so administration along with institutional stakeholders will be exploring ways to address this challenge.
  • This is unfortunate. Our institution does not even have a Director of Composition or Director of First Year Writing or WPA (besides the writing center director). Most of our students are taught by literature graduates with no study in linguistics, TESOL, or composition.
  • We are piloting use of embedded peer tutors now. We also are currently working on changes to placement, and expect to revising the curriculum. We hope to provide more course release for the First Year Writing Coordinator, who also oversees Basic Writing. We are starting a new campus site, and so hope to expand Writing Center services there. We are getting more international ELL students (now around 10 per semester--in 2013 about 6 per year) and so will work on identifying what supports may be needed and getting those into place.
  • This is a significant area of concern but we have not yet arrived at a plan/solution. Discussion is ongoing.
  • They are in the process of developing more workshops for students.
  • There is not a vision or will for doing so.
  • There is a new director of first-year writing
  • The university has received two grants (TRiO and PATH), both of which target support for eligible students, many of whom are also diversely prepared.
  • The university has instituted various bridge and support programs (aimed at improving retention), but these programs don't focus on writing.
  • The state requires that 75% of developmental students be placed directly into FYC. They have also lowered the cut-off scores for placement. Most students will not be required to attend extra support sessions. With no funding to support the extra workshops we are currently providing, we will most likely stop offering them.
  • The school is actively considering a summer bridge program
  • The director of FYS will be retiring; speaking as folks with writing studies backgrounds, the two of us are pushing to have the MLL position replaced and to rethink elements of the FYS program.
  • We are just starting to figure out ways to offer more support so we hope it can be more systematized in the near future
  • We are planning these changes in the next four years: -adding additional sections of our Stretch courses for ELLs. -cohorting students from a conditionally admitted learning community into these sections. -revising placement procedures so international students who do not have ACT/SAT scores are not automatically funneled into Stretch courses.
  • The composition program is in the process of developing a "best practices" manual which will include identifying needs and resources for diverse students.
  • We will pilot directed self placement in Spring 2020, with a launch for the full cohort of incoming students in Fall 2020.
  • [The institution] is a small state university. We are getting a smaller piece of the state budget pie every biennium.
  • Yes, the writing center has expanded to serve the entire university.
  • Writing is moving into a new department with Communication and Graphic Arts.
  • With new WPA (me) we are establishing better support for (and assessment of) our diversely prepared students. We are creating a full-time NTT Writing Center position to become our diverse learner specialist. We will provide professional development / support for this individual. We are also expanding our WC repertoire to better address diverse populations. Keuka has few international and domestic second language users; however, prior to my arrival they have done an adequate job of supporting these students. My goal is to simply reinforce and better articulate what we're already doing-- and to expand/improve.
  • What is likely to happen is more campus-wide faculty development for supporting diversely prepared writers. We currently have some cohort programs (Posse and a local version) that might serve as models for working with diversely prepared students.
  • We're hoping to add additional professional Writing Center support.
  • We're exploring options
  • We're adding a 1-credit hour course focused on grammar, syntax, and sentence-building. We've just secured funding to integrate adaptive courseware so that the content is personalized.
  • We'd like to move toward a DSP model.
  • We will be reviewing our FYW curriculum.
  • We are well supported
  • We will be mainstreaming basic writing instruction simply because the experience of separating such students into more intensive sections has proven that it doesn't have the desired effect. On the contrary, the students in those sections see themselves as defective, somehow, and resent being separated out. At the same time, we will be requiring such students to use the writing center as a regular part of their curriculum.
  • We regularly assess our courses and support services; this often leads us to add to or alter them.
  • We plan on eliminating our last BW course and replacing it with a intensive studio course
  • We just voted for a new general education curriculum. Our current basic writing courses will change, but we don't know how yet. Right now basic writing courses are in the fall and spring of freshmen year. Now there will be a first year seminar in spring that all students will take, so there will no longer be a separate writing course. Our hope is that we can provide all first year seminar students with designated writing fellows to tutor them, but we don't know if we'll have the budget or resources to support that.
  • We intend to more purposefully hook them up with tutoring s
  • We hope to develop programs connected to our Writing Center services, in coordination with relevant faculty.
  • We have no support so it's not working - our new FYC Director will work to change that.
  • We do meet on a yearly basis to coordinate goals but so far the only changes made have been adjustments to course offerings.
  • We continue to shape and align our curriculum. We are a foundational program.
  • We continue to refine our curriculum and our writing center services to be more inclusive and effective.
  • The department is revising its ENG101 course (the FYW requirement) so it emphasizes social justice in response to a university task force's recommendation that the GE curriculum promote social justice. This will reflect the expected reorientation of the department (name, mission, etc. changes) and prove useful in arguing for a R/C TT position, either as a replacement for a retired faculty member or a new line. If a NTT lecturer position is created with administrative duties, this person would also be involved in this work.
  • The college is experiencing significant changes in demographics and the numbers of students needing basic support has steadily increased as the number of faculty providing this support decreased. The courses are now to be taught by English Faculty with other specialties. More universal training is likely to take place so that some of the issues can be addressed directly in FY courses.
  • a third of students admitted are labeled "at risk" and typically are the first in their extended families to attend college
  • As our Writing Center develops, we will be offering support for more diverse learners.
  • General education is undergoing redesign and we are also experiencing enrollment growth.
  • Ever since the administration eliminated our basic writing course, ENWR 100, three years ago, our support structure for supporting these writers has changed almost semester by semester. We currently have a 4 credit course devoted to the basic writing population (as opposed to the regular 3 credit course) and are hoping to expand those offerings to meet the needs of these writers. We also have a separate writing center (called the Writing Workshop) where students can receive extra help. If the past is any indication, we expect for this arrangement to continue to evolve.
  • Each year, we reflect on what we need to do to support changing populations. We work with various offices on campus to ensure that students succeed.
  • Curriculum is always changing.
  • Current courses and Writing Center support is seen as sufficient.
  • Consolidation with two other campuses will impact how this population is supported.
  • Changes to the General Education program have meant that the Basic Writing course no longer fulfills a General Education requirement; we will need to change the curriculum to regain General Education status.
  • As WPA, I am interested in exploring different models of our basic writing course (such as ALP or studio), and exploring placement options.
  • As the new WPA (Basic Writing falls under the umbrella of FYW), the assessment mechanisms and learning outcomes are being revised and updated, and training and resources for TT/NTT instructors is being developed.
  • As much as additional support is needed, our school is facing large budget cuts. I see little hope for expansion of any program.
  • Given the shifting demographics of our students, faculty development (or, really, educator development more broadly) is being considered and designed to help the students who are enrolling.
  • As mentioned previously, I am leaving the institution after 5 years of service to pursue a Ph.D. and will be replaced by either one new staff director, or two coordinators. Our ESL Program Director is retiring at the end of the Spring 2018 semester and their replacement will join us over the summer. With these staffing changes, curricular and programmatic changes will no doubt occur.
  • As I've discussed in previous responses, we'll be revising our curriculum to make it less literature-heavy and more focused on rhetorical approaches to teaching writing. Our basic writing course will continue to be a credit-bearing course; if students pass with an A- or above, they can move on to the English 102 course in the spring, and their basic writing course will count as their 101. If they don't, the basic writing will count as an elective and they'll take 101 in the spring. This will remain the same, but eventually I'd like to have students do some self-placement as part of their matriculation, and I may also continue decreasing the enrollment (it's currently at 15, with an instructor as well as a tutor assigned to the section).
  • An external review of the program will take place in S2019. I am currently doing research concerning placement testing, core academic writing standards for multilingual domestic and international students and specific space allocated for these students on campus. I am also interested in placement testing for NS students as I think the US school system lacks writing intensive requirements in school curriculums.
  • Admissions plans to increase the number of international students and transfer students from community colleges. The growth of these populations will require a review of our structures.
  • Additional support for students on academic probation, as well as first-generation and low-income students
  • Additional non-tenure positions to be added.
  • Addition of another permanent professional tutor
  • Add curricular support for FYC (stretch, ALP, or some other version).
  • Academic Support will undergo an external review next year, so it is possible that changes will arise from that or if there are changing demographics in admissions, but there are no plans that I know of for change.
  • Given current declines in overall enrollment, I do not foresee any new resources being allocated for this
  • Hard to say; we're in the middle of a curriculum review.
  • The addition of a writing studio model where students can self-select into a non-credit (eventually partial credit) series of writing skills seminars at the center for writing.
  • Instructional support course for struggling writers to be added
  • see earlier answer -- we plan to implement a 1 credit course to supplement FYC for basic writers
  • Possibly more emphasis on reading skills or more required Writing Center hours
  • Our institution is in the process of developing and implementing an dedicated WAC program that (hopefully) will identify the need for ELL support.
  • Our campus writing center, which is linked to the writing program in oversight and curriculum, has its first permanent director beginning July 2018. The establishment of the writing center will enhance the support of all writers, particularly English Language Learners.
  • Our basic writing course has been outsourced to a local community college since the 1990s. We expect basic writing to be fully in-house by 2019-20. This will also lead to changes in the configuration and curriculum of FYC and ELL courses that bookend the basic writing course now. We'll be added a "multiple pathways" model that allows students to satisfy the basic writing requirement in several distinct ways depending upon their backgrounds and needs.
  • Our approach to basic writers currently lacks a careful, evidence-based strategy. In 2005, we had a two-tiered composition sequence, with placement into the first tier (basic writing) based on a timed, impromptu essay composed during orientation. We normed raters and made placement decisions in a systematic, reliable fashion, with a prompt well-aligned to determine readiness for the standard comp seminar. Then, my institution decided that testing during orientation was a possible obstacle to admission, eliminating testing altogether, over objections. In response, we turned to a calculation of SAT cut-offs based on our historic placement data, along with a rating of downloaded SAT essays for any students on the bubble; that lasted until the SAT essay became optional, and then when our institution made the SAT optional. In response, we proposed a studio model--a one-credit studio attached to particular sections of our standard comp course, with placement occurring within the first week of the standard comp course via an authentic, embedded assessment. The results provide a basis for recommendation of Writing Center assistance in the form of ten visits throughout the semester. However, the institution refused to set up the studio, for perceived cost reasons. So... (hear the sigh?), we now continue the in-class placement and WC recommendation process, with "soft diplomacy" to nudge compliance. I'm the first to tell you this is not good enough, and I am vigilant in tracking the data we are gathering to advocate for better approaches.
  • No one is sure how funding will shift events again but it's very likely to
  • New general education curriculum was implemented in FA18, so changes are still being made.
  • It's possible that with increased use of multiple-choice tests (CLEP, e.g.) that will offer credit for courses, that classes that support the students will be reduced--or removed?--from the school's offerings.
  • I'm sure there will be. There always is.
  • Hopefully it will receive more support.
  • I'm new to the institution, but I am in the process of suggesting changes to the basic writing class that would move away from drill-and-kill grammar exercises to a rhetorical grammar. As the director of the writer center, I have been hiring more bi-lingual tutors and working with an ad hoc committee to create a multicultural office. I would like to see more ELL support on the campus.
  • I would really like to see changes and encourage them as we have very little to offer our students writing assistance in any formalized way beyond our peer tutoring, unfunded writing center and the kindness of individual professors doing what they can. We will keep pushing for support and resources, however, as about 30-40% of our students struggle with college level writing, and we are increasingly seeing ELL learners attend our institution as well.
  • I hope to offer DSP to incoming students for FYW, required tutoring, and cohorted sections.
  • I hope so. We just had a retirement so perhaps the new hire will be collaborative. There is also a beginning project inside the correctional facility that might lead to some more structures. In terms of curricular, there is such a need for online collaborative technologies in these courses but that is a barrier between fyw and deve.
  • I honestly cannot speculate as to what those changes will actually be, but there is consensus that more support is needed.
  • I have not seen any indications that there are plans to add a writing program or any addition support structures within the next four years.
  • I have just hired a new Associate Director, and I anticipate that he will make some changes.
  • I expect that we'll continue to build on the MLL studio model implemented last year to support students in required writing courses. The pilot served a small number of students; we'll look for ways to expand services to more students.
  • I anticipate that we will move from a required, non-credit basic writing course to a 1-credit co-requisite model (writing studio + CMP 101). If that is not feasible, we will seek to make the basic writing course credit bearing.
  • I am currently working with various stakeholders to get some kind of support for these students. Currently, we have none, and while the Writing Center director and I work to help specific students about whom we learn, this is not a sustainable practice.
  • [The state] recently passed legislation requiring students who take basic writing to concurrently take first-year writing. We are currently working on changes to the structure and curriculum of these courses in order to meet these new requirements.

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