ASCRC WRITING COMMITTEE MEETING
Monday, November2, 2015, 10:00 a.m. -12:00 p.m., Todd 203
CALL TO ORDER
Chair Stark called the meeting to order at 10:10 a.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT:
I. Appelbaum, S. Brown, C. Greenfield, T. Johnson, H. Jurva, J. Gallo, D. Raiford, M. Stark, B.
Sweeney
Ex-Officio Members Present: G. gardner, N. Lindsay, N. Peeterse, E. Wecker, K. Webster
Members Absent/Excused: D. Gates, C. Jardon, K. Hopingardner, J. Pavilack
The minutes from 10/5/15 were approved.
COMMUNICATION

For the UM Minute Associate Provost Nathan Lindsay shared that Director Wecker was
instrumental in getting students from two Composition Courses to take the Collegiate
Assessment. A total of 102 students took the assessment. This information is useful for the
accreditation report.

Natalie informed the Committee that the UPWA Moodle shell open. This year the finals are a
week later, so she proposed to leave the shell open until Monday December 21st. This is a
different date than voted on last year to be the standard. The Committed approved. She will
start sending reminders on the November 15th.
BUSINESS ITEMS

The Canyon Club is available for April 15th and the UC 326 -327 is available for April 22. The UM
Conference on Undergraduate Research Conference (UMCUR) is scheduled for April 15th, so the
Committee decided on April 22nd for the Writing Retreat. However, there is concern that UC 326
and 327 will not be large enough. Camie will inquire whether the ball room is available or there
is a suitable space in the Gallagher Business Building. There were too many complaints about
Brantley Hall so it will not be considered as an option. Beverly Chin has agreed to facilitate.
Director Webster will be out of town on the actual date, but can help with preparations.
Natalie will review the materials from the last retreat to determine whether the training papers
need to be revised. The Committee should also discuss how to market the event for better
attendance.
The following courses were approved. Camie will send the Intermediate Writing Course Survey link to
the group leaders.
Level
Group 1
Group 2
Intermediate ANTY 310
ANTY 254
Advanced
ANTY 450
COMX 413
ENST 335L
GPHY 433
PSCI 400
WGS 363
ANTY 430
COMX 347
GPHY 335
PSYX 400
Group 3
Group 4
ANTY 455
COMX 414
COMX 445
ENST 367
SOCI 438
COMX 421
EDEC 454
ENST 487
LING 473
PSYX 320
SOCI 441
The following courses were NOT approved. Many of the instructors need to be contacted for
clarification. Several of the courses just needed the writing learning outcomes to be included on the
syllabi. Other courses had issues that the groups solicited input from the full committee. Members did
not agree on the issue of whether revised writing counts toward the writing requirement. However, the
current information in the FAQ indicates that it does count, so that is the standard that must be used for
the courses. This issue of intent and execution will be raised after review. One suggestion is to revise
the requirement to include the term original text to avoid the perception of double counting. There
was considerable discussion on whether a 400 level course is appropriate for an intermediate writing
course, particularly when it was previously classified as an advanced writing course with the same
syllabus. The labels should accurately represent the sequenced expectations of the writing required.
Another area of concern was with the scope of the committee’s review with regard to an experimental
course. Contextualizing the writing learning outcomes into the content of the course was acceptable as
long as all the outcomes were included.
Level

Group 1
Group 2
Group 3
Intermediate ENST 231
LSCI 291
LIT 202
NASX 280
Advanced
COMX 424
ECNS 433
ANTY 402
COMX 422
ENST 382
LING 484
SOCI 488
Group 4
BGEN 499
ECNS 488489
The transfer appeal was approved. The group still needs to revise the policy so that the process
involves evaluating the course for equivalency rather than the students work for competence.
The appeal materials currently require a course syllabus and students work with instructor
comments. If it is not clear from the syllabus that the course meets the learning outcomes of an
intermediate writing course it will be up to the student to provide adequate documentation to
make the case.
There is concern that transfer students are not getting clear information about their options to
appeal. The transfer appeal should be processed way before students are filing graduation
paperwork. Students within the University System may be getting misleading information from
their institution give the language in BOR Policy ….., which states……….
The Committee should consider keeping data on the number and courses of transfer appeals
processed.

The UPWA Data Stewardship Procedure will be sent to the Office of Research and Sponsored
Programs for input given it has experience with data management protocols. The procedure will
be included in the Faculty Senate procedures available online.
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting adjourned at 12:00 p.m.