Writing Across the
Curriculum at KCC
Welcome to our overview of the program with a focus on the process whereby faculty
become WAC certified.
Presentation created by Kate Garretson, WAC Coordinator, with help from Tsubasa
Berg, Manager of Kingsborough Center for Advanced Technology Training (KCATT)
Administrative structure
• Writing Intensive Program Coordinator: Gloria Nicosia, Professor
and Chair, Department of Communications and Performing Arts,
• Certification Program Coordinator: Kate Garretson, Professor,
Department of English
• Writing Fellow Coordinator: Julie Torrent, Assistant Professor,
Department of English
The WAC Program at Kingsborough is part of the Coordinated
Undergraduate Education (CUE) Initiative under the direction of
Reza Fakhari, Assistant Vice President for Academic Affairs and
Associate Provost.
12/6/12/6: KCC operates using a quarter system with a 12 week Fall
semester, a 6 week Winter term, a 12 week Spring semester and a 6
week Summer term. W sections are offered only in the Fall and Spring.
Faculty begin certification training in the Winter.
WAC Program Overview
There are three overlapping sub-programs:
• Writing-intensive section Program
Students must pass one W section as a graduation
requirement.
• Faculty Certification Program
W sections are offered by WAC certified instructors.
• CUNY Writing Fellow Program at KCC
Writing Fellows partner with faculty seeking certification
and tutor students in W and Honors sections.
More about. . .
• Writing-intensive (W) Program
• Faculty Certification Program
• KCC Writing Fellow Program
Writing intensive sections (W)
• Students must pass one as a graduation requirement.
• Over 100 are offered each semester, in all the departments
and majors. They are offered only by WAC certified faculty.
• A list is available every Fall and Spring online and on our WAC
bulletin board.
• W sections are capped at 25 students.
Characteristics
• 30% of the final grade is based on writing assignments.
• Revision of drafts, based on feedback, is required.
• Students write informally as well as formally about course
content.
• Assignments build on one another.
More about. . .
• Writing-intensive (W) Program
• Faculty Certification Program
• KCC Writing Fellow Program
Faculty Certification Program
There are three options for becoming WAC certified:
A. an on campus workshop series
B. an online tutorial
C. independent submission of a writing intensive course portfolio.
The goal of each is the submission of a course portfolio in which
faculty showcase the writing assignments they use in the context of
the goals of their course.
After drafting this course portfolio in the Winter, Option A and B
candidates pilot their course in the Spring.
Final course portfolios are due at the end of June.
More about. . .
• Writing-intensive (W) Program
• Faculty Certification Program
• KCC Writing Fellow Program
KCC Writing Fellow Program
CUNY Writing Fellows are funded through the Graduate Center
and spend one academic year at KCC.
Fellows work 450 hours a year, three days a week, on campus.
Fall: Fellows become WAC certified by revising one of the
courses they have taught at CUNY.
Winter: Fellows work with faculty certification candidates
on campus and online.
Spring: Fellows partner with faculty piloting writing
intensive versions of their course for the first time.
Fellows also tutor W section and Honors students in our
Assignment Lab in the Writing Center.
What’s involved in becoming “certified?”
• Writing-intensive (W) Program
• Faculty Certification Program
• KCC Writing Fellow Program
Why do faculty get certified?
• To be able to offer W sections for their department.
• To enjoy a course cap of 25 students for each W section
offered.
• To receive 3 hours of release time upon successful completion
of the certification process.
• To earn a letter of appreciation from the Provost for their
Tenure and Promotion file and credit for a contribution to the
college.
• To make the time to think about their teaching and how to
better align their practices with their values and goals.
• To interact with faculty from other disciplines in talking about
teaching and learning at KCC and make new friends.
A three step process: participate in a certification course,
pilot your revised syllabus, submit a revised course
portfolio to become certified.
How do faculty become certified?
• Option A: An on campus workshop series with nine sessions,
Mondays and Thursdays from 1 PM to 3:30 PM.
• Option B: An online tutorial with nine modules to be
completed in the Winter using Wordpress blogs.
• Option C: Independent submission of a writing intensive
course portfolio according to KCC guidelines.
Option A. On Campus Group Work. In a 9 session workshop
series, faculty read, write, and discuss with the goal of revising
course goals, assignments, and syllabus structure; they submit
a provisional course portfolio by mid February.
There is always time for reflection in the on campus workshop. . .
Faculty working on campus also post their homework on linked individual blogs online.
That way, Coordinators , Writing Fellow partners, and other faculty can read and respond.
WAC Online: Working independently
using our online tutorial
Some general facts about WAC Online.
• Goal: to retool a course to make it more reading/writing
intensive.
• Faculty work on own schedule, but not at own pace:
there is a timeline and a contract to ensure timely
progress.
• Group discussion is enabled on a Motherblog site where
certification candidates post regularly and respond to
each other.
• Reflective writing designed to support course revision is
completed on an individual blog.
• The course of study in 9 modules ends with the
submission in mid February of a provisional course
portfolio to which we respond.
• The final course portfolio is due in June after faculty have
the opportunity to pilot the course with the help of a
Writing Fellow.
Our online tutorial consists of two spaces: a Motherblog
and individual faculty blogs, all interconnected.
The modules listed at the top of the Motherblog contain a list of
reading and writing assignments connected to a specific topic.
Topics covered in the nine modules of
WAC Online:
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•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Introduction (Fulwiler, Elbow, Emig, Russell, Bean, Ch 1)
What are academic literacies? Which do you teach? (W&A, 1 -4)
Support for Reading (Bean, Ch 9)
Writing as Thinking (Bean, Ch 2: Critical Thinking)
Creating Effective Formal Writing Assignments (Bean, Ch 6)
Informal Writing (Bean, Ch. 7: Exploratory writing)
Response (Bean, Ch 15/16: Coaching, Writing Comments)
Assessing (Bean, Ch 14: Using Rubrics)
Responding to Error (Bean, Ch 5: Grammar and Correctness)
Faculty work primarily with John Bean’s Engaging Ideas, but also with
the first four chapters of Effective Grading (Walvoord and Anderson).
The goal is syllabus and assignment revision.
To post, faculty must choose the blog name in the upper left hand
corner, then New, then Post
When WAC Online faculty post, they categorize each of their entries.
WAC Online faculty also categorize their postings when they work on their individual
blog. Each assignment within a module has a category.
Prompts in each module consist of 5 tasks, or intellectual “moves.” Our
goal is to model various kinds of informal, writing-to-learn assignments
that faculty might consider using in their W course.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Writing reflectively about your own experience with the topic,
including thinking about your own evolution as an academic
writer.
Writing in response to a reading assignment; experimenting with
approaches to annotation.
Application of ideas to a new context: What has been your
experience with this topic in teaching your KCC course? What
changes might you make and why?
Process writing about “what stood out” in the module work.
Revising/editing that informal writing to share with a more public
audience on the Motherblog. Reflecting on that process.
A fifth move involves posting to the Motherblog and responding
to others there. Participating in a public exchange using writing.
Timeline for WAC Certification
•
October 15: Application deadline
Mid November: Orientation for certification candidates.
January, February: Certification training, either online or on campus.
January 19th: Online and on campus candidates need to have completed the work for at
least Modules 1 – 4 .
February 1st: Online and on campus candidates must have completed at least Modules 1
– 7 of the WAC seminar.
Mid February: Provisional course portfolios due by 5 PM.
Spring Semester: Piloting of re-designed courses with the help of a Writing Fellow
June: Courses portfolios are revised based on feedback received on the provisional
course portfolio and faculty experience piloting it with the support of a Writing Fellow.
June 30th: Final course portfolios are due by 5 PM.
Receive a letter from the Provost for your tenure and promotion file and 3 hours of
release time/cash payment.
What is included in a Certification Course Portfolio?
Reflective Statement
Provide the reader of your portfolio with an overview of the course: What do
you teach and why? What are the weight bearing elements of your syllabus?
How has your thinking about the teaching of your course changed as a result
of your experiences in the WAC certification program? What changes have
you made and why? (Final portfolio: What did you learn from piloting this
writing intensive version of your course? What changes have you made and
why?)
Detailed Syllabus
Include teaching/learning goals of the course and the sequence and character
of reading and writing assignments, including due dates for drafts. Writing will
count at least 30% in determining the final grade for the course.
Copies of Assignments (handouts you give to the student)
Submit copies of all assignments, including informal writing prompts and
Blackboard discussion topics. Assignments should match up with items on
your syllabus.
Student Work (Final portfolio only)
Erase student names from samples. Student work (sample of good, better,
best) should be attached to the assignments and clearly labeled.
Our tool is dialogue. . .