ASCRC WRITING COMMITTEE MEETING
Monday, May 7, 2015, 10:00 a.m. -12:00 p.m., Poetry Corner Mansfield Library
CALL TO ORDER
Chair Chin called the meeting to order at 10:10 a.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT:
T. Andrews, I. Appelbaum, S. Brown, G. Burns, B. Chin, H. Jurva, J. Gallo, J. Glendening, D. Raiford, M.
Stark, G. Weix
Ex-Officio Members Present: N. Lindsay, M. Mangold, N. Peeterse, K. Webster
Members Absent/Excused: C. Corr, D. Sewell, S. Williams
The minutes from April 6th were approved.
BUSINESS ITEMS

Nancy Clouse provided an update regarding the UPWA paper collection for the spring semester.
The Moodle shell has been open since April 19th and will close the Tuesday after finals. It seems
a bit low with only 119. Her niece is taking a writing course and was told the upload was
optional. We need to somehow create a sense that there is an enforcement mechanism. The
information needs to be on the course syllabus. It was suggested that information be put on
Moodle to inform students. Nancy stressed that Moodle is not designed for this purpose and
an alternative should be considered.
Natalie will provide instructors with information on how many of their students have uploaded
papers. Beverly would like there to be a repository of generic emails, so they do not need to be
redesigned each time. Thankfully Human Resources granted an exception to make Natalie’s
position permanent.

Natalie summarized a preliminary report (appended) from the Writing Retreat. Members that
attended provided feedback. There were complaints about the room size, noise, and length of
papers. People really enjoyed talking about the process and reading from different disciplines.
The table conversations were inspiring. It was good to participate in the larger collegiate
community. The final report will be completed by the end of May.
The next step will be thinking about what questions to ask of the data. Director Webster will
send the spreadsheet to Professor Raiford. He plans to have his Pattern Recognition Course
work with the data.

The Labeling Motion was approved by the Faculty Senate. It was decided that this should be
communicated to faculty on the Curriculum Deadline memo. Beth Howard will notify the
campus advising community of the change. Camie will ask the Registrar whether it is possible
to eliminate the old approved writing and upper-division writing attributes from the dropdown
list in Cyberbear.

Camie will send the Graduation Appeals report to the Writing Committee. There were 16
appeals for approved writing substitutions and 3 for upper-division writing substitutions.

A student contacted the Faculty Senate Office to appeal an upper-division writing transfer
course. She was referred to Graduation Appeals. The committee agreed that this was the
appropriate course of action. The Graduation Appeals Committee can consult with the Writing
Committee if necessary.

Two committee members reviewed the History Graduate Research Seminar and found that it
met the criteria and learning goals for an upper-division writing course. This was communicated
to the instructor and the student will go through the Graduation Appeals process.
Working group

The Catalog Review Workgroup (Applebaum / Weix) has not yet completed its work of finding all
the areas that the writing program labels need to be updated.

The Transfer Appeal Policy will need to be considered next year. It is unusual for transfer
appeals to look at student work. The syllabus should show whether the course meets the
criteria and learning outcomes of a writing course. The policy may not be needed if the general
education for transfer student motion is passed by the Faculty Senate this week. It would allow
transfer students from outside of Montana who transfer in 20 credits or more equivalent to the
MUS Transfer Core to complete the MUS Transferable General Education Curriculum rather than
UM’s General Education Requirements.

The Writing Resources Website is not yet live. Professor Raiford set up a meeting with Chair
Chin to go over her comments.

Chair-elect Stark would like the committee to think about a communication plan next year.

The revised Intermediate Writing Course form was reviewed. The draft included assessment
information similar to the general education assessment (pilot) form. There was concern that
this additional requirement would overwhelm faculty. The question regarding “How are learning
outcomes measured?” will remain on the form, but the questions on achievement targets,
assessment findings, and assessment feedback were removed. The committee will need to
discuss how to phase this in to the rolling review. Examples and training will be necessary prior
to changing the requirement. Another pilot might be a good idea.

Camie will send the draft rolling review deadline to Chair Stark, Associate Provost Lindsay, and
past Chair Chin to review.

The fall writing symposium is scheduled for September 25th. Chair-elect Stark will make sure it
gets on the Faculty Development Office’s calendar.

Outgoing members (Professors Burns, Corr, and Glendening) were thanked for their service.
Professor David Gates from English, Grace Haris, Athletic Academic Advisor, and Teaching
Assistant Christina Jardon will be joining the committee next year.
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 12:05 p.m.