ASCRC Writing Committee Minutes, 12/2/13
TODD 203
Members Present: I. Appelbaum, G. Burns, S. Brown, B. Chin, C. Corr, J. Glendening, J. Melcher,
M. Stark, M. Triana, G. Weix
Ex-Officio Members Present: D. Raiford, A. Ratto- Parks, K. Webster
Members Absent/Excused: J. Hickman, M. Kmetz, B. Sriraman
The meeting was called to order at 10:10 a.m.
The 11/4/13 minutes were amended and approved.
Communication Items:

The response to Geography’s Upper-Division Writing Assessment has not yet been sent. Professor
Raiford is still waiting for input from professors Weix and Kmetz. Chair Chin asked that the
response be sent Thursday with or without input. Camie can send it on behalf of the Writing
Committee. The message should indicate that the Committee appreciates the department asking for
feedback.

The spring retreat is scheduled for April 25that the Adams Center Sky Club. Due to the uncertainty
of lake ice and the cost for travel, the spring 2014 Writing Retreat will not be at the Salmon Island
Lodge. There are pros and cons for holding the retreat on campus. Faculty members may have
the perception that they can come and go if the event is on campus. The full day commitment is
important. Participants should be sent a letter recognizing the service and professional
development for FEC. Chair Chin and Camie are documenting the process for future writing
retreats.

Chair Chin and Camie discussed the Moodle shell with Nancy Clouse, Instructional Designer from
UM Online. The Committee was given a preview of the Moodle shell. Moodle is a place to hold
information it does not analyze data. It therefore may be necessary to design a cover sheet or
survey for students to complete when they upload their papers. A focus group consisting of Chair
Chin, Director Webster, Jake Hansen, Professor Cahoon and Nancy Clouse met to discuss the
instructions for instructors and appropriate questions for the survey. It is hoped that the
programming created for working with the UDWPA biographical information can be adapted for
the assessment. It uses students 790 number, which is linked to the netID students use to login to
Moodle. The logistics will need to be worked out be the new coordinator.
A separate Moodle Shell was set up for members of the Writing Committee to communicate ideas
about the survey. Chair Chin asked whether there was other useful information that should be
collected that is not in Banner. It was noted that the questions must be asked in a way that is
methodologically sound. The survey should target perhaps one theme each year that is relevant to
the learning outcomes and would be helpful for instructors. Possible questions may include
whether students understood the assignment, or whether they revised the paper after receiving
feedback from others (Writing Center, instructor, peers, roommate, or parent). The term “draft”
may be meaningless due to the nature of writing on a computer. An alternative would be to create
a list of items that were added or changed during the revision process such as organized sentences
better or added research. The Committee should request a review of the mechanism by members
of the faculty with expertise in conducting research with surveys. Members were encouraged to
add their questions to the forum in Moodle by the end of the week.
Chair Chin asked Directors Webster and Ratto-Parks to investigate what type of questions are
being asked by other institutions. Chair Chin will look at the National Assessment for Educational
Progress (NAEP) research with regard to how students use computers in writing.

ASCRC is discussing academic support for international students which include four EASL
courses. International students must take these courses if they score below 580 on the TOEFL
exam. It appears that international students must also take these courses if they wish to use their
native language to satisfy the general education language requirement. This seems unfair given
International students are also required to take WRIT 101 and an approved writing course.
Professor Weix questioned the relationship of the EASL courses to WRIT. Linguistics has no
desire for these courses to fulfill the writing requirement. The courses are primarily based on
speaking fluency and preparing students for learning in English.
There are concerns regarding international students’ difficulties with the Composition Placement
Exam. One difficulty is that students are not allowed to use the computer on the exam. It would be
helpful if the TOEFL score could also serve as a placement into a composition course. Director
Ratto-Parks was asked to create a flow chart of the issues and to think about whether there are any
questions the Committee should consider.
Business Items
 The courses that required follow-up (MUSI 417 and HSTA 418) were approved. A revised form
was received for MUSI 417 that minimally met the requirements. HSTA 418 was reviewed by
another group to assure consistency of review and was found to minimally meet the requirements.
These were accepted given the confusion with the form.
 The Save the Date communication was reviewed and edited. It will be sent to the subcommittee for
further editing. Chair Chin would like the message to be sent this Thursday. The message will be
sent to all faculty.
 Rather than send a message reminding instructors to include learning outcomes on syllabi, the work
group made suggestions to revise the Writing Course Forms. These included a yes/ no box for
each of the learning outcomes. In addition the following statements will be added: If yes, how will
student learning be supported; and, If no, course may not be eligible. The Information literacy
question will provide links to the actual level of the course with this statement: click here for info
lit outcomes course should support. In addition, one of the outdated writing course requirements
was removed. The revised forms will be approved at the next meeting. It was noted that the
approved writing course form and upper-division writing course form should be noticeably
different.
 Chair Chin asked the Committee to think about a chair for next year. The Committee very
enthusiastically asked that she continue to chair to maintain the momentum on the writing
assessment. She is needed to facilitate the Writing Assessment Retreat as well. Professor Stark
agreed to chair the 2015-2016 academic year provided she is awarded tenure next year.
 Members should think about possible incentives to increase lower-division writing course offerings.
 The Committee will meet on February 3, March 3, April 7, April 25, and May 5 from 10:10 – 12:00
p.m. spring semester.
Meeting was adjourned at12:00 p.m.