ASCRC Writing Committee Minutes, 10/1/12
TODD 203
Members Present: G. Burns, B. Chin, C. Corr, J. Glendening, J. Melcher, D. Raiford, R. Sattler, M.
Stark, M. Triana
Ex-Officio Members Present: K. Ryan, K. Webster
Members Absent/Excused: B. Bach, J. Drew, F. Rosenzweig
Guest: C. Coder
The meeting was called to order at 10:10 p.m.
The minutes from 9/11/12 were approved.
Communication Items:

Carl Coder was welcomed to the committee. He was hired to help with phase 2 of the Writing
Assessment Pilot Project.

Camie received a request for the committee to consider renaming the upper-division writing
requirement. Departments often get confused. Kate Ryan and Kelly Webster will consider a
new name for the requirement and report back to the committee.

Several members of the Writing Committee attended the The Montana Writing Summit:
Sustaining Gains. Chair Chin was Keynote speaker. The summit brought together high school
and college writing instructors from around the state. The Montana University System Writing
Assessment (MUSWA) has worked on assessment and common core state standards for the
past 12 years. Future efforts will focus on Literacy in Social Science, Science, and Technical
Subjects (LISSTS) funded through a Title II grant.

Professor Bach and Hinman have resigned from the Committee. Starting today Professor
Hinman assumed a .5 position as the Interim Associate Provost for Dynamic Learning.
Business Items:

Composition Director, Kate Ryan provided an overview of WRIT 101 assessment efforts.
Members should reference the web page
(http://www.cas.umt.edu/english/composition/writ101/writ101.cfm) for general information.
See outline appended.

Director Wesbster asked for volunteers to serve on the UDWPA Appeal Committee. Professors
Stark and Glendening, and Student member Mark Triana volunteered to serve.

Group One worked on the procedure for Writing Course Transfer Equivalency Appeal
Guidelines. The Writing Committee approved the draft procedure 202.50.5 appended below
was approved. This was forwarded to ASCRC for consideration.

Group One is also working to identify training papers. To start this process each member will
use the rubric to score 30 student papers, keeping notes as to what contributed to their score
decision. The Group will meet to discuss the scores (agreements/ disagreements). There is
concern regarding whether the analytic rubric is the appropriate tool to collect the appropriate
data. Analytic rubrics provide more specific feedback but require a significant amount of time
to train scorers to be accurate and efficient.

Group Two identified that data is needed in order to create a position paper on the lowerdivision writing course issue. Although there are anecdotal reports of a gap in students’ writing
skills, there is no formal way to keep the information. Survey questions may include: Do
students have difficulty accessing writing courses that meet the needs of the major, and how
well do the lower –division writing courses serve the needs of students. We need to know what
is provided and what should be provided in order to show a clear path with explicit definitions.

Group Two is also reviewing courses for writing designations. Forty-eight writing forms were
submitted for review. Members of Work Group Two have been assigned teams to evaluate the
writing course forms. One issue is that English submitted all its upper-division writing courses
on approved writing course forms. The Committee agreed to allow English to resubmit the
appropriate forms by November 1st.

HISTA 417 meets the upper-division Writing Requirement, and the Registrar’s Office is able to
add this to the schedule and Banner for the students currently enrolled. The Committee may
wish to recommend a mechanism that allows students to easily recognize writing and upperdivision writing courses. This may make departments accountable for the timely processing of
appropriate forms.
Good and Welfare

The Library has a blog (http://content.lib.umt.edu/facultyblog/?p=1302) that lists favorite
banned books in recognition of Banned Books Week, a celebration of the freedom to “seek and
to express ideas, even those some consider unorthodox or unpopular.” – American Library
Association http://www.ala.org/advocacy/banned/bannedbooksweek
The meeting was adjourned at 12:00 p.m.
Composition Program Overview
Placement
Students Placed into WRIT 095, 101, or 201 based on their scores on the following tests: MUSWA, SAT
or ACT Writing Subscore, SAT Writing Section, Combined English/Writing ACT, or AP Lang and
Composition score. We also use a local assessment for those students who don’t have scores to report.
This approach follows BOR Policy 301.17 – Composition Placement, established in 2007.
Overview of Courses
In addition to College Writing I (WRIT 101) and College Writing II (WRIT 201), the Composition
Program offers composition classes in the computer classroom; occasional special topics courses in
Rhetoric and Composition Studies; and Teaching College Composition (WRIT 540), a requirement for
first-year composition instructors. This course provides new UM Composition Program teaching assistants
with an introduction to theories and practices that surround composition pedagogy.
Mission
The Composition Program seeks to advance the University´s mission to pursue academic excellence in the
context of writing instruction. Undergraduate composition courses, as part of general education at the
University of Montana, help students become more effective writers and researchers by teaching students
flexible strategies for researching and composing texts. These courses privilege a workshop environment
where students learn about composition and rhetorical theory by practicing reading, researching, and
writing as acts of inquiry. Students often work in small groups to write, read, and problem-solve together.
Students create portfolios of their writing throughout the semester because this kind of assessment
supports student agency and change–that is, rhetorical agility developed over time in different genres.
Outcomes for College Writing I, WRIT 101.
http://www.cas.umt.edu/english/composition/writ101/outcomes101.cfm
Outcomes for College Writing II, WRIT 201
http://www.cas.umt.edu/english/composition/writ201/outcomes201.cfm
WRIT 540 Overview
http://www.cas.umt.edu/english/composition/writ540.cfm
Methods of Assessment
Students (enrolled in right class). placement, placement survey tool.
Instructor Assessment. Course observations, course evaluations (narrative and scantron), grading tables,
renewal process.
Program Assessment. We look across the instructor assessments over time and to inquire into particular
questions to do program assessment. For instance, we regularly look at a few specific questions on the
scantron evaluation, including those on the instructor’s use of class time, or ability to explain (instructions
or concepts). We have also used questionnaires, reflections, and conversation to gather information from
teachers & instructors. We emphasize instructor assessment as a critical part of program assessment
because our TAs often have little to no teaching experience and only teach between 2-4 semesters.
Inquiry-Based Assessment. Based on what we learn from other assessments, we might decide there’s a
need for a specific assessment project.
Example: Conducted assessment when WRIT 195 was being developed into an ongoing course to articulate
the outcomes. Phase 1. Conducted a questionnaire to gather information about why students choose to
take WRIT 201 & looked at a sampling of reflective introductions to student portfolios. Phase 2. Collected
teacher reflections on the assessment project, an additional set of reflective essays, and samples of student
writing from the major papers. We all met together and talked about what we observed across the samples,
what we thought it meant, and what we wanted to change or keep in the course to create the outcomes
and design our syllabi.
Example: Conducting assessment of portfolio learning. The first phase is a survey of WRIT 101 at the end
of semester. Our goal is to gather information on this question: How is portfolio teaching going for first
year teachers of writing?
_________________________________________________
Procedure Number: 202.50.5
Procedure:
Writing Course Transfer Equivalency Appeal Guidelines
Date Adopted:
10/1/12
Last Revision:
Approved by:
10/1/12
ASCRC Writing Committee
Writing Course Requirement and Transfer Students
The Admissions Office (406-243-6266) evaluates transcripts for course equivalencies with the
exception of UM’s approved writing courses. If transfer students believe a transfer course meets
the approved writing course requirement
(http://www.umt.edu/facultysenate/committees/writing_committee/guidelines.php),
they may petition for an exemption through the Writing Committee. These students must
provide the following information to the Writing Committee. Appeal information should be
submitted to the Faculty Senate Office, UH 221, camie.foos@mso.umt.edu, 243-5553.
1. A cover letter outlining the basis for the request. Include pertinent information such as contact
information, student ID number, and how you fulfilled this requirement in a course at
your previous institution.
2. A syllabus and course description. The course must include at least 16 pages of writing for
assessment and at least 50% of the course grade should be based on your performance on
writing assignments.
3. Three papers from any college class with original instructor comments. Original instructor
comments are those grading and feedback markings on papers that are returned to the
student for revision or at the end of the term. Papers without these comments will not be
considered. At least one of these papers must be at least six pages long and include a
bibliography or works cited. Your papers should demonstrate your ability to:







Use writing to learn and synthesize new concepts
formulate and express written ideas that are developed, logical, and organized
Compose written texts that are appropriate for a given audience, purpose, and context
Revise written work based on comments from the instructor
Find, evaluate, and use information effectively and ethically
Begin to use discipline-specific writing conventions
Demonstrate appropriate English language usage.
Incomplete packets will not be evaluated.
This information pertains only to the approved writing course, not the departmental upperdivision writing requirement. Students should speak to their major department regarding any
issues relating to the upper-division writing requirement.