Florida Atlantic University
Center for Teaching and Learning
Faculty Learning Community 2012-2013
Duration: [ ] Fall 2013 only [ ] Spring 2014 only [x] Full-Year
Facilitator : Jeffrey R. Galin, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of English/WAC Director,
Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters
Focus : While Writing Across the Curriculum has served the lower division well, there is little university support for writing in the upper division, despite the fact that 50% of our students have transferred here and have never taken a writing course at FAU. This FLC will explore how to implement a Writing Enriched Curriculum (WEC) at FAU based on University of
Minnesota’s successful WEC program. Participants will examine how dynamic criteria mapping and curriculum mapping can be implemented university-wide at FAU and how they can implement these processes within their own departments and classrooms. FLC members will help determine the design of the university program and policies, implement the process in their own classes, and have opportunities to serve as liaisons for their departments in the
WEC program.
Participants : We seek participants from any college or program who are interested in identifying ways to help their departments or the university better support writing in the upper division.
Participants will commit to examining existing learning outcomes and writing assignments in their degree programs in order to identify ways that current departmental assessment of writing (and other outcomes) can be enhanced.
Supervisor approval is required for FLC participation.
Outcomes : By the end of the FLC, participants will:
 Develop a comprehensive list of outcome goals for students from their own courses in the major (compare across departments and existing criteria at other universities)
 Map how their list of outcome goals are integrated into courses they teach (curriculum map)
 Identify in their own courses where gaps may be addressed (not all classes need to address all goals)
 Study departmental curriculum/assignments to determine how their courses fit into the larger scheme of support for writing in the majors (partial departmental curriculum map)
 Implement identified changes into their own courses (course syllabi and assignments)
 Help the WAC Director articulate a set of practices and policies for two pilot departments to initiate a department-wide WEC initiative—on a three year implementation cycle (completed WEC documents and policies)
 Share program documents and design at college assemblies and departmental meetings
Timeline : Sept-Oct: Review several models across the U.S., derive best practices, and design and develop overall program with policy documents to be shared with chairs, deans, faculty assemblies
Nov-Dec: Analysis of own course materials using newly designed documents for dynamic criteria mapping and curriculum mapping; also initiate departmental discussions

Jan-Feb: Obtain feedback on policies and documents; WEC documents go to WAC committee and UUPC
Mar-Apr: Finalize all procedures for WEC program; participants submit their own course plans for revising the courses they teach that will be affected by the curricular changes; assessment procedures will be included. Partial departmental curriculum maps will be submitted and reviewed to help identify two departments selected to pilot the process starting Fall 2014; Faculty Assemblies review and discuss program design and potential.
Potential Meeting Time : GS214B Every other Tuesday 1:00—3:00 PM, Boca Raton campus (video conference also)
Stipend : Participants will receive a stipend ($1000 full-year) for active participation in the FLC and upon fulfilling all FLC expectations. These expectations include attendance/participation in at least 80% of all group meetings and work, attendance/participation in the end-of-year
FLC luncheon on April 18, 2014, submission of an end-of-year report documenting individual outcomes and results for the FLC’s project(s), and completion of the end-of-year feedback survey.
Participation includes:
 Review of national WEC programs to derive best practices for FAU
 Full analysis of courses taught by faculty member: dynamic criteria mapping for outcomes in those courses, curricular map of own courses using the criteria derived from the criteria mapping process; documents submitted for discussion and peer review
 Group contributions to policy and procedure documents for university-wide WEC initiative
 Participation in university-wide conversations about WEC initiative