TETYC Proposal, 1
Graduate Certificate Proposal
Teaching English in the Two-Year College (TETYC)
Department of English
1. Educational Objectives
The Graduate Certificate in Teaching English in the Two Year College (TETYC) in ECU’s
English Department will prepare professionals for career opportunities teaching
students in remedial/developmental through advanced writing and reading courses
common to the two-year college setting. Likewise, for those students interested in
teaching at four-year colleges or as lateral entry high school teachers, the courses in this
certificate program would provide a useful pedagogical foundation. As such, the
Certificate will add an attractive option to current graduate students in the English
department working on their MAs, as well as those currently teaching at high schools
and two-year colleges who seek professional development. It will also provide those
with Master’s degrees with a specific credential for teaching English in the community
or two-year college.
Students who participate in the certificate program will meet the following learning
outcomes and objectives, which, in part, are shared by the other certificate programs in
the department.
Students will
 understand and discuss literacy and language issues for students typically
enrolled in two-year college settings (developmental through advanced);
 understand and apply methods, materials, and assessment practices which
support learning in the two-year college environment;
 understand theoretical foundations and demonstrate pedagogical application for
teaching English in the two-year college environment;
 understand and demonstrate action research methods teachers can use to
improve instruction.
2. Admissions & Retention Standards
The Graduate Certificate in TETYC will be available to qualified candidates with an
interest in teaching English at the community college level. Successful applicants will
hold a BA or BS or its equivalent from an accredited college or university in the US or
overseas and have some academic or practical experience in any area of English studies.
Applicants may also hold a Master’s or doctoral degree. Nonnative speakers of English
will be required to submit a qualifying score on the Test of English as a Foreign Language
(TOEFL), the International English Language Testing System (IELTS), or the Pearson Test
of English (PTE). No other admission requirements will apply. Students seeking the
certificate must be admitted to the ECU Graduate School as either degree-seeking or
non-degree-seeking students. They may be, but do not have to be, concurrently
enrolled in an ECU graduate degree program. In the case of concurrent enrollment,
students must obtain approval of the director of the degree program in which they are
TETYC Proposal, 2
enrolled. All students must remain in compliance with all Graduate School policies and
procedures. Students interested in continuing their graduate level education in this field
beyond the Certificate, if admitted, will be able to submit a request for the four courses
to be transferred toward their MA English with a concentration in English Studies.
3. Proposed Course Sequence
This Certificate will consist of 4 courses (12 sh). It will not require development of any
new courses. English 7666 serves as a capstone course and should be taken after the
other courses have been taken; the other courses may be taken in any order.
The following courses are required:
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English 7975: Developmental English in the Two-Year College (3)
History and pedagogy of developmental writing in the two-year college.
Emphasis given to the development of effective teaching methods.
English 7960: Methods of Teaching English in the Two-Year College (3)
History and pedagogy of teaching writing in the two-year college.
Emphasis given to the development of effective teaching methods.
English 7666: Teaching English in the Two-Year College Internship (3)
Supervised on-site research and instruction in rhetoric, composition, and
theory.
One Elective Course from the following:
o English 6528: Teaching English as a Second Language (3)
Current theories and principles of teaching English to non-native
speakers or speakers of nonstandard dialects.
o English 6625: Teaching Composition: Theory & Practice (3)
Composition theory and its applications to college writing
instruction.
o English 7745: Teaching Professional Communication (3)
Theoretical concepts involved in preparation of training materials
targeting adult learners, including instructional materials that
allow users both to complete tasks and learn theoretical concepts.
Review of methods of distributing training.
o English 7950: Issues in Teaching Composition (3)
Advanced composition theory and its applications to writing
instruction.
Other courses may be substituted with approval from the Director of
Graduate Studies.
4. Catalog Copy
CERTIFICATE IN TEACHING ENGLISH IN THE TWO-YEAR COLLEGE (TETYC)
TETYC Proposal, 3
The graduate certificate in TETYC is designed for qualified candidates who wish to
further their education in the field of teaching English at the community or two-year
college.
Applicants seeking admission to this program must hold a BA, BS, or an equivalent
degree from an accredited college or university in the US or overseas. Nonnative
speakers of English will be required to submit a qualifying score on the Test of English as
a Foreign Language (TOEFL), the International English Language Testing System (IELTS),
or the Pearson Test of English (PTE). Students interested in pursuing the certificate can
enroll as non-degree seeking students or pursue the certificate concurrently while
enrolled in an ECU graduate program. Admission is based on completion of the ECU
certificate application and approval by the program coordinator.
The certificate program requires 12 s.h. of graduate-level course work, including ENGL
7666, 7960, and 7975 (required), and 3 s.h. to be selected from ENGL 6528, 6625, 7745,
and 7950. Other courses may be substituted with approval from the Director of
Graduate Studies.
5. How will the proposed course sequence associated with the certificate meet the
stated educational objectives?
The proposed courses will provide graduate level instruction in the fundamentals of
teaching English to students enrolled in two-year and community colleges. Instruction is
designed to cover the following four components: (1) literacy and language issues for
students typically enrolled in two-year college settings (developmental through
advanced); (2) methods, materials, and assessment practices which support learning in
the two-year college environment; (3) theoretical foundations and pedagogical
application for teaching English in the two-year college environment; and (4) action
research methods teachers can use to improve instruction. Student completing
undergraduate and/or graduate degrees in English are likely to have extensive training
in textual analysis/interpretation, but may lack training in two key areas significant for
success in community/two-year college teaching: 1) knowledge of the two-year college
context (e.g., student backgrounds and experiences, educational goals, history and
development of two-year college curricula); and 2) experience conducting pedagogical
inquiry/teacher action research. ENGL 7960 and ENGL 7975 will provide students
background knowledge on two-year colleges, particularly the evolution of English
curricula, and will explore research-based best practices in teaching the range and
diversity of students who attend the two-year college. The choice of one elective course
offers students a chance to enhance their previous coursework in English or to fill a
possible gap that would be helpful in teaching in a two-year college context. The
capstone course, ENGL 7666, builds on the previous courses by providing a space for
students to conduct site-based teacher action research in order to address a key
question or problem that published research or teaching experiences have suggested
needs to be addressed. ENGL 7666, therefore, provides a chance for certificate students
TETYC Proposal, 4
to link theory to practice, either through observing/studying a two-year college
class/teacher or, for those who already teach at a community college, their own
classrooms.
6. What evidence suggests that the proposed program is needed?
The Graduate Studies program in English receives several inquiries a month from people
who would like to teach English at the community college level and need courses in
English at the graduate level. Some potential students already have Master’s degrees,
and this certificate, along with one of our others, would provide them with the
credentials, normally 18 hours, they need to teach in a community college or university
setting. This certificate, along with some teaching experience, will provide MA students,
who are interested in teaching English at post-secondary educational levels, with the
educational experiences they need to more easily secure such positions and to make the
transition to the two-year college environment more effectively. The majority of our
campus-based MA graduates are currently employed by post-secondary educational
institutions, including two- and four-year colleges and universities. Anecdotal evidence
suggests that some of these students would have liked to have had courses that
addressed many of the issues they face while they teach English in these institutions.
Likewise, experience suggests that the students who have taken some of the existing
TETYC courses have fared better in securing full-time employment at two-year colleges
and have experienced an easier transition for working with students in developmental /
remedial courses.
In addition, the Modern Language Association’s (MLA) recent report, “Rethinking the
Master’s Degree in English for a New Century,” and the “Teaching Guidelines for the
Academic Preparation of English Faculty at Two-Year Colleges,” prepared by the TwoYear College English Association (TYCA) of the National Council of Teachers of English,
call for programs to assess how they are meeting the needs of those seeking a MA
degree and those who are planning to teach at two-year colleges. The MLA report
identifies “a gap between students’ aspirations and employment outcomes on the one
hand and MA programs’ stated goals and curricular requirements on the other” and
concludes that “as the number of non-tenure-track faculty members has grown,
students have come to regard MA programs as a route to employment as postsecondary
teachers.”
The TYCA report points out that English graduate programs haven’t always adequately
prepared students for teaching two-year college students. The report concludes that
“the complex role of the two-year college professional can best be developed in a
graduate program carefully designed to integrate theory and praxis and to provide
graduates with both breadth and depth in the field. One of the best ways for students to
learn about teaching in a community college environment is for them to complete
teaching internships.” The report suggests that graduate programs should include the
following in-depth courses in writing, teaching writing, working with adult learners, and
curriculum development, as well as coursework in the following areas:
TETYC Proposal, 5
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Theories of learning, including basic writing and literacy for adult learners
Composition theory and pedagogy
Rhetoric and rhetorical theory
Reading and literacy
Multilingual/multicultural, ESL education
Computer-mediated learning and digital environments
Research methods
The proposed TETYC certificate will provide students with an important and oftenoverlooked educational component that can help them be successful upon completing
these requirements.
7. Estimate the number of certificates to be awarded in the first five years.
Year 1
0
Year 2
3
Year 3
6
Year 4
9
Year 5
12
8. How will the effectiveness of the certificate program be evaluated? What QEP will
you use to further improve the program?
Mini-Portfolio and Reflective Writing
As part of the capstone course (ENGL 7666), students will present a portfolio of three (3)
to five (5) pieces of work with an accompanying five to ten page reflective/analytical
discussion of that work which responds to prompts provided by faculty. Students will
not be required to revise the works from previous courses. The portfolios will not be
graded and will not factor into the students’ course grades (apart from the initial grade
given to the work as part of the class) nor into granting of the certificate.
At the beginning of their programs, students will be informed of the portfolio process
and asked to save the work from the classes they take toward their certificates. In the
semester that students complete the certificate, they will choose three to five pieces of
writing from the body of work completed for classes that count towards their
certificate. Students will submit these documents to the faculty (via an electronic
mechanism such as Blackboard, Sharepoint, or other secure electronic storage site)
along with the reflective essay.
The essay will respond to a prompt that faculty will provide yearly to guide students in
writing the document. The prompt will seek to elicit information from students about
how—and how well—they understand, can reflect on, and have demonstrated in their
work outcomes that the faculty chooses for assessment in a given year. We anticipate
assessing two to four outcomes in an assessment period. Some outcomes will be
applicable to students in all of our certificate programs, though with variations (for
example, preparation to function in a global context; ability to connect theories to
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practice; ability to analyze critically secondary sources). Other outcomes may be more
specific to particular certificate programs (for example, the ability to connect disciplinespecific theory to field-specific practice). The prompts will encourage students to draw
on the portfolio documents to exemplify and support their reflections.
Assessment
Prior to assessment tasks, all identifying personal information will be removed from the
students’ work. The reflective essays will then be holistically evaluated by faculty in the
areas offering the certificates according to rubrics with five-point scales for each
outcome assessed. Each outcome scale will be tied to descriptions of the measures, and
faculty completing assessment will participate in a norming activity to acclimate to the
rubric. The portfolio pieces that the students submit will be used as supporting
documentation for their reflections. Faculty will be able to consult the examples the
students cite from their work as necessary. In addition, should outcomes assessment in
any given year include direct assessment of competencies in writing (e.g., organization,
appropriate tone and style, logic), the students’ papers will be available for that
purpose. The prompts provided for the assessment activity should guide students’
choices of work to include in the portfolio, which also may be reflected in the
assessment.
In addition to determining whether students can perform the outcomes that are explicit
and implicit in the certificate programs, we are also interested in how well the
certificate programs assist students in achieving their individual educational and
professional goals.
Data
Data from the holistic assessment would be provided in a numerical form that could be
reported in TracDat. Though the numbers of students receiving certificates from each of
the four programs in any given year may be small, we believe that the assessment will
help us recognize problems in program outcomes, or in the ways we work with students
to help them achieve the outcomes. We anticipate that several general outcomes that
apply across certificate programs will be informative in helping us identify goals for
program improvements. We also anticipate that data collected for the same outcomes
over several years might provide sufficient information to indicate whether, and how
effectively, interventions based on early assessments are working. We expect 80% of
students to achieve a score of 4 or higher on each outcome assessed.
9. The faculty associated with or contributing to the certificate program.
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Will Banks, PhD, Rhetoric & Composition
Lida Cope, PhD, Linguistics & TESOL
Michelle Eble, PhD, Rhetoric & Professional Writing
Dana Harrington, PhD, Rhetoric & Composition
Brent Henze, PhD, Rhetoric & Professional Writing
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Donna Kain, PhD, Rhetoric & Professional Writing
Joyce Middleton, PhD, Rhetoric & Composition
Tracy Ann Morse, PhD, Rhetoric & Composition
Wendy Sharer, PhD, Rhetoric & Composition
Kirk St. Amant, PhD, Rhetoric & Professional Writing
10. Name and CV of the faculty member who will coordinate the certificate program.
Dr. William P. Banks, Associate Professor of Rhetoric & Composition
See Attached CV
11. Does this program qualify for any professional license?
No
12. List the Classification of Instructional Program (CIP) title and six-digit code.
23.1304 / Rhetoric and Composition
13. What is the minimum number of weeks required for a student to complete the
certificate?
40 weeks (two regular semesters and two summer semesters if students take
one course per semester)