1
Weekly WAC Minutes
February 1, 2010
Brooklyn College, 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM
Co-Coordinators: Ellen Belton and Corey Frost
Fellows: Jamie Aroosi (Minutes), Siobhan Cooke, Jen-Scott Mobley, Tahneer Oksman, Brendan O’Malley,
and Jennifer Russo
New Minutes Format:
 Ellen suggested that all minute takers should identify themselves in the minutes
 Ellen also suggested that all items requiring further action have the responsible parties names
indicated
To do list:
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
8)
9)
10)
11)
12)
Brendan has some internet work to finish for the freshman anthology
Corey will update and reprint brochures
Jamie and Siobhan will bring in a section of the research paper brochure
Corey will troubleshoot any outstanding issues of non-payment for workshop participation
Ellen or Corey will verify whether Brooklyn College Graduate Students not teaching at Brooklyn
can be remunerated for participation in the English Comp workshop
Tahneer will begin working on an English Comp handbook
Jen will show Jamie (and Tahneer and Brendan) how to maintain the website
Complete Brendan’s readings for next week, plus 3 NY Times articles by Stanley Fish (Jen-Scott’s
readings will be for February 22, or later)
Tahneer and Jen-Scott will continue working on the “Tips for New Fellows,” soliciting other help
as needed
Ellen will meet with Health and Nutritional Science and Children’s Studies to consult over
becoming writing intensive
Corey or Ellen need to contact Robert Shapiro (Judaic Studies) over the fellows inability to
deliver mini-lessons this semester
Jen-Scott and Brendan will email their workshop participants to see if they would like minilessons, Siobhan will look into contacting her own participants too
General Business:
1) Project Review
a) Freshman Anthology
- Project has been completed by Brendan, but some internet work remains to be done
- Janet Moser is very happy with the work, but Brendan suggested that the next fellow involved in
the project should have internet skills
b) Update Current Brochures – Only the contact information needs updating
- Corey has the electronic copies, so he will update and reprint
- Fewer copies will be printed this time to avoid having to recycle outdated brochures
- It was suggested that a permanent coordinator email address be created that can be passed on
from one coordinator to the next as this would avoid some future updates
c) New Brochures – Jamie and Siobhan will bring in a draft of a section of the research paper
brochure for next week
d) Faculty Workshops – Jen will take on Jen-Scott’s April 6 Workshop due to a scheduling conflict
2
e) Core – Brendan would like to make working with Core 2.2: The Shaping of the Modern World a
focus of his this semester
- He plans on working on the writing component of this class
f) English Comps – proceeding well
- Tahneer suggested we add something into the flyer to try and discourage last minute dropouts
- Ellen suggested we extend these workshops to graduate students at Brooklyn College who might
not be teaching on campus
- These students should be included in the next round of advertising
- Whether or not these students can be paid will need to be verified
g) Archivist – ongoing
- Brendan will focus on getting all electronic material organized and on the website
- There is a lot of text-only material and it is unclear how this material will be archived – scanning
this material is one option
h) Mini-Lessons
- 7 mini-lessons have been vetted, approved, and uploaded to the website while 9 mini-lessons still
require editing
- We clarified the vetting process (one person guides the mini-lesson revision, they edit it and send it
to the group via email, the group edits and sends the edits back via email, the corrected version is
brought to a meeting for final approval)
- “Different modes in writing” was a suggestion for a new mini-lesson – it would cover such topics as
passive voice, the first person singular and third person, perhaps also professional writing etiquette
(email voice, etc.)
- Tahneer suggested that there is a good chapter on email etiquette in Patricia O’Connor’s book
“Woe is I”
i) Weekly Readings
- We will read Brendan’s articles for next week, and we will return to Jen-Scott’s reading on
February 22
- Corey suggested we also read Stanley Fish’s three articles from the New York Times
j) Stealth Pedagogy
- Completed successfully
k) Tips for incoming fellows
- Tahneer has a file for this, but not much has been done – any tips can be emailed to Tahneer
- We do have a survival guide for new Fellows but there is a need for practical advice
- It was suggested that an outline of BC WAC common practices can be compiled
- It could explain what a workshop is, what a mini-lesson is, how the website operates, details of
how meetings are run and their content, how to keep track of hours
- It could take the form of a small brochure or a letter
- Jen-Scott will work with Tahneer, and other help will be solicited as needed
l) Resource Book for English Comp - Tahneer wants to work on an English Comp handbook this
semester
- It would include advice from senior faculty related to both teaching and non-teaching dimensions
of the job
- Corey suggested she look at the handbook for the old core 6 class
2) Faculty Request (last semester)
a) Business – At a standstill
- Ellen will continue working with Veronica Manlow to see if the project can advance
b) PR Campaign – Completed
3
- As of now, there is nothing further to do
c) Education – Completed
d) History – Brendan has ongoing work with History
e) Business (John Frankenstein) – Completed
f) English (Tanya Pollard) – Completed
g) Health (Michele Green) – Completed
h) Health (Tracy Chu) – Completed
i) Judaic Studies (Robert Shapiro) – Completed
j) Psychology (Margaret Ellen Pipe) – Completed
k) Speech (Longtin) – Completed
l) Political Science (Department) – Jamie is continuing to try and work with the department
m) Education (Taubman) – Completed
n) Political Science (Estey) – Completed
3) Spring Workshop
- The workshops on February 19 and March 19 conflict with coordinators conferences, so Corey will
attend these workshops
- In the future, we should try to schedule the workshops for a wider variety of times and days, so that
more people will be able to come. (Mornings, weekdays, etc.)
4) New Requests
a) Health and Nutritional Sciences – they want to become writing intensive
- Ellen will meet with them
b) Children’s Studies – they want to become writing intensive
- Ellen will also meet with them
c) Health and Nutritional Sciences – request for mini-lessons from Betty Levin
- Tahneer and Jen-Scott will cover these
d) Sociology (Roberta Satow) – mini-lesson request
- Handled by Jamie
e) History (Brigid O’Keefe) – mini-lesson request
- Handled by Brendan
f) Biology (Peter Lipke)
- Handled by Siobhan
g) Health and Nutritional Sciences (Tracy Chu) – mini-lesson request
- Jen will handle these
- Siobhan will send the material she used last semester in this class
h) Judaic Studies (Robert Shapiro) – mini-lesson request
- We will send him the material, and either Corey or Ellen will follow up regarding our inability to
deliver lessons for him this semester
5) Website – Jen led a short tutorial
- Jamie will take on internet duties next year, but Tahneer and Brendan will also learn how to maintain
the website
- All changes are made via Dashboard
- Fellows are now responsible for uploading their own minutes, workshop material and (vetted) minilessons
- Fellows should not add pages or change the hierarchies as this will lead to confusion
- Fellows can edit existing pages
4
Next meeting’s Agenda:
1) Discuss and edit the research paper brochure
2) Cover Brendan’s readings, and the 3 articles by Stanley Fish