Jennifer Good, WAC Director
Jennifer Dyess, WAC Senior Program Associate

The WAC Committee
• Met eight times in 2011-2012
• Approved 42 content courses for writing-intensive
instruction in 2011-12 (Total number of writingintensive courses approved is 101.)
• Added a syllabus audit responsibility (as of August
2012) to help ensure ongoing compliance with WAC
program.

Notes: The full 2011-12 WAC Annual Report and WAC
Committee meeting minutes are available on AUMnet
57
60
50
40
29
30
20
20
10
0
3
9
3
10
0
5
7
11-12 Approved
Total Approved
Part I Details
Part II Details
Purpose
Introduce WAC before
WI instruction
Purpose
Embed support and
review into instruction
Mode
Four traditional 3hour workshops
Mode
Six hybrid 3-hour
workshops
Frequency
Offered 2x’s per
semester; 72 total hrs.
of facilitation
Frequency
Online via Blackboard;
traditional sessions
2x’s per semester
# Participants
51 faculty
# Participants
33 faculty
Incentive
$400 transferred into
dept. for each
completer
(Total=$20,400)
Incentive
$600 transferred into
dept. for each
completer
(Total: $19,800)
WFDI Part I
WFDI Part II
Construct
10-11
Mean
(N=14)
11-12
Mean
(N=32)
Student Learning: Skills
5.60
5.41
Student Learning: Content
5.76
5.44
Preparation for WI Course
5.84
5.34
Instruction Quality
6.83
6.12
Overall Program Worth
6.57
5.74
Support of LC Staff
6.45
5.79
Growth from Fellow
Colleagues
6.36
4.68
Table: Means per Construct
for 2010-11 and 2011-12
Cohorts
(Scale of 1, lowest, to 7, highest)




All means dropped in 201112, although still positive
when considering 7-point
scale.
The mean for “Instruction
Quality” remains the highest.
The mean for “Preparation in
Technology Management”
item remains the lowest for
the Preparation construct
(See full report).
This cohort did not feel that
other program faculty
encouraged their
development of writingintensive teaching skills.
50
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0


WI Comp
WI Content

A total of 126 WI-labeled
courses were offered for
undergraduates in 2011-12.
The additional credit hour in WI
content courses accounted for a
total increase in Credit Hour
Production of 1397, accounting
for 1.3% of the overall
undergraduate credit hour
production from Summer 2011
to Spring 2012.
Approximately $322,707 in
extra revenue was generated by
WAC due to increased CHP
(conservative estimate based on
$231 instate tuition rates.)



Pilot year with five
undergraduate peers assigned to
specific WI content-area courses.
Task
Frequency
(Sessions,
not Hours)
Students represented Nursing,
Theatre, Exercise Science,
History Education, and Biology
Majors.
Session Planning and
Communication
60 (28%)
Individual Tutoring
93 (44%)
The nomination process was
initiated again in Spring 2012,
resulting in eight new and one
returning WID intern for next
2012-13 academic year.
Student Group
Sessions
13 (6%)
Faculty Sessions
12 (6%)
Administrative Work
36 (17%)
Program Description
Task Analysis
Item
Mean
Intern’s knowledge of course content
3.82
Quality and Frequency of Communication with WI Instructor
3.77
Quality and Frequency of Communication with Students
3.92
Quality of Feedback about Writing During Drafting and Revision Process
3.91
Perception of the Impact the WID Intern had on Students’ Writing Abilities
3.55

Three Issues of The WAC-ky Times were distributed to AUM Faculty
and posted on the website.

Research Conference Presentations
◦ Good, J. (April 2012: Vancouver, BC.) Allowing the data to tell the story: Studying
writing assessment data to inform faculty development. Paper presented at the
annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association.
◦ Good, J., & Barksdale, J. (December 2011: Orlando, FL). Getting creative: Connecting
assessment of a writing QEP with assessment of general education outcomes.
Presentation at the annual meeting of the Southern Association of Colleges and
Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC).
◦ Good, J., & Barganier, S. (November 2011: Oxford, MS). Blending the best of academic
support in writing: The Writing in the Disciplines (WID) internship. Paper presented at
the annual meeting of the Mid-South Educational Research Association.
◦ Good, J., & Shumack, K. (November 2011: Oxford, MS). Incorporating Web-based
applications into WAC faculty training to link professional development and writingintensive instruction. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Mid-South
Educational Research Association.

Publication: Good, J.M., Osborne, K., & Birchfield, K. (2012). Placing
data in the hands of discipline-specific decision makers: Campuswide writing program assessment. Assessing Writing, 17, 140-149.
70
60
2010
50
2010

AUM
40
National
30
AUM
2012

Students (N=309) were tested in
ENGL 1020 in Spring 2012.

AUM scored slightly below the
national mean on all categories.

National mean dropped in all
categories from 2010 to 2012.
2012
20
National
10

0
Mechanics Rhetorical Composite
Skills
CAAP Writing Skills:
AUM and National Mean Scores
Writing skills are direct objectives of
the composition series (ENGL
1010/1020).

AUM experienced a decrease in mean
for rhetorical skills and composite
scores, but a slight increase on usage
and mechanics from 2010 to 2012.
2012 CAAP Writing Skills Report is
posted on the OIE website.
2010
2012
ENGL 1020 ENGL 1020
Percent in the
46%
same quartile for
ACT and CAAP
Percent in a lower 43%
quartile from ACT
to CAAP
Percent in a
12%
higher quartile
from ACT to CAAP
48%

44%

8%
ACT Writing Skills
Linkage Report Results

The ACT Linkage Report
compares ACT Writing Skills
with CAAP Writing Skills to
assess value added in core
Composition courses (ENGL
1010 and 1020) and is
posted on the OIE website.
Results were discussed with
the Director of Composition.
Director of Composition was
encouraged to provide
faculty training to emphasize
course and WAC objectives in
composition program.
6

5
2012
AUM
4

2012
National
3
2
Essay 1
Essay 2
2012 data will be used to determine
a baseline for achievement.

AUM scored at our above the national
mean on all categories.
Composite

CAAP Writing Essay:
AUM and National Mean Scores
Students (N=374) were tested in WI
content-area courses in Spring 2012
for the first time.


1
Skills measured on writing samples
parallel objectives of WI content-area
courses.
Due to small range of scores possible
(1 to 6), ACT does not provide a
linkage report for writing sample
subtests.
The CAAP Writing Essay Report is
posted on the OIE website.
Focus
Content
Org
Style
Lang
Conv
First WAC Course
3.71
3.68
3.67
3.62
3.59
Second WAC Course (n=963)
3.72
3.65
3.69
3.61
3.60
Third WAC Course (n=201)
3.83
3.73
3.77
3.68
3.71
Fourth WAC Course (n=29)
4.07
3.86
4.00
3.93
3.83
Fifth WAC Course (n=3)
5.00
5.00
5.00
4.67
5.00
Objective
Baseline Measure
Students will demonstrate the
ability to use discourse, analysis,
and evaluation skills appropriate to
their academic discipline in writing.

Students will sustain a focused
discussion in written assignments.
First Course
Focus M=3.71
Fourth Course
Focus M=4.07
Achieving
Objective
Students will write using
documented evidence to support
their points.
First Course
Content M=3.68
Fourth Course
Content M=3.86
Achieving
Objective
Students will demonstrate writing
skills (including grammar,
mechanics, and spelling) in order to
correctly convey information.
First Course


First Course
Style M=3.62
First Course
Org M=3.67
Lang Conv M=3.59
Current Progress Measure Status Check


Fourth Course
Style M=3.93
Fourth Course
Org M=4.00
Fourth Course
Lang Conv
M=3.83
Achieving
Objective
Achieving
Objective
The WAC staff would like to thank the following individuals for their
continued support and effort:
•
The WAC Committee
•
The AUM Administration
•
WI Content-Area Course Instructors in Every Department on
Campus
•
The Research Database Analyst and Senior IR Officer in the Office
of Institutional Effectiveness