Faculty Senate

Writing Committee Annual Report, 2006-2007

Business items:

Curriculum Review - new writing courses
completed Writing Course Forms were posted to the Faculty Senate's web page and committee members were divided into three workgroups consisting of three members each.  Each group reviewed five forms.

Considered ENEX 200 as a placement option
The committee decided that ENEX 200 as a placement option should continue as a pilot program and catalog language was not changed this year.  There were concerns that the option to test out of ENEX 101 and take ENEX 200 in its place would lead to confusion as the course would then serve both as a placement option and a writing course. The committee will take up the issue again next year. 

PSC 300
Although the committee was in agreement that this ad-on course did not meet the intent of the current writing course criteria, Political Science appealed to ASCRC and was granted a reprieve from loosing the writing designation until the new criteria are implemented. 

Consideration of ASCRC's proposed general education model

The committee strongly supports the progression of writing to include ENEX 101, a lower division writing course, and an upper-division writing course.  ASCRC's draft model maintained the one-approved writing course language because of the funding situation at the university.  The Chair of ASCRC met with the Writing Committee to compromise.  However, when he took to proposal back to ASCRC, it agreed to the lower-division writing course language.  Unfortunately this was an issue of contention when the model went to the Faculty Senate. A revised model will be distributed prior to the start of the semester that will include the one approved writing course language.  Therefore, the committee will need to discuss alternative labels for the course.

Meeting with President
Several Committee members met with the President to request his support for the new guidelines.

Writing Course Guidelines draft (sent to department chairs end of fall semester) - has not yet gone to the Senate.  ECOS recommends that the general education model be approved first. 

Recommended Writing Course Guidelines

This document describes the Writing Course Guidelines for The University of Montana-Missoula.

I. Overview

The ability to write effectively is fundamental to a liberal arts education, essential to academic inquiry, and better prepares students to succeed in their academic, professional, and civic endeavors. Composition and writing courses at The University of Montana (UM) help students become adept at writing for a variety of audiences and purposes. Students should learn to use writing as a means of synthesizing and retaining course material.
 

Writing Requirements

To satisfy the writing requirements at UM and to demonstrate writing proficiency, students must complete:

• College Composition (ENEX 101), with a grade of C or better
• One lower-division writing course (numbered 100-200), with a grade of C or better
• The Upper-Division Writing Proficiency Assessment, with a score of 3 or better
• Departmental upper-division writing requirement consisting of one of the following options
• o One upper-division writing course (numbered 300-400), with a grade of C or better defined by the department and approved by the ASCRC Writing Committee
• o Upper-division writing expectation defined by the department and approved by the ASCRC Writing Committee

College Composition
The Composition Program seeks to advance the University's mission to pursue academic excellence in the context of writing instruction. Composition courses facilitate students' achievements in exploring and enacting rhetorical knowledge; critical thinking, reading, writing and research processes; and knowledge of conventions. Writing is a powerful means of purposeful inquiry, communication, and action in the classroom and in the world.

Lower-Division Writing Courses

Courses numbered 100-200 and accompanied by a "w" designation are lower-division writing courses. These courses use informal and formal writing to enhance writing skills and promote critical thinking in content areas. Students are required to complete the College Composition course (ENEX 101), or its equivalent, prior to taking a lower-division w-course.

Writing Proficiency Assessment

The Upper-Division Writing Proficiency Assessment is a two-hour essay exam that all students seeking their first undergraduate degree must pass. Students pass the exam if their essay demonstrates adequate critical reading, writing, and reasoning skills as measured against a published scoring rubric (available at http://www.umt.edu/writingcenter/documents/17.WPAScoringCriteria.pdf). The exam may be taken after students complete 45 credits and passed before earning 70 credits.

Upper-Division Writing Courses

Courses numbered 300-400 and accompanied by a "w" designation are upper-division writing courses. Unlike the lower-division w-courses, these writing classes typically focus on the student's major area of study; as such, the courses are developed by faculty members according to their expertise in disciplinary conventions for research, analysis and writing in their fields and focus on teaching those same skills to their students.

Samples of Writing Tasks

Writing tasks may include formal and informal, graded and ungraded, and in-class or out-of-class exercises.  The range of possible writing tasks includes journal entries; case studies; lab reports; free writing; annotated bibliography; essay; analyses; proposals; abstracts; reviews; field notes; electronic postings; research papers; or proofs.