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ASCRCWriting Subcommittee Minutes 12/1/08

Members Present: J. Carter, N. Hinman, K. Kuipers, M. Medvetz, M. Semanoff, S. Smillie, K. Zoellner

Members Excused/Absent: H. Bruce

Ex-Officio Present: K. Peterson, K. Ryan

Chair Hinman called the meeting to order at 2:15 p.m.

The minutes from 11/3/08 were approved.

Communications:

The catalog language and writing course guidelines were approved at the November 13^th Faculty Senate meeting.
It was noted that there was an error on the writing course guidelines document- the passing score on the upper division writing assessment was listed as a 4 rather than a 3. This has been corrected and Chair Hinman will communicate this to the Faculty Senate.
There will be an upper-division writing workshop for instructors over winter break.

Business Items:

The deadline memo was reviewed, revised and approved (see below). [The following language was added after communication at the Faculty Senate

Please inform the Writing Committee Chair, Nancy Hinman (nancy.hinman@umontana.edu) of potential problems meeting the deadline. Late proposals may not be approved by the end of the spring semester.]

The writing course forms were revised (appended below).
The following calendar for writing course review was discussed. The committee will normally meet the second Monday of the month at 2:00 p.m. The committee will decide whether to have an evening retreat (last week in February) for course review after all the forms have been submitted. Ideally the review should be completed in time for the March 12^th Faculty Senate meeting. Therefore the list of approved courses will need to be presented to ASCRC March 10^th. (This will require that ECOS review the list electronically prior to the meeting.)

There is some confusion regarding the implementation of the revised writing course list. This should be clarified with Registrar Micus in terms of pre-registration. Most likely there will only be a few new writing courses. The majority of courses reviewed will be existing writing courses.

5 December 2008	Distribute call for Writing Course proposals, distribute forms
6 February 2008	Proposals due
9 February 2008	First Writing Committee meeting - take care of old business (begin to define levels of competence, standing committee, other), discuss review procedure - suggestion: 1) divide into subcommittees with chair, 2) subcommittees will review proposals, chairs will request additional information from proposers, as needed, 3) subcommittee brings forward proposals in three groups (approved, for discussion (possible rejection in this group), awaiting information), 4) full committee discusses proposals, as needed, 5) forward approved proposals to Faculty Senate and continue to resolve remaining proposals. -Course assignments finalized
16 February 2008-	Holiday - no meeting
9 March 2008	Writing Committee meeting - Course reviews due for presentation by subcommittees (see proposed procedure)
16 March 2008	Special Writing Committee meeting - continue review
19 March 2008	first batch of courses to Faculty Senate

The meeting was adjourned at 3:00 p.m.
________________________________________________________

To: All Faculty

From: Writing Committee Chair Nancy Hinman

Date: December 5, 2008

Re: Deadline for writing course review

Writing course forms (electronic copy and signed original) for courses to be considered for general education writing courses and upper-division writing requirement must be submitted to the Faculty Senate Office, UH 221, camie.foos@mso.umt.edu by Friday February 6, 2009. Current writing courses that do not apply for writing status under the new guidelines will lose their designation. Proposals for new courses or changes to existing courses must be accompanied by the Course Form.

The revised criteria and learning goals for writing courses are appended and available at:
http://www.umt.edu/facultysenate/writing/WritingGuidelines11-13-08.htm

The writing forms have been revised to match the new criteria and learning goals so please do not use old forms. Old forms will be returned without review. The forms are available at: www.umt.edu/facultysenate/main/forms_instructions.htm.

The forms must be complete and have the department chair's signature.

Answers to frequently asked questions are available at:
http://www.umt.edu/facultysenate/writing/FAQs_10-8-08.pdf

Information regarding information literacy is available at:
http://www.lib.umt.edu/informationliteracy/

Late proposals will not be accepted. Exceptions are granted only for extenuating circumstances. Please contact the Faculty Senate Administrative Associate Camie Foos, x5553 if you have any questions.

Writing Course Guidelines

..........

Writing Course Review Form

I. General Education Review - Writing Course
Dept/Program Subject		Course # (i.e. ENEX 200)
Course Title
II. Endorsement/Approvals Complete the form and obtain signatures before submitting to Faculty Senate Office.
Please type / print name			Signature	Date
Instructor
Phone / Email
Program Chair
III Overview of the Course Purpose/ Description: Provides an introduction to the subject matter and explains course content and learning goals.

IV Learning Outcomes: Explain how each of the following learning outcomes will be achieved.
Student learning outcomes : Use writing to learn and synthesize new concepts
Formulate and express opinions and ideas in writing
Compose written documents that are appropriate for a given audience or purpose
Revise written work based on constructive feedback
Find, evaluate, and use information effectively (see http://www.lib.umt.edu/informationliteracy/)
Begin to use discipline-specific writing conventions
Demonstrate appropriate English language usage
V. Writing Course Requirements Check list
Is enrollment capped at 25 students? If not, list maximum course enrollment. Explain how outcomes will be adequately met for this number of students. Justify the request for variance.	o Yes o No
Are outcomes listed in the course syllabus? If not, how will students be informed of course expectations?	o Yes o No
Are expectations for Information Literacy listed in the course syllabus? If not, how will students be informed of course expectations?	o Yes o No
Are detailed requirements for all written assignments included in the course syllabus? If not how and when will students be informed of written assignments?	o Yes o No
What instructional methods will be used to teach students to write for specific audiences, purposes, and genres?
Will written assignments include an opportunity for revision? If not, then explain how students will receive and use feedback to improve their writing ability.	o Yes o No
VI. Writing Assignments: Please describe course assignments. Students should be required to individually compose at least 16 pages of writing for assessment. At least 50% of the course grade should be based on students' performance on writing assignments. Clear expression, quality, and accuracy of content are considered an integral part of the grade on any writing assignment.
Formal Graded Assignments
Informal Ungraded Assignments
VII. Syllabus: Paste syllabus below or attach and send digital copy with form. ß The syllabus should clearly describe how the above criteria are satisfied. For assistance on syllabus preparation see: http://teaching.berkeley.edu/bgd/syllabus.html

Upper-division Writing Requirement Review Form

I. General Education Review - Upper-division Writing Requirement
Dept/Program Subject		Course # (i.e. GEOG U 315) or sequence
Course(s) Title
Description of the requirement if it is not a single course

II. Endorsement/Approvals Complete the form and obtain signatures before submitting to Faculty Senate Office.
Please type / print name			Signature	Date
Instructor
Phone / Email
Program Chair
III Overview of the Course Purpose/ Description

IV Learning Outcomes: Explain how each of the following learning outcomes will be achieved.
Student learning outcomes : Identify and pursue more sophisticated questions for academic inquiry
Find, evaluate, analyze, and synthesize information effectively from diverse sources (see http://www.lib.umt.edu/informationliteracy/)
Manage multiple perspectives as appropriate
Recognize the purposes and needs of discipline-specific audiences and adopt the academic voice necessary for the chosen discipline
Use multiple drafts, revision, and editing in conducting inquiry and preparing written work
Follow the conventions of citation, documentation, and formal presentation appropriate to that discipline
Develop competence in information technology and digital literacy
V. Writing Course Requirements Check list
Is enrollment capped at 25 students? If not, list maximum course enrollment. Explain how outcomes will be adequately met for this number of students. Justify the request for variance.	o Yes o No
Are outcomes listed in the course syllabus? If not, how will students be informed of course expectations?	o Yes o No
Are detailed requirements for all written assignments including criteria for evaluation in the course syllabus? If not how and when will students be informed of written assignments?	o Yes o No
Briefly explain how students are provided with tools and strategies for effective writing and editing in the major.
Will written assignments include an opportunity for revision? If not, then explain how students will receive and use feedback to improve their writing ability.	o Yes o No
Are expectations for Information Literacy listed in the course syllabus? If not, how will students be informed of course expectations?	o Yes o No
VI. Writing Assignments: Please describe course assignments. Students should be required to individually compose at least 20 pages of writing for assessment. At least 50% of the course grade should be based on students' performance on writing assignments. Clear expression, quality, and accuracy of content are considered an integral part of the grade on any writing assignment.
Formal Graded Assignments
Informal Ungraded Assignments
VII. Syllabus: Paste syllabus below or attach and send digital copy with form. ß The syllabus should clearly describe how the above criteria are satisfied. For assistance on syllabus preparation see: http://teaching.berkeley.edu/bgd/syllabus.html

Paste syllabus here.

Faculty Senate

The University of Montana

Missoula, MT 59812

Faculty Senate

The University of Montana

I. General Education Review - Writing Course

I. General Education Review - Upper-division Writing Requirement