Writing Across the Curriculum Faculty Information

General Information:

1. Faculty members need to participate in one of the WAC training workshops offered by Berry College before teaching a WI course. At those workshops, new WI professors usually begin drafting a WI course packet, whether or not they later submit that course for approval. Before beginning work on a WI proposal, informally coordinate with your Department Chair/Director to make sure the course fits the discipline’s curricular needs, and that it can be supported with trained instructors for the next five years. If necessity dictates that a faculty member teach a WI course before completing a workshop, the professor should rely on their Department Chair/Director, and their school’s WAC representative to provide immediate assistance in designing their course. There are several copies of Engaging Ideas by John C. Bean available on reserve at the library.
2. Each WI course will contain writing tasks that actively engage students in a range of analytic and synthetic learning opportunities. At Berry and other colleges, several brief writing occasions have been found to be more effective than a few large assignments.
3. DEADLINE: November 1st (or first workday thereafter) for the Fall and Spring semester WI classes for the following academic year.
4. Submit completed proposals to your Department Chair/Director.

Checklist for Course Proposals

• A description of how writing will help meet discipline-specific learning objectives and enhance student learning.
• A grading scheme having a minimum of 30% of the course grade based on WI elements.
• A listing of WI requirements such as essays, term papers, journals, case studies, projects, lab reports, etc. A typical 300/400 level course requires a total of 16-20 double-spaced pages for the WI elements.
• A requirement for some of the WI work to undergo a process of peer review and/or substantial revision.
• Sample writing prompts.
• Revision and scoring criteria for peer reviews and/or teacher evaluations.
• A skeletal class schedule that needs only include writing due dates (or week numbers), subject to revision, showing the spread of WI assignments.
• A Berry College Curriculum Amendment Form (fill in blocks 1-4, 8, 10, 13, 14, 16, 19-22).

1. The Department Chair/Director should consider whether or not:

• The writing tasks in the proposal are appropriate to the academic discipline;
• The course can be adequately supported for the next five years, i.e.:
  • Will the course be taught by professors who have completed a WAC workshop?
  • Will there be enough professors to keep the class size down to a minimum (20 preferred)?
• The course fits the curriculum.

2. If properly approved, the Department Chair/Director signs block 21 of the Berry College Curriculum Amendment Form.

3. The course packet and signed form should be sent to the WAC Operations & Records Subcommittee. If modifications are required by the WAC Committee, the application will be returned to the chair/director for a fresh signature.

1. The Department Chair/Director will forward proposals to the WAC O&R Subcommittee, which will have the packet checked for compliance with the standards, and the spirit of the program. The central question is whether student learning will be enhanced by the use of WI elements in the course design. Two or more members of the WAC Committee will review the proposal independently, make suggestions, and recommend Committee approval, or not.

2. The WAC review process is prescriptive; that is, suggestions will be made by faculty peer reviewers to instructors for refinement of WI course elements. Comments will be sent directly to the faculty members submitting the proposal.

3. After review, if the O&R subcommittee recommends approval of the proposal, the WAC Committee Chair will sign the Berry College Curriculum Amendment Form in block 18.

4. The course packet and signed form will be sent to the School Dean.

1. If the School Dean is satisfied that the proposal is consistent with the objectives, goals, and mission of the School, sign block 22 of the Berry College Curriculum Amendment Form. If not, return the packet, along with the appropriate guidance, to the Department Chair/Director. Note: the Dean may require interdepartmental consultation if more than one department would be affected by the change.

2. Only the signed Berry College Curriculum Amendment Form need be sent to the Provost (ex officio Chair of Academic Council) for presentation at the Council’s next meeting.

NOTE: It is best to have WI proposals before Academic Council in time for the December meeting (February meeting at the absolute latest). Meetings are the 2nd Tuesday of the month.

1. If Academic Council approves, the WAC Committee sees the approval in the Academic Council minutes and enters the course on its records with a revalidation date five years out.

2. If not approved, the Curriculum Amendment Form will be returned to the School.

1. Recommendations for revalidation must come from departments and faculty members involved in delivering WI courses.

2. Faculty members consult with their Department Chairs/Directors to revalidate, revise, or redesign on-going WI courses to bring them into alignment with current WI course approval standards.

3. WI instructors and their Department Chair/Director:

• Complete the WI Course Revalidation Checklist
• Submit the completed and signed Revalidation Checklist to the WAC O&R Subcommittee.

4. The O&R subcommittee will review the request and prepare a consolidated memo listing courses that have been recommended for renewal, obtain the WAC Committee Chair’s signature on that memo, and send the memo to the Provost (to present for Academic Council’s information), cc’ing the instructors who submitted the renewal applications, as well as their Department Chairs/Directors and Deans.

5. It will be noted in the memo to the Provost and Academic Council if materials are not received by November 1.

1. Recommendations for the elimination of a course’s WI status must come from departments and faculty members involved in delivering WI courses.

2. Faculty members and Department Chairs/Directors should consult to consider:

• That the course is no longer needed as writing intensive
• There is still adequate coverage of WI courses in the curriculum

3. The Department Chair/Director completes a Berry College Curriculum Amendment Form, indicating the desire to delete the course’s WI designation and submits the Curriculum Amendment Form to the Dean for consideration.

4. If the School Dean is satisfied that the deletion is consistent with the objectives, goals, and mission of the School, the Dean signs block 22 of the Curriculum Amendment form. (If not, the Dean provides appropriate guidance to the Department Chair/Director.) Note: the Dean may require interdepartmental consultation if more than one department would be affected by the change.

5. The signed Berry College Curriculum Amendment form is sent to the Provost (ex officio Chair of Academic Council) for presentation at the Council’s next meeting.

Note: WI proposals need to go to Academic Council in time for the January meeting (2nd Tuesday of the month) in order for the deletion to go through first and second readings and take effect for the next academic year (Fall or Spring).

6. If Academic Council approves the deletion, the WAC Committee sees the approval in the Academic Council minutes and strikes the course from its revalidations list.