NSU's Quality Enhancement Plan April 2017

18 | NSU QEP Current Campus Writing Activities V. CURRENT CAMPUS WRITING ACTIVITIES This section describes various NSU campus initiatives that currently focus on writing instruction and assistance; the section after it outlines how the NSU proposed QEP will expand on them, centralize the organization, and provide access and resources to all students and faculty members. This section reviews existing writing-focused curricula and cocurricular programs and opportunities that provide students with writing instruction. It shows how, prior to the QEP, writing support programs across NSU colleges were disconnected from one another, sometimes overlapping and, at other times, providing inadequate assistance to all students, suggesting that the university needs to implement an institutional shift that brings writing support programs together under one umbrella, with accessibility to all. Existing Curriculum Undergraduate There are only two academic programs at NSU that focus primarily on teaching writing at the undergraduate level: first-year composition and the writing minor. Both are facilitated by the Department of Writing Communication in the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences. Since first-year composition is a requirement only for undergraduates, a small percentage of NSU students receive significant formal writing instruction while at the university. While graduate/first professional faculty members are versed in discipline-specific content, they are not typically trained in teaching students how to communicate effectively via writing in their disciplines, as acknowledged by faculty members during focus-group meetings. In addition, there is little formal writing instruction for undergraduates beyond composition, particularly outside the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences. The following list describes existing curricula focused on writing instruction. • First-Year Composition (COMP): Similar to most colleges and universities, NSU offers first-year composition courses as part of its general education program. The first-year composition sequence includes two required courses: COMP 1500 College Writing and COMP 2000 Advanced College Writing. COMP 1000 Basic Writing is offered to students who need additional writing practice. Though all undergraduate students are required to complete six credits of composition courses (or their equivalent), many complete that requirement prior to matriculating at NSU, and not all are required to take a writing-focused course beyond this sequence. • Writing Minor: NSU offers a 15-credit Writing Minor. Courses include Civic and Community Writing, Business Writing, Scientific and Technical Writing, Writing Center Studies, and Writing for Technologies. Only six students were enrolled as writing minors at the start of fall 2016. • Writing-Based Courses Across the Disciplines: Though limited, there are courses across the curriculum that focus on teaching discipline-specific writing. However, the university does not provide pedagogical support or professional development regarding writing instruction for faculty members teaching these courses. The QEP Committee investigated coursework across the colleges that focused on discipline-specific writing and developed the following short list.