We All Know What These People Did This Summer

Dan Richards
Every Summer, the FYC program at USF selects individuals who have shown a committment to teaching and to the program to evaluate, revise, and improve the curriculum of all ENCs (1101, 1102, online, and speciality sections). These individuals, or Summer collaborators, devote a great deal of time over the Summer months to re-thinking, re-working, and ultimately developing the curriculum, making alterations and adjustments to projects, resources, and theories constituting our courses. This Summer was no different, as this group of productive pedagogues worked tirelessly so that all FYC instructors could begin the 2012-13 academic year with a solid curriculum and the resources to teach said curriculum effectively. Here they (along with a few integral others) are, in list form, and in no particular order: Megan McIntyre Cassie Childs Ryan Cheng Brogan Sullivan Ella Beize Jason Carabelli Sarah Beth Hopton Brianna Jerman Maryam Alnaggar Dr. Dianne Donnelly

FYC @ USF

MONTHLY NEWSLETTER SEPT 2012 EDITOR DAN RICHARDS

table of contents:
summer folk, contd contact: roll call save the date teacher feature orientation summer survey
and results

2 2 3 3 4 5

updates from the program 6

writing center 1101 online collaborative model celebrate student success

updates continued

 Nancy Lewis Jennifer Yirinec Barbara McLain Kate Pantelides

Dan Richards Laura Ewing Jenni Nance Whitney Egstad

the Symposium

Here are some highlights of what was done this Summer: Planned a successful orientation for incoming and returning teachers (this includes planning each and every brealout session with careful thought and consideration). It also included Megan McIntyre being ber-tremendous and organized. All 1101 and 1102 projects were revised and improved 1101 online modules and full curriculum created, including very useful tutorial videos, my Sarah Beth and Barbara and company Nancy Lewis and Brianna Jerman worked diligently on accumulating and articulating the Common Comments for My Reviewers. This new feature to My Reviewers was then further piloted by Summer teachers, enhancing usability and expanding the pedagogical nature of the tool Maryam worked on developing Dan and Dr. Donnellys instruction manuals for My Reviewers Jen Yirinec worked on getting the 1101 e-text up and going, forever cementing her legacy in the FYC program at USF A signicant amount of work goes on beyond the scenes to make this program what it is. Much of this work takes place during the Summer, where our teacher-academics take on appointments and volunteer their time and committ to improving the curriculum, taking into consideration the feedback of teachers and the benets of reection and hindsight. These contributors, of course, were not chosen out of a hat. These Summer appointments and opportunities are open by application for all FYC teachers (and, to a certain extent, others). These applications typically are made available during the Fall semester. Because so much of the program is driven by graduate student and adjunct contributions, there is a consistent sense of passion and pride in the continued development of the program. This Summer was no different.

What is The Symposium? Essentially The Symposium is a free-blogging space for all students currently enrolled in any FYC course, 1101 or 1102. Consider using this space to have students complete their informal writing component of the grade.

contact: roll call

Dan Richards
As the Community Manager and FYC newsletter editor, if you have anything that needs to be dispersed or shared, let him know.

Lee Davidson
Lee, when shes not running marathons, is your Graduate Program Specialist and can help you with registration issues and appointments.

Deedra Hickman
Deedra is the Academic Services Administration and can help you with office technology, telephones, and course assignments.

Nancy Morriss
Nancy helps you with textbook questions, student evaluations, and grade change forms.

save the date

Note these important events, deadlines, dates and mark them on your calendar accordingly.

september 5
Celebrate Student Success Committee meeting 2-3pm @ CPR 343 All welcome.

october 5
Teaching Discussion Group CPR 343 3pm-4pm

november 3
Drop deadline for Fall

14
Graduate Application Deadline for Fall 2012

8
Columbus Day Canadian Thanksgiving

12
Veterans Day Holiday USF Closed

24
MA and PhD Exam Application Deadline

29 - 2 Nov
Exam week: MAs & PhDs in Lit and R/C. Support them in any way possible.

22 & 23
Thanksgiving Holiday USF Closed

Teacher Feature
Every newsletter the program likes to choose one teacher and ask them a few questions about themselves. Name: Lauren Cagle Status: 1st-year Ph.D student in Rhet/Comp From: Las Vegas, most recently Why USF? The faculty, staff, and students were all excited to host me and make my stay productive and enjoyable. More than anything, though, I felt at home here because everyone I met was authentically enthused about their communities both on- and off-campus. Teaching Philosophy No matter what I am teaching, is to develop student awareness of how language constructs the social world and our ways of viewing it. Inspirations I nd new inspiration with every fellow grad student I meet and every faculty member I learn from. Fun Facts My fella and I have two dogs and a cat. All are well-trained, no thanks to me. I have zero resistance to adorable animal faces. Future Goals In the long run, I want to apply my scholarship in rhetoric, composition, and technical communication to broader issues both inside and outside academia. I believe that scientic and technical issues like climate change, food production, and online education will shape our futures in unforeseen ways.

Mentors: v.2012-13
The Mentoring Program has long been a successful endeavor here at USF, helping new instructors become acclimated to not only teaching FYC but also graduate school life in general. Here they are: Megan McIntyre Jason Carabelli Whitney Egstad Barbara Gatewood Jenni Nance Ella Beize

2012 Orientation: Warming up... Cozy

Dan Richards
If you are reading this then you have made it through orientation. (Or, you didnt make it through orientation but still possess a deep, unyielding fascination with our program and are viewing this from a public library nearby.) Theres a reason for this: Summer collaborators, mentors, staff, administration, faculty, and a handful of helpful others worked together to ensure that all incoming and returning instructors would feel welcome and would be equipped with the tools, know-how, and resources to streamline successfully into the program and curriculum. Spearheading this event was rhetorician and renowned organizer Megan McIntyre, who, for the second year in a row, directed her team to victory (unfortunately, the same could not be said for her Indianapolis Colts). Our program is very lucky to have someone of this calibre, so, if you get a chance, thank her for her efforts in making everyone feel unconditionally welcome and prepared. Now, while those leading orientation do their best to make sure that the instructors are not overloaded with information, the fact of the matter is that over the course of the two weeks a considerable amount of information is exchanged. There are policies to know, resources to hoard, URLs to bookmark, and breakout sessions to document. It is of utmost importance that you know where to nd all this information; orientation is not only about sharing information, but also about teaching incoming (and returning) instructors where to nd the information they need. Here are clickable links to some key resources: Policies for Instructors: Needs to be signed by the end of the rst week of the semester. Breakout Sessions: Page where all info and resources from orientation breakout sessions are stored Whom to Contact: You are not a lone ranger; this site directs your queries to appropriate parties. Homework and Classwork: A motley mix of assignments to use in class. It is a very helpful resource. NetID Homepage: A majestic place of happi ness where forest passwords are reset, which in turn allow for more likely access onto the FYC site.

SURVEY RESULTS: As you can see from the screenshot below, our students come in expecting to quite literally ace the course. How do we negotiate this?

Orientation Survey
In your inboxes soon
Watch your email inbox for the 2012 Orientation Survey, to be filled out by all those FYC instructors who attended. Surveys are an integral part of our program; instructors are expected to complete all required surveys as well as conduct midsemester surveys with their own students. The success of our program stems from honest and open communication and feedback.

2012 Summer B and My Reviewers Student Survey

Dan Richards
As FYC instructors, we are given the monumental task of teaching writing over the course of a fteen week period. If we are lucky, we put a noticeable dent in the literacies of our students. The amount our students need to know could never be t into a fteen week period -- any teacher will tell you this. Now, imagine how much more challenging it would be to teach writing over the course of six weeks. Well, you need not imagine. Just talk to someone who taught over the Summer B semester. They will tell how to teach bibliographies in ten days, or how to impress and practice the nuanced rhetorial concept of remediation in a fortnight or less. Because of the unique challenges brought about by Summer teaching, it is imperative that we as a program keep a close eye on how students are performing, how the curriculum is formatted, and how My Reviewers is used. To do this, student and instructor surveys are sent out at the end of the course sequence. When asked what the biggest challenge of the Summer semester was, students overwhelmingly responded with time management. This is expected of course. Students enrolled in Summer courses are primarily students who are enrolled in three courses during that short 6 week time period. This is a challenge for instructors, who have to adjust reading schedules, in-class activties, and homework to meet the students needs while simultaneously meeting all course objectives with high standards. All this to say that the student reviews over the course of the Summer indiciated that, while the course load is heavy and time a major concern, students enjoy the curriculum as well as the use of My Reviewers to help them along in their writing process and to help them complete what a large number of them described as a vigorous academic experience.

Getting into place

Struggling for lesson plan ideas? Try taking your class outside. Were in FL after all. Have your students write in different places on campus, and have them think about how place can inform the composition of texts and images. Read Tim Lindgrens 2005 webtext article, in Kairos, called Blogging Places. Way cool. What better way to integrate theory while simultaneously affirming your decision to stay in or move to the Sunshine State?

Updates from around the Program

Celebrate Student Success
Welcome back from the Celebrate Student Success committee! Were excited to continue to improve our ongoing programs and activities as well as implement new ones. Our meetings will be held every other Wednesday from 2 to 3 p.m. in CPR 343 (the room right next to the main English Department ofce). (We will nish our meetings with plenty of time for you to get to your 3:05 classes, so dont let having a class immediately after the meeting deter you!) Our rst meeting will be held this Wednesday, September 5. [continued on page 7]

ENC 1101: Making Significant Strides

This year Barbara McLain will pilot ENC 1101 Online, a course designed specically to improve the digital literacy skills of First Year Composition students. The course follows traditional curriculum developed by the FYC staff and development team, led by Megan McIntyre, and nessed over the summer, but with additional digital components added to each of the primary projects. In example, students in the ENC 1101 online will create and embed information graphics into Projects I and II. They are also encouraged to use digital tools to design and develop Project II, the remediation of a text... [continue on page 7]

Collaborative Model
Now in it's second semester, the collaborative model pilot offers teachers and students an opportunity to turn the traditional classroom on its head by dividing class time between large group meetings, weekly small group or individual conferences, and virtual meetings via Blackboard and My Reviewers. [continue on page 7]

Writing Center: Another Productive Session

The Writing Center had what Kate Pantelides called the busiest Summer ever. The WC did presentations for CROP (College Reach Out Program) , Athletics, Nursing, and CAMP (College Assistance Migrant Program). Fittingly, the WC also has their largest staff to date, with 26 consultants in all. Kate and Company are also excited to start the new year with their new space, the Writing Center Gallery.

[continued from page 6]

ENC 1101 Online

ENC 1101 was designed and built inside the Blackboard Learning Management System with the help and counsel of the USF Media Innovation Team headed by Lindsey Mercer. Each module represents one week of learning objectives and students are guided through the content by a strict folder system that includes electronic readings, digital assignments and quizzes, and video lectures and tutorials. Students can also access the ENC 1101 textbook online and hopefully an ePub version of the textbook will be available to students by Fall of 2013. Instructors teaching non-digital editions of the course can also access the tools created for the online version by visiting the FYC website. Go to ENC 1101 Online, and scroll to the far right of the page where the video tutorials that guide students through the features of each project are listed. Since conferences are an important part of the composition process, students in ENC 1101 Online are also asked to conference with their instructor by way of Illuminate, a component internal to BlackBoard that facilitates realtime conferencing. Students will take a survey mid and endsemester and course developers will rene the course, curriculum and access issues based on the results of these assessments. Digitizing courses like ENC 1101 and 1102 not only offers more

students greater access to core requirements (which translates into student success), but online courses like ENC 1101 also sharpen their digital literacy skills. Additionally, digital pilots like ENC 1101 Online provides research opportunities for instructors as they dene and rene a personal digital pedagogy, not to mention experience with online education improves marketability. If you're interested in teaching a digital edition of ENC 1101 or 1102, please talk to Dr. Joe Moxley or Dr. Dianne Donnelly.

Bullitzer nominations and awards: throughout the semester All are welcome to join us Wednesday at 2:00; we'd love to have you join our work and help us encourage the success and agency of our FYC students. If you wish to be involved with the committee but cannot attend the meeting(s), email Susan (susangtaylor@mail.usf.edu) or Katherine (kmmcgee@mail.usf.edu) for ways to get involved. P. S. If you have student pictures but dont know how to upload them to the FYC site, email them to Katherine!

Celebrate Student Success

Some of the things we hope to accomplish this semester include working with 1102 instructors on ways to teach the Rhetoric in Action project so that we can continue to raise the standards of the projects presented at Rhetoric in Action Day, lm a recruitment video for RiAD so that students get excited about participating in it, researching university policies concerning proper placement of iers, etc., and inviting FYC students to be a part of the planning process of RiAD as well as our other activities. Committee activity dates for the semester are as follows: Student Success Week: Oct. 15-19 Remediation Day: Oct. 31 Newsletter CFP: Nov. 18 Newsletter submission due date: Nov. 30 Rhetoric in Action Day: Dec. 5

Collaborative Model
One teacher, "It seems my students (and myself!) are redening the traditional classroom, and it has been quite the positive experience. It erases the dichotomy. No front/ back of room, no podium/desks, no I stand/they sit- we are all participants in learning, sharing, critiquing. I think it is important to have a neutral environment for the smaller groups so that everyone feels important and no one feels they are in a place where they cannot be an authority in their own right. Please contact Dianne Donnelly (ddonnelly@usf.edu) or Megan McIntyre (mmmcint2@mail.usf.edu) if you'd like more information.