Department of English

11 May 2015

Colleagues,
Each semester in English 0989, 0999, 1101, and 1102, we are responsible for helping better the
writing skills of more than 4,000 of our student-writers. Each year, we work with more than 8,000
student-writers in these writing courses. Through these classes, we also set the tone at UNG of what
writing is and how its accomplished. And lets not forget the financial importance these classes serve
for our Department, our College, and our University. These courses bring in over $4 million annually.1
In our work, we combat the constant narrative that students cannot write. As we combat this
narrative, we would do well to continue looking to national consensus documents that frame how to
approach college-level writing instruction and assessment (such as The Framework for Success in
Postsecondary Writing and the AAC&U VALUE rubric on written communication) and talk with all
university stakeholders about writing development and the role of writing instruction.
With a core curriculum review prompted by our Provost, we may find ourselves in a position where
we need to account for our individual and collective approach to writing instruction. I firmly believe
in what we doin what college writing instructors have done for the past 150 years of working with
college student-writersbut my firm belief isnt enough. I, and the rest of the FYC Committee, look
forward to working with you as we better our curriculum, connect it with best practices in teaching
and learning and best practices from composition pedagogy, and connect it with national consensus
documents.
In this brief report, the Committee outlines our work during the 20162017 academic year. Weall
of us, reallydo more than teach. But everything we do connects back to learning. In the 2013 special
issue of College Composition and Communication on The Profession, Michael Day and colleagues
help readers rethink what scholarly engagement may mean for promotion and tenure guidelines.
Early in their article, they offer a definition of scholarship, a definition I return to often: Being a
scholar, in short, means engaging in reflective, well-informed practices that help us accomplish the
goals of advancing knowledge and sharing our knowledge of what it means to write and be a writer
(186). Thanks for your help in pursuit of this admirable goal.

In brief, this document provides the following content:

Numbers
Narrative Review
Looking Ahead
Year in Scholarship

Michael Rifenburg, Kendra Bryant, Marc DiMaggio, Kathryn Hinds, and Jim Shimkus

1
This number comes an average of the cost of three credit hours according to SP 17 data. The cost for three credit
hours varies according to campus, online or F2F, and bachelor or associate degree seeking.

FYC Annual Report AY 16-17: 1

Numbers
During Fall 2016, UNG enrolled 18,219 students. In first-year composition courses, we
taught 4,831 of these students, or 26 percent. In total, we taught 8,785 students during the
AY.

Total Students

283 93 782
1656

1885

4086

Blue Ridge Cumming Dahlonega Gainesville Oconee Online

Figure 1: AY 16-17, we taught 8,785 students in English 0989, 0999, 1101, and 1102. Almost 47% enrolled on our Gainesville
campus.

1101 & 1102 Students

4048
4412

1101 1102

Figure 2: Despite concerns about CLEP and AP diverting students from two sections of first-year composition, most of our
students return for English 1102.

FYC Annual Report AY 16-17: 2

AP Scores
To exempt English 1101, a student needs to receive a 3 on the AP English Language or
English Literature exam. To exempt, English 1101 and 1102, a student needs to receive a 3
on the AP English Language and English Literature exam. For over a decade, composition
scholarship has pointed to quantitative data signifying the importance of two sections of
first-year composition and argued, again quantitatively, against granting AP credit for a 3
(see Hansen, et al. An Argument for Changing Institutional Policy on Granting AP Credit in
English: An Empirical Study of College Sophomores Writing WPA 28.1/2).
(All data and charts are courtesy of Michael Leitson with Institutional Effectiveness).
During AY 20162017, 1,750 students received at least a 3 on AP English Language or
English Literature exam. We can surmise that most of these students did not take English
1101.
Table 1. Student counts for AP English Language or English Literature exam during AY 16
17
Student Counts

Campus Matriculants Transfer Total

Blue Ridge 5 3 8

Cumming 58 7 65

Dahlonega 990 110 1,100

Gainesville 333 89 422

Oconee 121 34 155

Total 1,507 243 1,750

The number of students shrinks substantially when we look just at students (n = 327) who
receive at least a 3 on the AP English Language and English Literature exam. Again, we can
only surmise that the majority of these students did not take either English 1101 or 1102
with us.

FYC Annual Report AY 16-17: 3

Table 2. Student counts for AP English Language and English Literature exam during AY 16-
17

Student Counts

Campus Matriculants Transfer Total

Blue Ridge 1 1

Cumming 6 6

Dahlonega 223 223

Gainesville 70 1 71

Oconee 26 26

Total 326 1 327

The percent of students who receive AP credit steadily increased over the past three years
and is projected to continue to increase next academic year. This increase holds firm even
when accounting for increased enrollment.

FYC Annual Report AY 16-17: 4

Table 3. Student counts who receive AP credit.
AP Total

Term Students Students Percent

Fall 2013 415 4481 9.3%

Fall 2014 441 4487 9.8%

Fall 2015 507 5210 9.7%

Fall 2016 530 5249 10.1%

Fall 2017

(projected) 576 5614 10.3%

Two more important data points offered by Michael Leitson with IE:

Of those who take either AP English exam, 5.7% becomes English majors. This is
statistically significant from the overall English majors in the UNG body, which is
1.9%.
Students who take the AP Exam and become English majors have an institutional
GPA of 3.39. This is statistically significant from the overall GPA of all English majors
of 3.23 (3.10 if you include the Associate-English).

FYC Annual Report AY 16-17: 5

CLEP Scores

For the past two years, the Testing Center provided CLEP pass/fail rates for English 1102.
Because of the deluge of eCore assessment, Testing was unable to send on these pass/fail
rates in time for this report to be released.

These data are only for English 1102. The English 1101 CLEP test requires an essay, which,
in the words of Testing, prevents an immediate score report. The English 1102 CLEP test
does not require an essay, and the test is titled Analyzing and Interpreting Literature. In
the eyes of Testing, English 1102 is solely a literature class.
Previous data points below:
CLEP Spring 2015: 417 credit hours awarded
o Candidates passed: 139
o Candidates failed: 5
CLEP Spring 2016: 159 credit hours awarded
o Candidates passed: 53
o Candidates failed: 23

FYC Annual Report AY 16-17: 6

Professional Development Review
To improve our work as teachers, the FYC Program led several professional development
opportunities.

Teaching Circle
Through a Teaching Circle grant from CTLL, the FYC Program held three workshops titled
Designing and Teaching for Writing-Related Transfer. To support our conversations, we
used the CTLL money to purchase copies of Kathleen Blake, Liane Robertson, and Kara
Taczaks Writing Across Contexts: Transfer, Composition and Sites of Writing (Utah State UP,
2014). This text is the most comprehensive study on writing-related transfer. It dedicates
the opening chapters to describing writing transfer and dedicates the second half to
describing a Teaching for Transfer curriculum implemented at Florida State.

Below are the titles of the three workshops. All titles are linked to the presentations for the
workshops housed at Slides.com.
o September 26 (What is transfer and what does it have to do with writing?)

o October 19 (What does transfer look like in a writing class?)

o November 11 (How can I teach for transfer in a writing class?)

Thanks to Teaching Circle members for the conversation and dedication to becoming a
better writing teacher.
Suzanne Anthony, MCCB
Art Basler, CAL
Matthew Boedy, CAL
Molly Daniel, CAL
Lisa Diehl, CAL
Marc DiMaggio, CAL
Benjamin Garner, MCCB
Laura Ng, CAL
Steve Pearson, CAL
Jim Shimkus, CAL
Anita Turlington, CAL

Observations
Using a peer-evaluation form offered by CTLL, the FYC Program observed nine classes on
three different campuses.

FYC Annual Report AY 16-17: 7

Mentors
Thanks to our mentors for providing as-needed support to our incoming instructors: Bill
Ellenberg, Kathryn Hinds, Donna Gessell, Kathleen Snow, Laura Getty, Steve Brehe, Kim
Rousseau, and Lisa Diehl.
Syllabi Review
The FYC Committee reviewed all English 1101 and 1102 syllabi for Spring 2017. The
purpose of the review was to ensure the university-mandated policies and statements are
in place. Each committee member was responsible for a set number of syllabi and entered
their findings in a spreadsheet, which I sent on to Joyce and the relevant campus
supervisor.
Survey
During the Spring semester, the FYC Committee launched a small-scale survey to gauge the
effectiveness of our stated learning outcomes for English 1102. We designed a brief,
anonymous, and voluntary pre- and post-survey through Qualtrics and disseminated this
survey via a link to one English 1102 section taught by each member of the committee (a
total of four classes). Forty-nine students completed the survey.

FYC Annual Report AY 16-17: 8

Looking Ahead
The FYC Program will continue connecting with departmental and university colleagues in
various capacities next academic year.

Fall Teaching Circle

In the Fall, the FYC Committee will host three VTC conversations on antiracist writing
assessment. Using Asao Inoue's award-winning and open-access book Antiracist Writing
Assessment Ecologies: Teaching and Assessing Writing for a Socially Just Future (WAC
Clearinghouse / Parlor Press, 2015), we will have a timely discussion of writing, racism,
assessment, and social justice. This book is a wonderful resource. We will also apply for a
Teaching Circle grant via CTLL. Though the book is free online, we can use the money to
purchase copies of the book for those who prefer a physical copy.

Campus Speaker
On January 5, 2018, Anne Ellen Geller of St. John's will visit our Gainesville campus to
deliver a talk and lead a workshop. Anne is co-author of The Meaningful Writing Project:
Teaching, Learning, and Writing in Higher Education (Utah State UP, 2016), which reports
survey data on students' most meaningful writing project in college. Anne is an engaging
scholar who is committed to writing and supporting writers.

Continued Survey
As mentioned in the previous section of this report, the FYC Committee launched a small-
scale survey to gauge the effectiveness of our stated learning outcomes for English 1102.
We will continue with this small-scale survey and focus our attention on four sections of
English 1101. The SLOs for English 1101 will form the basis of the survey questions.

Council of Writing Program Administrations Annual Conference

In July, Michael will attend a three-day workshop for writing program administrators at the
CWPA annual conference in Knoxville in an effort to learn how to better serve you, our
students, our administrators, and local community through a vibrant first-year writing
program.

FYC Annual Report AY 16-17: 9

Reading Highlights
As we head into the summer and you look for some reading, here are some recently
published journal articles and books that have profoundly shaped current conversations on
writing and writing instruction.

Dan Melzers Assignments Across the Curriculum: A National Study of College Writing (UP of
Colorado, 2014)
A study of 2,101 writing assignments across disciplines in one hundred American
postsecondary institutions. Quick findings? Sixty-six percent were informative, and
in 64 percent of the writing assignments the teacher-as-examiner is the audience.
Concludes with a strong push for more Writing Across the Curriculum programs.
Anne-Marie Womacks Teaching Is Accommodation: Universally Designing Composition
Classrooms and Syllabi. College Composition and Communication (Feb 2017).
Details how to create a more accommodating composition classroom with better-
designed classroom material such as syllabi. See figure 4 for a revised syllabus that
makes effective use of document design principles and figure 6 for sample phrases
from a cold syllabus and a warm syllabus.
Rebecca Brittenhams The Interference Narrative and the Real Value of Student Work.
College Composition and Communication (Feb 2017).
The interference narrative spins students jobs as deterrents to classroom
performance and graduation. Brittenham counters this myth by arguing, these
work experience powerfully shape the identities students are evolving before and
during college and represent a potentially vital intersection between the university
and the community workplace that surrounds it (527).
Beth Brunk-Chavezs The Framework for Success Goes Online: Integration of
the Framework into Online Writing Courses. In The Framework for Success in
Postsecondary Writing: Scholarship and Applications, edited by Behm, Rankins-Robertson,
and Roen (Parlor Press, 2017).
For our colleagues who teach online writing classes, Brunk-Chavezs article provides
clear guidance on constructing an online class, which aligns with The Framework for
Success in Postsecondary Writing. Table 2 is particularly helpful in that it shows how
the habits of mind necessary for college writing success can be encouraged in an
online class.
John Duffys The Good Writer: Virtue Ethics and the Teaching of Writing. College English
(January 2017).
Duffy continues his important work on virtue ethics here: I do not mean . . . that we
should teach ethics or that we ought to teach practices of ethical communication.
Rather, I am suggesting that as teachers of writing we are always already engaged in

FYC Annual Report AY 16-17: 10

 the teaching of rhetorical ethics and that the teaching of writing necessarily and
inevitably moves us into ethical reflections and decision-making (230).
Paul Anderson, Chris Anson, Robert Gonyea, and Charles Paines The Contributions of
Writing to Learning and Development: Results from a Large-Scale Multi-institutional
Study. Research in the Teaching of English (2015).
A powerful and statistically heavy study. Gained the attention of Inside Higher
Education. Authors appended questions on 27 effective writing practices to the
National Survey of Student Engagement, yielding 29,634 responses from first-year
students and 41,802 from seniors. One take-away: more writing does not equal
better or more student learning; student learning and development hinges on well-
crafted writing assignments and expectations.
Laura Ng and Mary Carneys Scholarly Personal Narrative in the SoTL Tent. Teaching &
Learning Inquiry (2017).
Our colleagues sketch a case for using scholarly personal narratives to understand
the interpersonal dynamics of both classroom and wider academic communities.

FYC Annual Report AY 16-17: 11