Feb. 3, 2009
CONTACT: Beverly Makhani, Communications
Director, WSU Undergraduate Education,
makhani@wsu.edu,
509-335-6679
Diane Kelly-Riley, Co-Director, WSU Writing
Program, dokelly@wsu.edu,
509-335-1323
Lisa Johnson-Shull, Co-Director, WSU Writing
Program, lisaj@wsu.edu,
509-335-7695
WSU Writing Program Receives National Certificate of Excellence
PULLMAN, Wash.—Washington State University’s Writing Program has garnered more national recognition. It will receive the “Writing Program Certificate of Excellence” at the annual Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC) meeting in March 2009 in San Francisco.
CCCC is a national organization of researchers and teachers of college-level composition. Begun in 1949, it is part of the National Council of Teachers of English.
“The selection committee had the difficult task of choosing among an outstanding field of submissions, and the WSU Writing Program was chosen as one of the best,” says CCCC Chair Charles Bazerman in his notification letter to Writing Program co-directors Diane Kelly-Riley and Lisa Johnson-Shull.
“The program impressed the committee in a number of ways, especially its remarkably successful assessment program, its remarkable inclusiveness, and its ability to sustain its excellence in the face of change.”
The new award puts WSU in the company of Duke University, the University of Denver, Ball State University, and Carleton College, which have also received CCCC commendation for excellent university-wide writing programs.
Writing programs, centers, departments, and specialty programs at just 20 universities have received CCCC certificates of excellence since they was first awarded in 2004. The engineering communication program at the University of Washington received the distinction that year.
The Writing Program began in the late 1980s in response to Washington employers’ dissatisfaction with WSU graduates’ writing skills. Under the direction of successive leaders, the program has evolved over two and one-half decades and kept in touch with changing expectations for student writers, such as the use of technology in composition and their need to communicate with international peers. Today, every WSU student on all campuses is served one or more times by the acclaimed program; evidence indicates that student writers are well prepared for their disciplines, and, thus, for careers with Washington employers.
“We are very proud of our program and of the new CCCC award,” said Kelly-Riley.
Recently, two national organizations—the American Association of Colleges and Universities and the National Survey of Student Engagement —issued reports focusing on the quality of undergraduate education, she said. They noted the importance of writing programs in the preparation of college learners for a new global century.
“The Writing Program—through its combination of assessment, instructional support, and a key role in WSU’s writing-intensive curriculum—provides undergraduates with multiple substantive experiences identified by these reports as high-impact activities.”
The three units of the Writing Program conduct 13,000 student writing assessments each year; grade 4,500 portfolios of best writing samples submitted by juniors; conduct workshops to help faculty design course assignments requiring writing; and provide classes to help English as a Second Language students write well to perform effectively in American classrooms. Writing Program’s peer tutors conduct annually more than 18,000 contacts and consultations with other students.
Among its other national accolades, the Writing Program has been listed among “Programs to Watch For” in rankings produced by U.S. News & World Report in its annual publication, “America’s Best Colleges.” And it received CCCC’s “Innovation Award” for 2007 for its peer tutoring program.
Diane Kelly-Riley (l) and Lisa Johnson-Shull (r) with Charles Bazerman, President of CCCC