ANNE-MARIE HALL AMY KIMME HEAFAITH KURTYKA

ASHLEY J. HOLMES

UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONATUCSON, ARIZONA

USA

Ecologies of Writing Programs: A Heuristic for Building Sustainability

University of Arizona Writing Program

Goals for Students in Writing Program

1. Assess the rhetorical strategies writers use to achieve their purposes with varied audiences, situations and purposes.

2. Use evidence and persuasive appeals that are effective with various audiences, situations, and purposes.

3. Develop critical analyses of public, scholarly and personal issues based on research, observations and reflections from their own experiences.

4. Revise in response to feedback from readers to improve drafts, and offer useful feedback to other writers on how to revise their writing.

5. Use the appropriate conventions of research and analysis, including the stylistic conventions of clear and convincing academic writing.

To meet these goals, Writing Program courses stress collaborative learning. Courses employ writing workshops, with students revising multiple drafts of formal work in response to feedback from instructors, classroom peers, and other audiences.

http://english.arizona.edu/index_site.php?id=36

Writing Program Director

Writing ProgramAssociate Director

Writing Program Faculty (8-10)

OutreachInterns

WritingCenter

Academic Transfer

Assistants

CustomPublications

Student’s Guide& Anthologies

Instructors (~150)Graduate Students & Adjuncts

Students12,249 in 2007545 sections

Administrative Staff (4)

Co ur se Dir ec t o r s

109H

308104H103H

307108107106

306102101101+

Co ur se Dir ec t o r s

109H

308104H103H

307108107106

306102101101+

Committees:Writing Program Advisory Committee (WriPAC) MonthlyCourse Directors MonthlyDifference & Inequality (D&I) Monthly

Department of English – Writing Program

Foundational Principles for Sustainability

Avoid large financial encumbrances/grants that are not sustainable.

Use local knowledge to build infrastructures.Evaluate existing personnel and talents.Identify existing support structures in your institution.Build capacity for leadership that allows for organic,

bottom up growth (not top down mandates).Reflect annually.Change is continuous….

Sustainable Programs at UA

Custom Publications–series of custom publications for writing courses, edited by graduate students and faculty = produces royalties, influences curriculum.

Professional & Technical Writing Development–collaborations with science, engineering, public health to develop medical writing, online courses, service learning courses.

Writing Center–opportunity to affect how campus community views and supports writing in all courses across the curriculum.

More programs….

Community Literacy–involvement in adult literacy, adolescent literacy projects in Tucson.

Comparative Pedagogies–work with graduate students on differences and inequalities on Mexico-Arizona border that affects research and pedagogy in teaching.

Visual-Spatial Showcase–annual showcase for first-year students to create an argument that rhetorically and strategically uses visual and spatial principles of design.

Service Learning—collaborations with local secondary school teachers and students linking their students with first-year writing students to write collaboratively.

Finally….change ≠ loss

Visibility on campus–administrators of writing programs sitting on university wide committees (and department, college, state and national committees) on General Education, assessment, technology uses in classrooms.

Ongoing reflection–continuous process of change.

Discussion

What are the demands placed on writing development in your institution?

What can faculty do to support writing development and meet those demands?

What can you do to build SUSTAINABLE writing development?

Case Studies

Visual Spatial Rhetorics and the Showcasehttp://web.me.com/chrisminnix/Revised_Showcase/

First_Year_Showcase.html

Community/K-12 Outreach and Service Learninghttp://wildcatwriters.weebly.com

SVR2

Interactive InstallationsMini-workshops

9 presenters65 participants

UAWPHonorsClasses

UA Honors College

2007Visual-Spatial

Showcase

4 instructors54 students 2009

Visual-Spatial Showcase

22 instructors415 students

UAWP—All First-Year Writing Courses

Pre-semester Interest MeetingWebsite

Spatial & Visual Rhetoric Resources

Workshop

I. List 3 areas of strength or expertise that you or your colleagues have regarding writing (development, personnel, curriculum, pedagogy, existing programs, etc.).

II. Describe an “ideal” program based on your strengths.III. What are 3 things that need to happen to

implement the dream?IV. CREATE A VISUAL REPRESENTATION OF YOUR

PROGRAM.

Where do we go from here?

What additional foundational principles should we add to our sustainability heuristic?

Join the groupsite at http://sustainablewriting.groupsite.com.

Post questions and discuss throughout the year.What else?

THANKS

Anne-Marie Hall, PhD Amy Kimme Hea, PhDDirector – Writing Program Associate Director –

Writing Programhall@email.arizona.edu kimmehea@email.arizona.edu

Ashley Holmes Faith KurtykaPhD candidate PhD candidateajholmes@email.arizona.edu kurtyka@email.arizona.edu