Moving beyond bullet-point thinking: the multiple voices of a large writing across the curriculum program

A conference table around which educators discuss student writing across the curriculum is an important place where literacies are constructed. This presentation addresses how one cross-disciplinary Campus Writing Program (CWP) works with faculty to understand and guide the work of supporting writing intensive courses. Each year, the CWP at this large university collects data from faculty evaluations of writing workshops, data on student completion of WI courses, the number of WI courses taken on average by a student, and similar information that is available through the university. Writing program leaders set out to study how the Writing Intensive guidelines relate to students’ WI experiences. Thus, an ongoing program assessment was launched.

The Campus Writing Program (CWP) at this University is nearing 30 years as a “Writing Across the Curriculum” Program. It is unique, especially for large research universities, to have a program this size and scope. Annually 14,000 students are taking courses approved by faculty as “writing intensive” (WI). Of these 400 courses approved each year, students are engaged in writing assignments that promote their learning of the content as well as learning about writing in the discipline. One of students’ two required WI courses must be at the upper level in the major. Thus, the CWP reaches every student and degree-granting department on this campus of 36,000 students.