Writing Intensive Course Development Seminar - January 11-12

This week's (January 11 & 12) Faculty Institute is the second part of the development process for faculty developing math and science WI courses that will be piloted in the Spring or Fall 2011 semesters.

While part 1 focused on developing materials, this institute will focus on reviewing those materials (syllabi, assignments etc.) that have been developed by participants since last summer. In a seminar setting, we will discuss both the plans and methods for implementing them in the classroom during the pilot semester.

We will meet Tuesday and Wednesday from 9 - 3 pm in the Writing Center.


Our agenda includes these areas of discussion:

• Institute Part One Recap
• Review of your WI syllabi
• Incorporating critical thinking into writing assignments and using the CT rubric (Ken Ronkowitz)
• Incorporating information literacy into writing assignments and using the IL rubric (Ken Karol)
• Creating your WI course LibGuide and adding content including media resources (hands-on session)
• Formal and informal writing defined
• Review of your formal writing assignments
• Strategies for grading writing as writing (and for content) and grading policies
• Using the student e-portfolios - technical information, implementation and evaluation (Anita Kumar)
• WI Course evaluation: reviewing progress during the semester with the team, and by the Task Force

We require participants to bring along the materials from the first summer session (handbook etc.) and all materials for their new WI section – especially the revised syllabus, writing assignments, textbook and any media titles being used.

The Writing Initiative Task Force

The Writing Initiative Task Force is a group of administrators and faculty charged with monitoring the creation and assessing the implementation of the Writing Intensive (WI) courses at the college.

As the Initiative is now in its fourth year (of the 5 year grant), this group becomes more important in assuring the sustainability of the Initiative goals beyond the time of the grant.

The group is headed by Greg Fallon, Associate Dean of Learning Resources and the Title V Project Coordinator for the Writing Initiative.

Matters addressed by the Task Force during this past year included:

1. Performance of WI students on CWE (presentation of data by Dr. Gurvinder Khaneja of Institutional Research; positive signs; findings to be shared at fall meeting of all full-time faculty)
2. Number of WI courses developed and to be developed (19 WI courses have been developed thus far, just one short of the number originally planned; Human Growth and Development and Economics are currently being considered; Computer Concepts and Applications needs another trained instructor)
3. Composition I as a pre-requisite (previously, students were enrolling in WI courses without this pre-requisite; the pre-requisite is now in place after intervention by registrar)
4. Need for additional sections of WI courses as well as additional instructors (announced at meetings of departmental chairpersons)
5. Insufficient use of ePortfolios (to increase use, Dr. Kineavy plans to introduce ePortfolios in the required first-year experience class so that students are comfortable with them by the time they take WI courses)
6. Expansion of evaluation committee (at present, WI staff does all of the assessment of student submissions to ePortfolio—plans to include faculty from Gen Ed, Assessment, and College Writing Committees to accommodate increasing number of students)
7. Review of WI courses to maintain WI standards (Task Force responsibility)
8. Alignment of rubrics (currently, the writing rubrics for the College Writing Exam (CWE) and the WI courses are perfectly aligned; Ken Ronkowitz and Elizabeth Nesius have further worked out the alignment of the CWE, WI, and WritePlacer rubrics to show how they correspond for assessment purposes)
9. Getting the word out (various efforts: WI faculty presentations, a dedicated blog, an anthology of student writings, and the branding of the Initiative through the logo and its use on promotional materials)
10. Involvement of General Education Committee (a co-chairperson is a member of the Task Force; the Gen Ed Committee doing inventory of the writing already done in Gen Ed courses; establishing outcomes expected of PCCC students with respect to writing and critical thinking)
11. Involvement of Assessment Committee (the chairperson is a member of the Task Force; the review of writing outcomes assessment for WI courses will fall to this committee)

The current Task Force members are:

1. Dr. Jacqueline Kineavy, Senior Vice President for Academic and Student Affairs
2. Prof. Edward Mosley, Chairperson for the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences
3. Ms. Donna Stankiewicz, Assistant Dean of Nursing Education
4. Mr. Todd Sorber, Executive Director of Institutional Advancement and Workforce Development
5. Dr. Gurvinder Khaneja, Executive Director of Institutional Research
6. Mr. Greg Fallon, Associate Dean of Learning Resources & Title V Project Coordinator
7. Mr. Ken Ronkowitz, Director of the Writing Initiative
8. Ms. Elizabeth Nesius, Coordinator of the Writing Center
9. Mr. Ken Karol, Technology Resource Specialist
10. Dr. Ida Greidanus, Professor of Biology
11. Prof. Mark Hillringhouse, Co-Chairperson of the College Writing Committee
12. Prof. Margaret Holland, Co-Chairperson of the College Writing Committee
13. Prof. Alan Mitnick, Chairperson of the English Department
14. Dr. Lonna Murphy, Co-Chairperson of the General Education Committee
15. Dr. Christine Redman-Waldeyer, Chairperson of the Assessment Committee

January Seminars for New WI Faculty

This week (January 4 and 5), we will be holding our seminars for new Writing Intensive faculty in the Paterson Writing Center from 9 - 3 pm.

This two-day seminar is for faculty taking on a section of an already developed Writing Intensive course, and teaching WI for the first time

The topics covered over the course of the 2 days will include:

1. Writing Initiative goals and requirements
2. The Writing Initiative Teacher's Handbook 
3. Using the Writing Center
4. A review of the existing WI course materials: syllabus, assignments etc. and suggestions for revisions and additions.
5. Using the 3 initiative rubrics for assessment
6. Components of the formal versus informal writing assignments
7. Incorporating critical thinking in writing
8. Incorporating information literacy in writing
9. Hands-on session using the course LibGuide and making additions to it (links, resources, media objects etc.)
10. Student portfolios: why we use portfolios, use of the eFolio product, sample student portfolios, grading strategies.
11. Online support for online course sections and all students.
12. Using Writing Center tutoring and eTutoring

Information on faculty development in writing at PCCC is at  http://pccc.libguides.com/writing/

PCCC Winter Break

Passaic County Community College will be on winter break from December 23 until January 2.


Offices will reopen on Monday, January 3rd.

Registration for the 15 week semester is on January 13 – 15 and 18.
Registration for the 12 week semester will be held February 7 & 8.

Classes will begin on Wednesday, January 19.

Silk City Accepting Submissions

Cover photo by Mark Hillringhouse

PCCC’S student literary journal, Silk City, is now accepting online submissions.

Students, faculty and staff may submit poetry, short fiction, creative non-fiction, and black and white photography.

Send all work as an email attachment to SilkCity@pccc.edu

Include your full name in the email. All work must be properly formatted.

Questions and inquiries may be addressed to the advisors Professor Mark Hillringhouse and Professor Mark Tambone.

Responding to Student Writing

Elizabeth Nesius gave a presentation on responding to student writing to PCCC faculty across curricula on Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2010, from 4:30-5:30 in the Library Classroom in the Learning Resource Center.

The presentation was designed for non-writing faculty, although it is hoped that writing faculty would be able to get some benefit from it as well. The presentation gave tips on responding to students' writing in a quick and efficient fashion while maximizing the usefulness of that feedback for students. Tips included effective use of rubrics and comments, and sample responses.

Faculty from a variety of disciplines attended, and feedback was generally positive. The presentation will be offered again in Spring 2011 and can be viewed here. In Spring 2010 this presentation will be part of a 2-part workshop series: Creating Effective Writing Assignments and Responding to Student Writing.