ASCRC Writing Committee Minutes, 9/8/14, Todd 204
Call to Order
Chair Chin called the meeting to order at 10:10 a.m.

Members Present:T. Andrews, I. Appelbaum,G. Burns, B. Chin, C. Corr,J. Gallo, D. Raiford, J. Smith, M. Stark, G. Weix
Ex-Officio Members Present:N. Lindsay, M. Mangold, A. Ratto- Parks,K. Webster
Members Absent/Excused:S. Brown, J. Glendening
Guests: N. Clouse, J. DeBoer
Minutes:The minutes from 5/5/14 were approved. Chair Chin reminded the Committee that student members vote but ex-officio members do not.

Communication Items

  • New and Returning members were welcomed to the Committee and members introduced themselves, including the new Associate Provost Nathan Lindsay.
  • The Chair of ASCRC, John DeBoer, attended briefly to introduce himself and thank members for their upcoming work serving on the ASCRC Writing Committee.
  • Associate Provost Lindsay met with Chair Chin and Director Webster prior to the start of the semester. He has a background in assessment and is supportive of the committee’s work with the University-wide Program-level Writing Assessment (UPWA), especially because it is in line with assessment best practices. Lindsay encouraged the Committee to further analyze the data and develop action plans. The Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education is sponsoring an Outcomes Assessment Workshop on September 22 from 9:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. The 11:30 a.m. session will focus on General Education. He asked whether Chair Chin would be available to provide a 15 minute executive summary of the UPWA. Chair-elect Stark and Director Webster agreed to co-present with Chair Chin. The symposium is intended for faculty and staff across the Montana University System to highlight assessment best practices. There will be another symposium at MSU on October 2nd.
  • Members were reminded of the fall meeting schedule and the September 19th Writing Symposium from 9:10 a.m. -12:00 p.m. The Writing Symposium flyer was displayed. Members should help spread the word and remind potential attendees (including teaching assistants)that the need to register. Chin thanked Writing Committee members that are presenting (Corr, Ratto-Parks, Gallo, and Webster). She also thanked Amy Kinch (Faculty Development Office) and Camie for their support.
    There is only funding to film one session offered at each time. Student member Andrews volunteered to record the sessions she will attend; she will contact Amy Kinch to coordinate the recordings.
  • Nancy Clouse will work on the Moodle shell for the University-wide Program-level Writing Assessment when she has the timeline. The Committee will need to establish the opening and closing dates for papers to be uploaded.
  • Director Webster asked the Registrar to put the Writing Course Transfer Equivalency Appeal Guidelines policy into the catalog. Students and advisors do not seem to be aware of the process. Camie will ask Beth Howard to put the policy on the Office for Student Success website as well.
  • Mangold informed the Committee that the Global Community for Academic Advising (NACADA) Conference will be held at UM in April 9 and 10th. She hoped that faculty with advising responsibilities will attend the event. Chair Chin suggested Mangold contact Amy Kinch for help with advertising the event.

Business Items

  • The Committee Charge was briefly reviewed. Chair-elect Stark will propose revised language to incorporate the removal of the UDWPA and the implementation of the University-wide Program- level Writing Assessment. Chin will ask the Committee to vote its approval via email so Stark can present to ASCRC.
  • Director Webster summarized the Writing Center’s annual report. The Writing Center’s primary goal is to help students become better writers. The Center had 400 additional student visits than last year and provided 50 additional in-class workshops. More graduate and international students are visiting the Writing Center. The lowest number of visits is still from sophomores, so the Center is exploring ways to reach these students.
    The Writing Center’s General Fund budget was cut significantly for this coming year and its designated fund (from the repeat fee) is declining now that prerequisites are enforced. The instability of the budget needs to be addressed. It was suggested that the Writing Committee be proactive and consider drafting a resolution to go before the Faculty Senate to advocatefor a more sustainable funding source for the Writing Center. Stark and Appelbaum and Mangold volunteered to work on this issue. The resolution would make faculty and the administration aware of the potential problem. It should also provide evidence that the Writing Center is having an impact on student writing.
  • Given the budget situation, The Writing Committee will host only one Writing Assessment Retreat in the spring. Chair Chin asked members to look at their calendars for March and April in order to select a date that does not conflict with other major events on campus. During the second week of the semester Chin sent a message to writing instructors reminding them to inform their students of the requirement to upload a paper for the University-wide Program-level Writing Assessment.
  • Webster provided an update on the search for the Writing Assessment Coordinator / Program Assistant for Writing Assessment. The position announcement has been posted to the student employment site and will soon be posted as a staff position as well. The position is temporary for 8 months and is approximately 13.3 hours per/wk. Webster encouraged the committee to recruit qualified applicants. It was suggested that the announcement be sent to the Graduate Student Association.
  • The Working Group for the Writing Resource Website for faculty was reconstituted. It includes Ratto-Parks, Raiford, and Brown.
  • A Working Group was established to investigate the issues below. Members include Stark, Applebaum, Burns, Ratto-parks, and Mangold.
  • label confusion between the approved writing course and the upper-division writing course in the major;
  • and whether there is a need for additional lower-division writing courses that teach writing
  • At the next meeting Professor Corr will provide the Committee with a mini workshop of how the writing review process works.

Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 12:00 p.m.