For Mike Stecher, the proof is in the writing

Mike Stecher had his doubts.

An associate professor in the Department of Mathematics, Stecher wasn’t sure about transforming MATH 220, a course on the fundamentals of discrete mathematics, into a writing-intensive (W) course.

“I was concerned that perhaps having to qualify 220 as a writing course would detract from its content,” Stecher acknowledges.

As I have listened to colleagues talk about implementing the writing-intensive requirement, I’ve heard two persistent concerns: handling the increased work load and coping with instructors’ lack of knowledge about how to teach writing. Many have suggested graduate students from English be hired to assist faculty in classrooms across the university, the assumption being that such assistance will be affordable, available, and effective.

Undergrads to aid W course instructors

This spring the University Writing Center (UWC) began training the first Undergraduate Writing Assistants, a select group of talented students who will next fall be assigned to assist some of the faculty members teaching writing-intensive (W) courses. While one goal of the program is to ease the burdens on W course instructors, Dr. Valerie Balester, Executive Director of the UWC, also envisions these undergraduates contributing to a more dynamic and innovative writing environment across campus.

Committee member Sarah Bednarz discusses proposing a W course

What does it take to propose a writing intensive (W) course? Sarah Bednarz, associate professor of geography, is in a unique position to know. For the past year and a half she’s served on the W Course Advisory Committee, which reviews faculty proposals for courses designed to meet the writing-intensive requirement. This fall Bednarz also went before her fellow committee members with a proposal of her own.