WAC at CUNY

University-Wide Guidelines for Writing Across the Curriculum

CUNY creates WAC — Board of Trustees Minutes of Proceedings, January 25, 1999

THE CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK — THE ENHANCEMENT OF STUDENT WRITING SKILLS:

WHEREAS, The attainment of advanced writing ability represents the hallmark of a comprehensive college education and a skill that can only be developed through extensive writing practice that is promoted across all degree program requirements; therefore be it

RESOLVED, That henceforth each college intensify and expand its programmatic efforts to strengthen the teaching of writing in courses across the curriculum and that such efforts ensure that quality writing skills are fostered in all disciplinary areas; and be it further

RESOLVED, That the colleges' commitment to Writing Across the Curriculum requirements be supported by faculty development initiatives and by University initiatives such as the CUNY Writing Fellows Program that will sponsor specially trained CUNY doctoral students who will assist in the delivery of intensive writing instruction; and be it further

To assure that CUNY graduates bring fully developed communication skills into the workplace and into graduate and professional schools, a major University initiative...will intensify and extend the colleges' efforts to teach writing in courses across the curriculum. This Board-mandated effort (January 25, 1999 Board of Trustees Resolution-The Enhancement of Student Writing Skills) affirms a broad commitment to writing. It recognizes that advanced writing ability represents the hallmark of a comprehensive college education and can only be developed through extensive writing practice, promoted across a wide spectrum of academic experiences. This initiative will be linked to a new CUNY Writing Fellows Program that will place specially trained CUNY doctoral students on undergraduate campuses and offer them the opportunity to be mentored by faculty members while assisting in a variety of capacities in support of intensive writing instruction.

The University-wide Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) initiative is envisioned as a program in which a set of goals, principles, and effective practices agreed upon by a University-wide committee is implemented and amplified on each campus according to its mission and needs. Each college's plans for implementing a full WAC program should address the following areas:

• Program goals (the college's policy on writing should be included in this description);
• Planned activities to achieve the goals of the program...(WAC and writing in the disciplines initiatives, including, but not limited to, writing intensive courses, collaborative paired courses [e.g., English Composition and Freshman Seminar], block programming, the use of technology, writing centers, tutorial support, and curricular change might be discussed in this section);
• Target faculty and students;
• Campus-based professional development plan;
• Role of the writing fellows;
• Assessment of the program including faculty, writing fellows and students (attitudes and writing); and
• Cost estimates for implementing the college's plan.