Writing Across The Curriculum Program
The UMB Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) program’s primary mission is to increase the presence of effective, inclusive writing instruction across disciplines and to support connection and coherence in writing-related efforts across the university. We offer faculty-to-faculty development workshops, resources, and consultation to help individual instructors (“WAC Faculty Fellows ”) integrate or improve writing instruction in their own classrooms. We also provide expert guidance and a point of cross-disciplinary articulation to departments, programs, and courses, as well as host events to promote and celebrate writing and writing education.
Our Principles
- Writing to Learn: Writing is a valuable method of learning for all students, both in specific courses and over an academic career.
- Learning to Write: Student writers develop best when given recurring, sustained opportunities to write in a variety of genres, disciplines, and contexts.
- Teaching Writing: Faculty of all disciplines can play a role in facilitating and guiding student writing.
- Writing and Equity: Writing instruction and assessment play a critical role in both enacting and dismantling systems of oppression.
- Cross-Disciplinary Connections: Faculty from different disciplines possess and can share disciplinary writing knowledge and practice.
Contact:
Upcoming Events & Deadlines
Labor-Based Grading Workshop – August 12, 2024
If you have been curious about labor-based grading and have wanted assistance in conceptualizing how to apply it in your own class, this is the workshop you’ve been waiting for. Composition instructors (and experienced utilizers of labor-based grading) Susan Field, Dan Messier, Brittany Peterson, and Brittanie Weatherbie Greco will walk you through how to use this grading system with your materials.
If you are interested, please register at the link below and choose 1-3 writing assignments from your own course(s) to revise during the online workshop on Monday, August 12th, from 2:00-4:00 p.m.
If you submit a revised assignment by August 19th, you’ll get feedback from the composition LBG team and earn $75 (courtesy of the UMB Writing Across the Curriculum program)
Who We Are
Administration
Lauren Bowen, PhD (she/her) – Co-Director
Lauren is an Associate Professor of English and has directed the university’s Composition Program since 2016. She teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in composition, rhetoric, literacy studies, and writing pedagogy, and is the 2021 winner of the Manning Prize for Excellence in Teaching. Her published research areas include writing through the lifespan, disciplinary identity development, and age inclusivity in higher education.
Matthew Davis, PhD (he/him) - Co-Director
Matt is an Associate Professor of English and a previous Director of the New Media & Professional Writing and Composition Tutoring programs. He teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in rhetoric & composition and writing research & pedagogy, with emphasis on digital culture. His research focuses on writing curriculum and pedagogy, especially in the areas of transfer, multimodality, and digital rhetoric. He is also the current co-editor of Composition Studies and of College Composition & Communication.
Janet Stevens, MA (she/her) - Associate Director
Janet is a Senior Lecturer II of English. She teaches undergraduate courses in composition, rhetoric, and American literature. Prior to this position, she was an assistant director of the Composition Program. She has administrative experience and professional development in composition theory and pedagogy, writing studies, and collaborative learning.
Steering Committee
Kate Archard, MA (she/her)- in addition to teaching, Kate serves as Writing Program Director for the College of Management. In this role, she recruits, trains, and mentors a core faculty of instructors who teach writing and communication skills in Business Communication (BC) courses. She directs and oversees the administration and evaluation of the College’s Writing Assessment.
Hadi Banat, PhD (he/him)
Hadi is an assistant professor of English and has directed the university’s ESL Program since 2020. He teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in research methods, multilingual composition, multicultural literacies, and ESL pedagogy. His published research areas include multilingual writing, intercultural competence assessment, infrastructure design in collaborative research teams, and writing program administration.
Betsabe (Betsy) Gomez, MFA (she/her)
Betsy is the Associate Director of Undergraduate Studies and Writing Proficiency. In this role, she manages the university’s Writing Proficiency Requirement, which assesses over two thousand students a year. She has taught creative writing, composition, and critical reading and writing. Prior to this role, Betsy was a Writing Specialist for Northeastern University’s Foundation Year program.
Rajini Srikanth (she/her)-- is Dean of Faculty and Inter-faculty Initiatives. She is responsible for faculty development throughout a faculty member’s career at the university – from the moment they enter the university until their retirement. The Office for Faculty Development is under her purview, and she is supported in the strategic vision of this office by a cabinet of 13 members (11 faculty + the Associate Chief Information Officer + the Assistant Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs). The OFD addresses the full spectrum of a faculty member’s needs, including professional development, personnel reviews, grant applications, and pedagogical matters. Srikanth is a tenured professor in the English department and teaches as well for the Human Rights minor and the graduate program in Critical Ethnic and Community Studies. She has been at the university since 1998 and therefore has a wide-angle view of the campus’ operational infrastructure and the needs of faculty from all departments. As Dean of Faculty, she works closely with department chairs and collegiate Deans to ensure that she is aware of department- and college-specific needs. Prior to assuming her position as Dean of Faculty, Srikanth was Dean of the interdisciplinary Honors College for eight years and before that director of the Honors Program for nine years. In those roles, she enlarged and strengthened networks of connections across all departments. Srikanth was on the steering committee of the previous Davis grant.
Lauren Sullivan is a Senior Lecturer III in the Anthropology Department and has served as the General Education Intermediate Seminar Coordinator since 2016. Lauren has Ph.D in Anthropology and specializes in ceramic analysis in order to gain a better understanding of the establishment and collapse of social hierarchies and how these are expressed in the archaeological record. She has worked at sites across Belize for 30 plus years. Sullivan was on the steering committee of the previous Davis grant in which EWRAP was developed.
WAC Faculty Fellows Program
Each year, a cohort of selected WAC Faculty Fellows receive a stipend to collaborate in a series of monthly, inquiry-based workshops to consider how writing can be used as a tool for learning and how all disciplines can contribute to students’ ongoing development as writers. Workshops address questions and challenges that participating faculty bring to the program, as well as questions such as: How can I use writing in my classroom to support students’ learning of disciplinary knowledge and writing conventions? How do I establish an inclusive writing culture in my courses? How do I assess and respond to student writing? By the end of the program, WAC Faculty Fellows come away with a revised set of course materials and plans for implementing them.