Composition Forum 38, Spring 2018 - Implementing Writing Intensive Gen Ed Seminars at a Small, Catholic University

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by jay

This profile describes the first three years of initiating new writing-intensive seminars for the General Education curriculum at a small, career-focused, Catholic University. A faculty survey showed existing writing-intensive introductory courses were failing to improve student writing skills, prompting replacement with theme-based seminars. The account details faculty-integration strategies, workshops for writing-across-the-curriculum instruction, and administrative steps for SEM delivery for Associate and Bachelor students.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages7

Reading Time18 min

AccessFree to download

Implementing Writing Intensive Gen Ed Seminars at a Small, Catholic University

WI Program & Institutional Context

Institutional mini-grant and implementation support

Current Issue From the Editors Weblog Editorial Board Editorial Policy Submissions Archives Accessibility Search Composition Forum 38, Spring 2018 Implementing Writing Intensive Gen Ed Seminars at a Small, Catholic University Lisbeth Chapin Abstract: This profile describes the first three years of initiating new writing-intensive seminars for the General Education curriculum at a small, career-focused, Catholic University. The primary reason for implementing the program was to initiate new writing-intensive seminars to replace existing writing-intensive General Education introductory courses that were not achieving hoped-for results of improving student writing skills, based on a faculty survey. It explains the strategies and theories used for involving faculty across the disciplines to teach theme-based courses each faculty member designs, the workshops that supported faculty efforts, and the administrative details of incorporating new seminars into the General Education program for students earning Associate or Bachelor degrees. Seminars are designed to be discipline-based and include writing-in-thedisciplines as well as writing-across-the-curriculum components. WI Program & Institutional Context After eight years of a General Education curriculum designed to improve student writing across the disciplines, our faculty at Gwynedd Mercy University were issued a survey asking for their reflections on student writing and the improvement for which the curriculum had been created. The results of this survey showed that faculty were very dissatisfied with the level of writing skill exhibited across all disciplines, indicating that the eight-year-old set of courses was not achieving the hoped-for results. At that point, a Writing Intensive Initiative Committee of full-time faculty members was created to revise the courses or replace them with a new Gen Ed curriculum. The Writing Intensive Initiative Committee first set about to create the Writing Intensive Course Guidelines and Recommendations (see Appendix [PDF]) and consequently proposed a new seminar (SEM) style of course, one that would focus on a particular theme. Since we are a Sisters of Mercy (Catholic) institution, each SEM course was required to relate to the five concerns of the Sisters of Mercy International: 1) the earth; 2) immigration; 3) nonviolence; 4) racism; and 5) women. Faculty across the disciplines could design and teach a course in their field that focused on one of these five Sisters of Mercy concerns. A series of workshops and training events for faculty was recommended in order to introduce or review concepts and practices for teaching writing across the curriculum, particularly regarding the writing styles and standards that vary within academic disciplines. We considered this freedom for faculty to design their own themed course crucial in engaging their interest and commitment. In fact, faculty who had never before considered teaching a writing-intensive course at our institution were expressing interest at an unexpected level. In my initial presentation at the general faculty assembly earlier that year, I spoke to a roomful of professors weary of hearing conversations about why or how students should write more proficiently for their college classes, weary of having students who balked at the grades they believed should be higher, and weary of hearing that faculty need to teach writing more effectively in their classrooms. To this dispirited assembly, I introduced the concept of designing their own themed courses, while also beginning a conversation about their goals for their students, their goals for themselves as instructors, and several methods to teach and assess writing assignments that could be less onerous than they imagined and more fulfilling in engaging the students. Early questions for the faculty included those to encourage greater awareness—a mindfulness—of student-centered goals and instructor-centered goals; specifi

FAQs

What problem led the university to implement the writing-intensive seminar initiative?

Faculty survey results showed dissatisfaction with students’ writing skills across disciplines and that the earlier eight-year General Education courses were not achieving the expected improvement.

How were the new seminars designed and organized?

The initiative proposed a seminar (SEM) style course centered on themes. Each seminar was discipline-based and incorporated writing-in-the-disciplines and writing-across-the-curriculum components, with themes aligned to the Sisters of Mercy International concerns.

What role did workshops and institutional funding play in the implementation?

Workshops and training events supported faculty in reviewing concepts and practices for teaching writing across the curriculum. The committee also used an institutional mini-grant to fund expert speakers and participation incentives, along with establishing objectives and a peer-review process for SEM syllabi.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by jay