The Activist WPA in Action - A Profile of the First Year Writing Program at Eastern Michigan University

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by awa

The Activist WPA in Action presents a detailed profile of Dr. Linda Adler Kassner’s work within the First Year Writing Program at Eastern Michigan University, focusing on how she has reshaped first-year writing’s purpose and curriculum structure. The profile emphasizes an “open systems” curriculum that balances structure and innovation, and it highlights assessment practices used to improve program visibility and support continuous development. The introduction frames the author’s motivations and contrasts community college teaching contexts with the EMU program’s institutional role.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages14

Reading Time35 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Change-agents approach to writing program leadership

Redefining writing and first-year writing’s mission

Open systems curriculum: structure and innovation

Motivations and Teaching Context

Researcher relationship to the FYWP @ EMU

Community college contrast and need for program change

Challenges in Contemporary Education

Literate action and rhetorical perspectives

Accountability pressures and standardized testing concerns

The three guiding questions for writing teachers and programs

Composition Forum 20 , Summer 2009 The Activist WPA in Action: A Profile of the First Year Writing Program at Eastern Michigan University L. Lennie Irvin Abstract: This writing program profile examines the work of Dr. Linda Adler Kassner and the ways in which she has redefined writing and the place of first year writing at her university. The profile highlights Adler Kassner’s development of an “open systems” curriculum and her use of assessment for program visibility and continuous program improvement. Introduction Writing Program Administrators , Susan McLeod has advocated, should adopt the role of “change agents” ( 18), and it is this theme that Linda Adler Kassner embraces in her recent book , The Activist WPA: Changing Stories about Writers and Writing, by arguing that we must change the stories we tell about what writing is and what our writing programs do. But what does a writing program look like that has changed its stories? How has it reframed what writing is and enacted this different vision in its curriculum and program structure? This profile of Adler Kassner’sown writing program presents an opportunity to take a more detailed look at how she has brought into practice some of her story changing work. Two larger themes emerge from this examination: first , the ways in which the First Year Writing Program at Eastern Michigan University (FYWP @ EMU) has worked to redefine writing and the work of first year writing, positioning its role within the heart of the intellectual mission of the University; and second, Adler Kassner’s development of an “open systems” curriculum that balances structure and innovation. Writing Program profiles are typically written by the program’s administrator, so before proceeding I should explain my relationship to the FYWP @ EMU and my motivations in writing this profile. I currently teach writing at San Antonio College in San Antonio, Texas where I am entering my twentieth year of teaching community college English. I am also a Ph. D. Candidate in the Technical Communication and Rhetoric program at Texas Tech University , and this profile began as a research study of writing programs at various universities . As I began to investigate the FYWP @ EMU, I quickly began to see how Adler Kassner’s work and her program aligned with my own values and thoughts on the possibilities for writing programs . Dr. Adler Kassner has been generous in her support of this investigation by providing two interviews , answers to numerous email questions , and even a review of this manuscript , to ensure a fair representation of her program. As an outsider to the program , my perspectives during this exploration have been shaped by contrast. My teaching context is quite different from that at Eastern Michigan University. I teach within a two course traditional Freshman Composition I and II sequence where the first semester is based on non fiction texts and the second semester is literature based. We also have a two course Developmental English sequence for remediation. Although my department has a common set of learning objectives , most faculty can do what they like within the broad parameter of these learning objectives and the number of essays required. Faculty rarely work together on curriculum or share strategies for how to teach more effectively. As Jeffrey Klausman described of his own community college English Department , we have a “collection of writing classes , not a program” (239) . Our department is ripe for change, but what kind of change? My inquiry into the FYWP @ EMU may provide a model for the kinds of directions my department (and other English departments and programs like my own) might pursue. But I hope that this writing program profile also offers some navigation aids for teachers and program administrators in various contexts , who are addressing the twin challenges of our current situation in education. The first challenge is an old one for writing instruction—the dynam

FAQs

What central idea does the profile attribute to writing program administrators?

It emphasizes that writing program administrators should act as “change agents,” reshaping the stories told about writing and about what writing programs do.

How does Adler Kassner redefine first-year writing in the program profile?

She repositions first-year writing within the university’s intellectual mission and advances an “open systems” curriculum that balances structure with innovation.

Which three questions does the profile say Adler Kassner highlights in her book?

The book centers on defining incoming students’ literacies, determining which literacies composition classes should develop and why, and assessing students’ literacies at the end of these classes.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by awa