Changes and Shapes

In August of last year, I took on the role of Writing Program Coordinator here at Sac State. One of the initial challenges I face in this role is deciding what success on the job looks like.

During the prior six years, I had a measurable vision of what I wanted to achieve. As the large-scale writing assessment coordinator, I told everyone my plan: I was going to replace the timed-writing assessment with an ePortfolio. It was a big project; we assess more than 7000 students a year. So, I figured, if I put a functioning program in place within five or so years, I could say I'd succeeded. 

In my new role as Writing Program Coordinator, the goals have not taken on such a clear shape (yet). 

I aim to remedy that between now and the end of the semester because I learned something about myself while working on the ePortfolio project. I need to know the shape of the project I am working on in order to forge ahead and simultaneously negotiate the day-to-day tasks of administering a program.

The initial outlines of a project are coming into focus at this point. Here's what I'm thinking:

In the past 8-9 years, our writing program has undergone two significant transformations, both of which speak to a programmatic philosophy. 

First, under the initial direction of Dr. Amy Heckathorn and the subsequent direction of Dr. Angela Clark-Oates, the placement procedures for freshmen were changed. We had been using a statewide timed-writing test to determine if students required extra instruction. We shifted to a directed self-placement model for which students perform a self-assessment and determine their own path through the first-year writing requirements. 

Second, the writing assessment we perform when students transition from lower-division coursework to upper-division coursework was changed. We had been using a timed-writing test to determine if students require extra instruction before taking a Writing Intensive course. We have since switched to an ePortfolio used to advise students and then allow them to choose the kind of support they need to complete the final Writing Intensive course requirement.   

Both of these changes put more decision-making power into the hands of our students. The changes also (attempt to) remove the stigma of remediation from the writing development support we offer in our program. 

And that's where I think I need to put my efforts: I aim to more fully integrate the courses our Writing Program delivers and the student support we offer throughout a student's career here at Sac State. 

My research has focused on how writing skills transfer and transform over the course of a student's time in college. This is an exciting opportunity for me to apply that research and build a learning environment that fosters writing development alongside/with the academic development students do in their disciplines.  

My initial sketches of a writing resources map are here. I intend to make it look nicer and also show where these resources link up with other learning resources on campus. 

I'm excited to see how this turns into a more concrete goal this year.