Writing Across the Curriculum

The Writing Across the Curriculum program here at JU is less of an administrative department and more of a grass-roots campaign to improve student writing across campus. In fact, this is the way WAC programs have developed nationwide since the first few sprung up in the mid-seventies. The primary goal of the JU WAC program is simple: improve student writing across campus by encouraging faculty to utilize writing as a catalyst for student learning in the classroom. Our mission, then, consists not only of encouraging the teaching of writing in all disciplines, but supporting those using writing as a pedagogical tool by:

• Facilitating information sharing via our Faculty Resources page (left) and through meetings with individual faculty members;

• Providing occasion (both in person and online) for open dialogue on the many problems faced by a teacher of writing including but not limited to the integration of writing assignments and course content, the creation of engaging writing assignments, the use of both formal and informal writing, methods to curb the incidence of plagiarism, and assessing student work;

• Working with student/faculty groups that require discipline-specific writing help;

• Utilizing the Writing Center to help create a campus writing culture;

• Showcasing student writing in our Journal of Research Across the Disciplines;

• Partnering with the Center for Teaching and Learning and other campus efforts to both encourage professional development in the field and allow our faculty to share what it already knows about writing and writing instruction.

I encourage you to browse through the resources available in this page and also visit the other Writing @ JU pages (Writing Center, JRAD). If you are considering adding a few writing assignments to a course, teaching a WI (writing intensive) course, looking for a few resources to help with an assignment, or are simply curious about using more writing, please contact me, Ed McCourt, at your convenience.

Contact

Ed McCourt

Asst. Prof. of English; Director of Writing Center & WAC

• Email address  emccour@ju.edu
• Telephone number  (904) 256- 7106
• Office location  Council 143
• Contact person  Ed McCourt in the directory