Our Philosophy
When Shant Sarkuni graduated
from Rutgers University last year at the
ripe old age of fifteen, the double major
in computer science and mathematics was
asked which course he found most challenging
during his undergraduate education. "Nothing
was harder than Expos 101," he said. "You
just have to have determination." We're
happy to accept Mr. Sarkuni's assessment,
which is a testament to the Writing Program's
commitment to providing courses where all
students--even those who graduate at fifteen--have
the opportunity to learn.
The Rutgers Writing Program
provides instruction to over 11,000 students
every year in courses ranging from 098 Composition
Skills, for beginning writers, to Expos
101, the expository writing course required
for graduation, to 303, Writing for Business
and Professions, an elective course for
students wishing to hone their business
writing skills. The Writing Program draws
on full-time instructors, part-time lecturers,
teaching assistants from disciplines across
the Arts and Sciences, and its own program
directors to staff more than 500 writing
courses a year. We also provide tutoring,
free of charge, in our Writing Centers located
on the College Avenue Campus, Livingston
Campus, and on Douglass Campus.
With so many students taught by so many
teachers spread over so many different campuses,
the directors and the teaching faculty of
the Writing Program have had to work very
hard to make certain that all students receive
the same pedagogical support and that all
student writing produced in our courses
is assessed according to the same rigorous
standards. Thus, for example, all students
in Expos 101 read and respond to student
papers, work in peer groups, and receive
sustained instruction in the revision process.
All 101 students write and revise six essays
over the course of the semester; they all
are asked to read extended essays and to
produce responses that engage with the assigned
materials; and all of their papers are assessed
according to the same grading criteria.
(To see the grading criteria for 101, go
to The Gradatorium.)
To achieve our goal of providing all Rutgers
undergraduates with the support necessary
to acquire and perfect the literate skills
most highly valued in the university, the
Writing Program has developed a curriculum
centered on student writing. Thus, regardless
of the level of the writing course in which
you are enrolled, you can expect to spend
a substantial amount of class time reading,
discussing, and revising student essays.
By working with student papers about readings
assigned in class, you will be learning
to distinguish a compelling interpretation
from a fanciful or flippant response, how
to provide evidence that advances an argument,
and how to generate writing that articulates
a position that is in conversation with
the ideas and issues raised in the assigned
readings. By having you read the work of
your peers alongside the work of successful,
published writers, we seek to provide you
with the opportunity to participate in the
arts of interpretation and critical assessment--arts
which we believe serve as the foundation
of a true liberal education.
To insure that you have the greatest chance
of success in our courses, the Writing Program's
faculty has been trained to read and respond
to your work in ways that will help you
to continue to improve as a reader, writer,
and thinker. And for those of you who need
extra assistance, the tutors in our Writing
Centers are there to help you diagnose and
resolve whatever difficulties you might
be having with your writing. Thus, while
educators across the nation continue to
decry the decline in academic standards
and the transformation of students into
consumers who must always be pleased, we
are proud to have the university's support
in offering intellectually rigorous courses.
That the local university community is happy
to have the Writing Program uphold the highest
academic standards is clear: in 1998, the
Writing Program received the university's
prestigious Award for Programmatic Excellence
and, over the past three years, four teachers
in our program have received the Faculty
of Arts and Sciences' Award for Outstanding
Contributions to Undergraduate Education.
We trust that you, too, will quickly see
the benefits of being taught how to read
and write in the ways that are most valued
at this advanced level.
For more information
about our writing program, please visit
our website at wp.rutgers.edu
Kurt Spellmeyer,
Director of the Writing Program
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