Academic Senate Committee on WID/WAC 10/10/18
Minutes
The Academic Senate Committee on WID/WAC met on 10/10/18, 12:35 pm, H324 Conference Room
Committee Members in Attendance:
Attendees: John Talbird (Committee Chairperson), David Humphries (Interim Assistant Dean of Faculty), Liz DiGiorgio, Daniel Garbin, Scott Litroff, Ian Schanning, Bob Donley, and Raymond Lam (Committee Secretary).
Liaisons in Attendance:
Business:
The meeting was called to order at 12:35 pm
Minutes of the Meeting of the WID/WAC Committee
Date: October 10, 2018 (Wednesday)
Location: Room H-324 Conference Room.
Start Time: 12:35 p.m.
Attendees: John Talbird (Committee Chairperson), David Humphries (Interim Assistant Dean of Faculty), Liz DiGiorgio, Daniel Garbin, Scott Litroff, Ian Schanning, Bob Donley, and Raymond Lam (Committee Secretary).
1. Welcome
John Talbird introduced himself as the new Chairperson of the WID/WAC Committee and welcomed everyone. Every member introduced himself/herself to the committee. The chairperson distributed the meeting agenda to all attendees.
2. Vote on Petition for Waiver of WI Requirement
The committee received a request from a student who took the course ENG 208-01 Writing For Newspapers I from Adelphi University in Spring 1983. The Adelphi University course was investigated at the university website. A member shared his teaching experience at Adelphi University and he stated that the Adelphi’s standard of writing intensive was high and comparable with that of QCC. The ENG208-01 was found to be equivalent to the QCC class ENGL241, a Writing Intensive course. The committee voted by a show of hand on the petition. There were 7 in-favor votes out of 7 committee members. The committee therefore approved the petition.
3. New Checklist for WI Certification and Process for Evaluation
A checklist entitled “Writing Intensive Syllabus Review, Spring 2019” was submitted to the committee for discussion. The checklist was proposed to be used as a tool to certify current Writing Intensive courses offered at QCC. It is intended to help people to conduct WI courses in meeting the WI standards. The certification is aimed to raise the standard of English writing and students’ GPA in response to the fact that many students were found to be weak writers. Syllabi and writing instructions will be collected for the certification. Each member was expected to examine 6 to 8 syllabi in Spring 2019. The committee chairperson will be the person who will announce results of the findings to course instructors. No decision was made in re-certifying people. A standard will be established for the certification/assessment. Model WI portfolios will be shared among course instructors. Committee members were encouraged to review the document and discuss it in emails before the next meeting.
4. Adding a Committee Meeting in February
An extra meeting will be added in February to further discuss the checklist. The chairperson will determine a date and notify committee members.
The meeting was adjourned at 1:20 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted,
Ray Lam
