Individuals and groups of students were invited to submit projects such as posters, webtexts, podcasts, infographics, interactive media, journalism and other forms of multimodal composition. Projects were submitted in one of nine categories: the School of Arts and Sciences, the School of Communication, the School of Business, the School of Education, the School of Health Sciences, the School of Law, the CORE curriculum, Student Life or Campus Employment, Internships.

The winners and runners-up were recently acknowledged at an award ceremony on March 2, 2023, in the Center for Writing Excellence in Belk Library. Individual winners and runners-up received gift cards.

The grand prize winner is Olivia Beth Archer in the School of Communications for her animation titled 鈥淚f You Give a Pig a Pancake.鈥�

In the School of Arts and Sciences category, the winners are Kai Mitchell, Greg Seelagy, and Kai Whiteside for their music video with original music and lyrics titled 鈥淭his is Not a Suicide Note.鈥�

The runner-up is Jalen Blue for a history timeline titled, “The Necessity of Violence in the Fight for Equality.” Mitchell, Seelagy and Whiteside completed their project in Paula Rosinki’s PWR 3120 Multimedia and Visual Rhetorics course. Blue completed their project in Amanda Kleintop’s HST 3570 American Civil War course.

In the School of Communication category, the winner is Olivia Beth Archer for their animation titled 鈥淚f You Give a Pig a Pancake,鈥� and the runner-up is Caroline DiFrango for a literary magazine design titled 鈥淢ultitudes.鈥�

Archer completed their project in Philip Motley鈥檚 iMedia 6650 Visual Aesthetics course; and DiFrango completed their project in Ben Hannam鈥檚 CDE 4580 Design Strategies and Solutions course.

In the School of Education category, the winner is Julia Strouse for an advocacy brief titled 鈥淯niversal Pre-K in Baltimore City, Maryland.鈥� Strouse聽completed their project in Heidi Hollingsworth鈥檚 EDU 4670 Early Childhood Education Policy and Advocacy course.

In the School of Business category, the winners are Lucy Verdone, Claudia Flint and Gianna Rella for a PowerPoint slideshow titled 鈥淗olidaze Co, Beer Company,鈥� and the runners-up are Joseph Byrd, Zillian Moe, and Madison McCart for a PowerPoint slideshow titled 鈥淗unting鈥檚 Financial Synopsis.鈥�

Verdone, Flint and Rella completed their project for Global Marketing while studying abroad in Barcelona, Spain, with the cIEE program. Byrd, Moe and McCart completed their project in Professor Chase Reid’s FIN 4190 Financial Planning course.

In the School of Health Sciences category, the winner is Alexander Japit for video and PowerPoint titled 鈥淢edical Qigong and Polyvagal Theory,鈥� and the runner-up is Emily Morenz for an infographic titled 鈥淭herapeutic Plasma Exchange.鈥� Alexander completed their project in the DPT 6040 Human Anatomy course.

Emily鈥檚 project is an infographic titled 鈥淭herapeutic Plasma Exchange.鈥澛營n the School of Law category, the winner is Nina Palamaris for a PowerPoint slideshow titled 鈥淧rotecting Children From Evolving Online Threats,鈥� and the runner-up is Morgan Earp for an informational website titled 鈥淣orth Carolina Juvenile Justice.鈥� Nina Palamaris completed their project in David Levine鈥檚 Law 7470 Internet Law course. Morgan completed their project in the Law 7550 Law Capstone Leadership Project course.

The Center for Writing Excellence again offers its congratulations to each student recipient and thanks to Sarah Moore ’26 for photographing the event.

The conference website explains that 鈥淏eing quarantined during a deadly pandemic is a new experience for all of us. Our ancestors occasionally faced worse. They left behind accounts of great power and insight. In a six-part symposium, Lawrence Technological University is hosting an online discussion of some of the masterpieces of plague literature.鈥�

Further details including a recording of the event once it is available, can be found at the symposium website:

Online Writing Bootcamp
If you鈥檇 like to dedicate time to your own writing, an Online Writing Bootcamp is scheduled for Saturday, April 25, 9-3pm. You鈥檙e welcome to attend any amount of time. After , you鈥檒l receive information about voluntarily sharing/revising your writing goals as a way to increase motivation. This session will be held at .

Online Writing Groups
If you鈥檇 like to join an Online Writing Group that meets remotely, please by May 14. This is only for new faculty/staff registrants who鈥檇 like to join a group for the first time, as existing groups are expected to continue. After the deadline, you鈥檒l be contacted with your group鈥檚 information.

鈥淭eaching Information Design and Data Visualization in Writing Assignments鈥�
On Monday April 20, from 12:15 to 1:30 p.m., Assistant Professor Li Li will present 鈥淭eaching Information Design and Data Visualization in Writing Assignments.鈥� This workshop is appropriate for faculty from any discipline who would like to incorporate information design or data visualization assignments into their class. No prior experience is necessary. In many different disciplines and professions, complex ideas are best conveyed through either stand-alone visuals or visuals integrated into other written genres. In this workshop, we will discuss best practices in information design and data visualizations, basic design principles, and a few tools for creating these visuals. We will explore together ideas for integrating information/data visualization projects or activities into your classroom. Please for this workshop, which will be held at elon.webex.com/meet/writingexcellence

Teaching, Responding to, or Evaluating Student Writing from a Distance
The following infographic summarizes some asynchronous writing activities that support student learning online. In addition, the Writing Across the University director is available to talk with faculty about strategies for teaching, responding to, or evaluating student writing from a distance. Please contact Paula Rosinski at prosinski@elon.edu or at (336) 278-5842 to discuss these issues or arrange a virtual meeting time.

She will share examples of teaching materials generated from her department’s work on the Writing Excellence Initiative (including writing in the discipline/profession and writing-to-learn materials). Lunch will be served, so please

At the Conference on College Composition and Communication, Tim Peeples, Paula Rosinski, Julia Bleakney and Kim Fath presented initial results from 黑料不打烊’s Writing Excellence Initiative, a campus-wide project that has sought to transform the culture of writing on campus. The international conference, the largest in the field, was held March 15-17, 2018, in Kansas City, Missouri.

Tim Peeples, senior associate provost for faculty affairs, provided an overview of the WEI, explaining the multiple years of planning and how the initiative sought to integrate writing throughout every major as well as Student Life and the COR curriculum.  

Paula Rosinski, professor of professional writing and rhetoric, shared how her work as Writing Across the University director has supported faculty and staff as they developed a total of 144 new Writing Outcomes, and their accompanying writing assignments, for courses across the curriculum and in student life.

Julia Bleakney, assistant professor of English, spoke about how, in her role as the Writing Center director, she has improved the Writing Center’s support for students writing in the disciplines and for undergraduate research.

Finally, Kim Fath, assistant director for assessment, discussed how the WEI has provided her with opportunities to interact with faculty more as they discuss the value and importance of assessment in their classes and programs.

Their presentation was supplemented with almost five years’ worth of assessments, including data from the large-scale NSSE and FESSI surveys; faculty, staff, and student surveys about their writing behaviors and attitudes; alumni surveys about how their college experiences with writing have impacted their experiences with writing at work; departmental end-of-year WEI Reports; and data collected from student, faculty, and staff programming offered in the Center for Writing Excellence.

Songwriters and poetry and prose writers of all experience levels are welcome to explore writing as a mindfulness practice with folksinger Carrie Newcomer. This informal workshop will focus on the use of writing as a tool for becoming more present in our daily lives. Participants will engage in experiences that help us to pay deeper attention to small moments and details of our lives. This class will include music, conversation and mindful writing experiences. Lunch provided. Listen to some of Newcomer’s music .

Please RSVP to truittcenter@elon.edu if you would like to participate in this workshop.  Let us know if you have any dietary considerations

From the Cultural Calendar: “Newcomer is a folksinger and Grammy Award winner who toured with Alison Krauss in Europe, and Nickel Creek recorded her song “I Should’ve Known Better.” With more than a dozen recordings of original music to her credit, Newcomer is recognized as an influential artist who cuts across secular and spiritual boundaries.”

This article is one in a series of articles showcasing the successes of 黑料不打烊’s Writing Excellence Initiative, the university’s five-year Quality Enhancement Plan to enhance the teaching and practice of writing in academic, professional, and co-curricular contexts. The below narrative, a first-hand account by Kim Epting, associate professor, details the Psychology Department’s WEI process, noting their accomplishments and the next steps they plan to take as they continue improving writing instruction and learning for students in their major.

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The Context

We began as 21 psychological scientists, from a plethora of subfields, sitting around a table trying to agree on what writing in psychology really means and how best to teach it. Our journey carried us to focus on potential benefits to our curriculum, our students, and our individual pedagogical efficiency. Ultimately, there’s little doubt that the Writing Excellence Initiative has led the Psychology Department to spend more time thinking and actively talking about writing with each other and with students.

The Teaching Focus

Early discussions revealed disconnect among what faculty expect, teach, and/or assess in terms of writing skills for our majors. This led to the light-bulb moment. We needed to deliberately design when expected writing outcomes are introduced, reinforced, and refined. As a department, we chose to focus on four writing outcomes that could be introduced across levels of our curriculum (see the figure below). Our collective efforts thus permeate across individual courses and specific assignments and culminate in (hopefully) better ultimate products in our Senior Seminar (PSY 460/461) capstone course and senior research (PSY 499/498) papers.

We developed a department-wide Recommendations Guide that outlines our writing outcomes, shows how they fit in our curricular blocks and provides specific suggestions for creating assignments and instructions that are more explicit and transparent for our students. As a common resource, the Recommendations Guide promotes individual reflection about where one’s course fits in the larger curricular writing goals while also providing prompts for design. It also serves as a springboard for formal and informal discussions.

The Roll-out

Faculty teaching 100- and 200-level courses piloted use of the Recommendations Guide and now all full-time faculty are on board, as our assessment has expanded to all of our regularly offered courses. Additionally, more than 80 percent of our department members participated in an internal workshop in September 2017. Individuals chose which writing outcome they wished to focus on for the workshop based on an assignment (existing or planned) or current writing instruction challenge. Each group discussed the recommendations provided by the Guide for that outcome as they applied to their course, assignment, or challenge. Many faculty members were pleasantly surprised by how valuable the time was and how energized they were to improve their assignments and instruction.

The Next Steps

Faculty will continue to assess the established writing outcomes throughout our curriculum and suggest further additions or refinements to the Recommendations Guide. Feedback from the fall workshop will inform a second, exciting workshop in the spring.

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The Division of Student Life began its Writing Excellence Initiative work in the initial launch of Fall 2013, and have made excellent progress during the past four years.

Student Life’s participation in the Writing Excellence Initiative is especially important because it expands the university’s commitment to writing instruction beyond academic contexts and into co-curricular and professional contexts as well. A major goal of 黑料不打烊’s WEI is to prepare students so that they can be successful writers in their personal and professional lives after graduation, and Student Life’s participation in the WEI contributes greatly to that goal. 

Initially, the following Student Life programs began this initial WEI work:

• The Kernodle Center for Service Learning and Community Engagement (working with Alternative Breaks)
• New Student and Transition Programs (working with GAP Program Service Learning Reflections)
• Campus Recreation (working with Campus Recreation Team Leader Monthly Reports)
• The Center for Leadership (working with Leadership Fellows Writing)

Each of the above “first flight” Student Life programs identified writing outcomes, assessed current student writing in these areas, implemented pedagogical improvements based on these assessments, and then reassessed student writing for the identified writing projects. As a direct result of this work, Student Life staff members developed a “Guide on Reflective Writing” and a “Guide on Student Worker Reports” to help other Student Life divisions focus more on writing instruction and implement similar writing pedagogies.

A similar process to assess current writing, implement strategies to improve writing, and assess that writing was completed in the 2016-2017 academic year with Living Learning Community Applications, The SAGES Program, Panhellenic Recruitment Reflections, and the ELR workbooks for both Service Learning and Leadership.

These efforts with student writing have had wonderfully reciprocal benefits. Beyond the original goal of improving student writing, Student Life programs have seen strong improvements in student learning through a more intentional approach to writing. Moving forward, the guides will be updated, additional co-curricular programs will implement writing initiatives, and existing programs will continue to improve student writing throughout the Division of Student Life.  Finally, a leadership team for Writing Within Student Life has been created and will work to ensure efforts are sustained in the Writing Excellence Initiative throughout upcoming years.

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In spring 2017, The Center for Writing Excellence conducted a study of the non-academic writing lives of 黑料不打烊 students. Survey data (141 student responses) revealed that 黑料不打烊 undergraduates find their non-academic writing to be meaningful, important and a major contributor to their growth as writers during their college years.

“I’ve learned much more about writing from positions of leadership outside of class than inside class. Inside classes and for academic purposes, I am writing as a student, but outside of class I learn how to effectively write as a leader within a community,” one survey respondent replied.

Indeed, 87 percent of those who took the survey somewhat or strongly agreed that “writing is an important part of my non-academic life at 黑料不打烊,” and 85 percent indicated that they put moderate, significant, or very significant effort into their non-academic writing projects during their college years.

黑料不打烊 students write for a range of non-academic reasons. Beyond emails, text messages and social media posts, 黑料不打烊 students frequently write proposals (for grants, projects, etc.), keep personal journals, write presentations or speeches and create posters, flyers and infographics. These types of writing are directed to a wide array of audiences, including colleagues, supervisors, friends and online readers.

Preliminary analysis of survey data revealed three main ways that students learn from their non-academic writing experiences. Importantly, students can transfer these understandings and practices to enhance and improve their writing in academic situations as well.

1. Audience: Students reported learning to meet the needs/expectations of specific audiences. For instance, one survey respondent reported that her non-academic writing taught her “different writing styles that appeal to popular and/or professional audiences.”
    
2. Time Management, Effort, and Writing Process: Students call attention to the importance of putting time and effort into writing. They reported that working on non-academic writing projects helps them develop effective strategies to organize their writing processes. For instance, one student wrote, “My non-academic writing has taught me the importance of proofreading, as well as taking the time away from pieces before going back and revising.”
    
3. Self-Reflection and Growth: Students see their non-academic writing as a resource for self-reflection. For instance, in response to the question of what students learned from the writing they do outside of class, one student wrote, “I’ve learned about who I am as a person.” Many students indicate that their non-academic writing also helps them develop creativity, voice, and self-expression.

Heather Lindenman, assistant professor of English, and Paula Rosinski, professor of English and director of Writing Across the University, conducted the study and are working on a publication to share their findings. They welcome questions about their research project and connections with the Writing Excellence Initiative.