Quality Enhancement Plan
Fall 2012
Greetings!
Winston-Salem State University is in its third year of a 5 year (SACS) Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) focused on improving the writing competence of juniors and seniors in their majors and entitled RAMs Write: Improving Writing in the Major (WIM). The time has gone quickly since 2007, when the WIM Program was initially placed into position. We have serviced students in every major at the University.
A major attraction for students enrolled in the in the WIM Program is The Red Zone located inside the University Writing Center in Hauser 103. The Red Zone is the perfect place to get a paper pampered. Better yet, it is the best writing work-out spot on campus designed specifically with WIM students in mind. Students can receive thirty "free" minutes of working collaboratively with a well-trained Faculty Writing Fellow (FWF) or a Student Writing Assistant (SWA). A part of the service includes a read-aloud session of a student's paper with the Student Writing Assistant or Faculty Writing Fellow. This practical warm-up exercise sets the tone for the WIM student and the QWC staff member who readily engages the student into critical thinking skills and discussions about the Writing Process. We value the "writer's voice" and respect his or her pre-written ideas.
More importantly, SWAs respect the writing concerns of their peers. The QWC is more than a place to drop off a paper, go on to one's next class, and return later to pick up the revised draft. The QWC staff does not revise, edit, or write on students' papers. We will not proofread a paper because there is rarely an opportunity when editing is all that needs to be done to it. Because writing is a recursive process; significantly, it meticulously requires a close observation of assessing the students' paper and giving constructive feedback to make the paper more effective.
In closing, the QEP Writing in the Major Program has a partnership with the O'Kelly Library. WIM faculty can arrange workshops with the O'Kelly Library Instructional Staff to give students hands-on processes to strengthen their papers.
In closing, Rams Write: Improving Writing in the Major is a community of faculty, staff, and students working collaboratively one step at a time to reshape the culture of writing at WSSU!
Dr. Pamela Simmons
Director
