[CBW_Exec] CBW Exec Board meeting Agenda +

[Deborah Mutnick]

Nice to hear about so much good news during this period of mostly really bad news!  Kudos to everyone. On my end:
 
Two publications: a chapter in John Tassoni and Doug Reichert's Composing Other Spaces (Hampton 2009), and another in the "Teaching Peace" issue of Reflections in Fall 2008.
 
At LIU, after the approval of an undergraduate Writing & Rhetoric concentration several years ago, this year we officially changed our Master's degree concentration from the Teaching of Writing to Writing & Rhetoric. Our applications increased almost immediately. 
 
For our required writing course sequence (two basic writing courses and FYC), we articulated guidelines--approved by the department--that had been tacit and often pretty murky; we are now considering various options for how to implement these more clearly stated goals and objectives. Last, we've begun a several-year study of student reading in the higher level BW , FYC, and sophomore lit classes to understand the problems in reading that affect writing, critical thinking, and so on. We plan to conduct random studies of cohorts of students, using multiple measures, and to form a cross-disciplinary seminar for faculty to develop "best practices" in reading instruction.
 
On the down side, we had to cancel our search for a Rhet/Comp position with strong WPA abilities (our WC Director is stepping down) because of budget cuts. And enrollment has decreased. I'm wondering if others have begun to feel the effects of the recession/depression.
 
Personal news: I attended a workshop last summer at the Center for Digital Storytelling in Berkelely, CA, and fell in love with the genre. And my 11-year-old son Jacob made the huge transition into middle school and is unbelievably, adorably prepubescent! 
 
Looking forward to seeing everyone in a few days! 
 
Deborah
 
Deborah Mutnick, Director of Writing
English Department
1 University Plaza
Long Island University
Brooklyn, NY 11201
718-488-1110