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Canal Coy at the Alamo (San Antonio, TX)
San Antonio, TX | March 2004 | T. Duckart

The Way of the Program
Guidelines and Resources for Composition Faculty at Humboldt State University

Site Map

Updated:12/28/06

Program Guidelines
Chain of Command, Goals and Objectives, The Kinds and Amounts of Writing, Syllabus, Adding and Dropping Students, Attendance Policy, Portfolios, Textbooks, Final Exam, Student Evaluations, Staff Meetings, and A Guide for GTAs (Life in the Trenches: A GTAs Guide to First-Year Teaching at HSU)

Outcomes Statement
HSU's Composition Program Outcomes Statement for First-Year Composition (developed from the WPA document of the same name)

Lab Policies
Responsibilities of lab instructors and text from student "Lab Policies" handout

The Manifesto: An Instructor's Guide to All Things Portfolio

Introduction: History ( "A Brief History of First-Year Composition Student Competency Evaluations" compiled and written by Marlene Chinello for the Composition Program Self-Study), What to Expect (what instructors can expect from the portfolio process)
Eligibility: Student eligibility criteria for submitting a portfolio
Portfolio Format: How to format a portfolio for submission to the Portfolio Committee, including a downloadable student handout
Scoring: Round 1: Directions for scoring our own students' portfolios and preparing those portfolios for the final reading
The Reading: Preparation (preparing yourself for the final portfolio reading, including what to bring), Round-Two Scoring (how to read and score portfolios during the final reading), The Score (how table leaders determine and record portfolio scores)
After the Reading: Collecting scored portfolios, completing and submitting the Batch Control Sheet, and reporting E portfolios
Contesting Scores: How and in which circumstances to contest a portfolio score
If It Fails . . .: What to do with failing portfolios, how to assign a course grade to students who fail portfolio

Score Reports
Program-wide passing rates and score breakdowns, Spring 2001 to present

About English 200
Flow Chart: Meeting the Written Communication Requirement: The Relationship between Course, Grade, Portfolio Eligibility, and English 200

Meeting Schedule
Composition Program staff meeting and portfolio due dates schedule

Resources

ACRL Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education
Course Descriptions
Evaluation Procedure for Temporary Faculty with Three-Year Appointments (Procedures, timelines, and forms)
Evaluation Procedure for Temporary Faculty without Three-Year Appointments (Procedures, timelines, and forms)
For Portfolio: Submission Format Handout (Student-friendly handout detailing portfolio submission format)
For Portfolio: Cover Letter Guidelines (Tracy's cover letter assignment sheet with links to two annotated student samples)
For Portfolio: Scoring Guide
For Portfolio: Batch Control Sheet
Online Resources
On Syllabi: Standard Composition Program policy statement order and coverage, University requirements, help with building a syllabus / course policy statement, sample absence-policy language
Essay Release Form: Authorized release form for instructor use of individual student texts
Portfolio Release Form: Authorized release form for program-wide use of full student portfolios
WPA on Plagiarism: The WPA Statement on Best Practices: Defining and Avoiding Plagiarism
Writing Center Flier (if available)