COMP@COD Newsletter

What's going on in Comp?

March - April 2024

COD Goes to TYCA and CCCC 2024 in Spokane, Washington!

This month, we are hearing from our COD colleagues who went to the Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC) and the Two-Year College English Association (TYCA) National Conference.

What was the best thing about going to C's?

Bonnie McLean

The best thing about going to Cs was being energized by other people's ideas. The best presentation, hands-down, was a talk on OER that was Wizard of Oz themed. I am obsessed with a theme, and Nicholas the presenter unlocked a new professional life goal, which was to present with as much Kenergy as possible.

Jeanne Anderson

I'm interested in learning more about social annotation tools like Perusall and Hypothesis in the classroom. I also expanded my understanding of ungrading by attending several sessions related to this topic.

Steve Accardi

In addition to learning so much from some of the top rhetoric and writing scholars in the nation, the best part for me this year was receiving the comment “you’re not alone” from an attendee at my presentation. It seemed small at the time, but it stuck with me. It fully captures what Cs is all about. I often get stuck in my thinking or teaching or projects at COD, concluding that I am the only one wrestling with these issues. But to know that others are pursuing the same interests and navigating similar issues across the nation not only reveals that I’m part of a larger community but also re-energizes me to keep going.

Mary Childers

For me, there were so many great things about having the opportunity to attend C's. I got to spend time with my colleagues outside of campus and watch them present, which was wonderful. It was also so amazing being able to present on a panel about some of the collaborative work I'm a part of here at COD. By being able to engage in conversation with faculty from so many other institutions, I'm walking back with new knowledge, perspective, ideas through our brief moments of collaboration, and an excitement to pursue future conferences.

Jessica Nastal

The best thing about going to C's for me was learning from Warren Seyler of the Spokane tribe.

Alejandra Ortega

I loved attending my first C's conference! Everyone was welcoming and I was able to connect with other scholars to consider further ways to build our linguistic justice work here at COD. I also appreciate the opportunity to bridge literary studies with rhetoric and composition in our classrooms.

Jill Grauman

I loved being able to reconnect with colleagues and old friends spread across the country--and I was super excited to return to eastern Washington (which is where I lived during my master's degree program). More professionally, I really appreciated getting to learn more about the work that TYCA is doing to build a national network of literacy coordinators. I'm excited at the chance to network with more people who do literacy coordination work in ways that aren't always recognized by writing program administration scholars.

What ideas from the conference are you going to bring to your classes or work at COD?

Bonnie McLean

I went to a TYCA session that encouraged me to use YouTube reaction videos to teach literary analysis, and I would like to test this out with my 1102 class. Instead of literary analysis, I want to teach intertexuality and areas of expertise that are both academic and non-academic at once. Also, TYCA is the bomb.com and everyone should go. Community college people are my favorite academics, I've decided, and the energy and love for our students was so palpable. I'm delighted that TYCA-Midwest is coming to COD for 2025.

Jeanne Anderson

Although I didn't go to any sessions related to Aja Martinez's work, I read/heard her name enough that I bought her book, Counterstory: The Rhetoric and Writing of Critical Race Theory. She essential calls for the practice of writing stories from a minoritized perspective, using narrative to expose injustice and share truths through the writer's own experience.

Steve Accardi

I’m going to incorporating ChatGPT and microdrafting into my composition courses and eportfolios principles into the professional writing certificate program.

Mary Childers

After co-publishing OER materials for Eng-1101 and 1102, I'm now working with two colleagues on an OER textbook for ALP, and attended a panel on this specifically that gave me so many new ideas, for my current work and for potential work to come. Faculty from other colleges were able to shed insight on how certain projects have worked for them, as well as provide context on what they would have done differently. I want to continue bringing OER to our campus with these collaborative projects. Additionally, I was a part of conversations focusing on how we can be more inclusive to neurodiverse students and I will be incorporating more methods into my classroom, as well as brainstorming with my peers on how we can evolve alongside the individuals we work with in the classroom.

Jessica Nastal

Ideas I'm bringing back are related to more work with students' discourse communities; culturally-sustaining approaches to more writing classes; Black Feminist user experience research design for department projects and for student work.

Jill Grauman

I learned more about textbook writing, which I'm keeping in my back pocket for an eventual co-written OER textbook I'd love to write with you all (one day!). I also am looking forward to incorporating more antiracist assessment practices into my composition classes and to deepening my professional network with fellow TYCA members.

Interested in going to CCCC and/or TYCA 2025 in Baltimore?

Many of us are hard at work on proposals for next year's conference--if you're interested in putting a proposal together or just attending the conference, you can reach out to Jill Grauman to talk through any ideas or questions about the conference.

Find the CFP for CCCC 2025 here! Proposals are due 9:00 a.m. ET on Friday, May 31, 2024.

January - February 2024

Comp Steering's Recent work

Feb. 21, 2024 meeting

Discussed developing assignment description recommendations
Discussed generative AI's implications for writing pedagogy
Discussed course caps for dual-credit English
Heard updates on Adjunct Engagement, Assessment, and Intensive pilot

Feb. 7, 2024 meeting

Welcomed new members of Composition Steering:
- WRSA Representative: Andrew Smith
- Dual-Credit Representatives: Kim Gwizdala, Wes Solether, and Alex Kirby
Approved ALP materials being added to the CODComp website
Provided feedback on Linguistic Diversity panel
Hear updates on Adjunct Engagement, Assessment, and Intensive pilot

Jan. 24, 2024 meeting

Reviewed recommended syllabus policies
Defined the purpose of the Adjunct Engagement subcommittee
Discussed goals of WRSA collaboration projects
Assigned facilitators to the Teaching to Transgress book group
Heard updates on English 1101 Assessment and the English 1101 Intensive Pilot

Events

- "Alternative Grading Panel" (Feb. 19, 2024)
  - 35 participants from across the college
  - Lots of interest and discussion
- "Designing Inclusive Syllabus Policies for First-Year Writing"
  - 22 participants from across the college
  - Generated ideas Alejandra Ortega and Jill Grauman will use to generate policy drafts
- Teaching to Transgress Reading Group
  - 6 participants
  - Rich discussion

Coming soon: Spring 2024!

Linguistic Diversity in Student Writing Wednesday - Tuesday, March 12 1:30-2:30.
Teacher Talk: Icebreakers - March 13 1:00-2:00
Teaching to Transgress book discussion (Chaps 10-12) led by Bonnie McLean - Monday, March 18 at 12:00-1:00
Teaching to Transgress book discussion (Chaps 13-14) led by Jill Grauman and Jessica Nastal - Tuesday, Apr. 23 at 2:00-3:00
Debriefs following the Conference on College Composition and Communication (April 3-6) and Two-Year College English Association (TYCA) National Conference (April 3)
Generative AI Statement/Policy/Resources

Faculty Spotlight: Austin Slott

Austin Slott may be a new adjunct professor in English this year, but he asserts, “COD’s always been a big part of my life.” He spent time as a student here and became invested in the theater program. He adds that the welcoming environment and varieties of warmup exercises influenced his teaching philosophy and brought his life “full circle,” though he encountered many circuitous paths in life. After deciding that a marketing degree from Roosevelt University did not bring the kinds of professional opportunities he was looking for, he landed on substitute teaching. His love for the classroom led him to a Master’s in English at Northern Illinois University, and his excitement for teaching community college led him to apply for an adjunct opening in 2023.

Because of his own educational journey, Austin prioritizes a composition classroom that seeks writing outside the stereotypical English classroom. His goal is to “usher [students] along their educational journey and teach them some things that are transferrable.” He particularly enjoys a visual analysis assignment in ENGL 1101, where students analyze an industrial/corporate slogan or advertisement that perpetuates a stereotype as a way to develop literacy related to artifacts they ingest and help them make meaning with texts they enjoy. As he notes, “Text is so much more than an English paper,” and he looks forward to building his teaching portfolio.

Austin advises his colleagues to be true to themselves, because students tend to see a professor’s excitement and build on it. He urges, “Share what you love, share what excites you, and they will do the same.” Finally, he encourages everyone to watch Netflix’s limited series, The Fall of the House of Usher, for its many intricate depictions of Edgar Allan Poe’s body of work. For those interested in 20th century fiction, he recommends reading Don DeLillo’s Mao II.

Praxis: Scholarship meets the Classroom

This month, we're using this space to celebrate the work of faculty in our department and to provide some ideas for ways to spend any professional development funds you have.

Recent Scholarship

Bonnie McLean and Laura Seeber, both GSOLE Research Fellows, recently published articles in Effective Practices (one of the publications from the Global Society of Online Literacy Educators - GSOLE).

Laura wrote "Think Aloud Protocols in Composition II Courses: Let’s Talk About Research" https://gsole.org/olor/ep/2024.02.20.
Bonnie wrote "Supervising Asynchronous Team Projects: An Exercise in Trust" https://gsole.org/olor/ep/2024.02.22/.

Using Your Professional Development Funds

There are lots of awesome things that you can use your professional development funds on, but here are a few recommendations that focus on composition.

A membership in Global Society of Online Literacy Educators (GSOLE). Get access to webinars, conferences, and research opportunities focused on best practices in online learning.
Cost: $20 for contingent faculty; $30 for pre-tenure faculty; $50 for tenured faculty
A membership in Two-Year College English Association (TYCA). Get access to Teaching English in the Two-Year College and opportunities to present at and attend the TYCA National Conference
Cost: $75 for an individual annual membership

Past Newsletters

November - December 2023

Comp Steering's Recent work

Nov. 1, 2023 meeting

- Reviewed and discussed the rubric for the Fall 2023 English 1101 assessment
- Discussed how to continue collaborations with WRSA

Nov. 15, 2023 meeting

- Discussed dual-credit faculty qualifications
- Discussed troubles contacting Bridge program student counselors
- Discussed the English 1101 Intensive proposal meeting with Jill Grauman, Jessica Nastal, and Robyn Schiffman
- Reviewed Fall 2023 English 1101 assessment update
- Discussed adjunct faculty travel support

Nov. 29, 2023 meeting - last meeting of the term

Reviewed suggested draft syllabus policies
Discussed goals of new subcommittee: Adjunct Engagement
Discussed newsletter

Events

- Teaching to Transgress Reading Group on Monday, Nov. 20 1:30-2:30 in BIC 2D08 or via Zoom (Chapters 6-7)

Coming soon: Spring 2024!

Continue reading group discussion of Teaching to Transgress
Early Feb: Panel presentation on alternative grading practices from Karin Evans, Jessica Nastal, and Jacinta Yanders
Late Feb/Early March: WRSA co-sponsored presentation on linguistic diversity in student writing
Assessment of English 1101 Fall 2023 data
Debriefs following the Conference on College Composition and Communication (April 3-6) and Two-Year College English Association (TYCA) National Conference (April 3)

Fall 2024 Accomplishments

Hosted 3 reading group meetings for Teaching to Transgress and 2 workshops ("Designing Inclusive Syllabus Policies for First-Year Writing" and "Cultivating a Culture of Antiracism and Accessibility in Writing, Reading, Speech Assistance (WRSA)")
Began new subcommittee focused on adjunct faculty: Adjunct Engagement
Developed and proposed the English 1101 Intensive project - more details forthcoming
Shared our Statement of Core Principles with Dr. Shaabneh and made revisions
Created a process for regularly sharing updates with English
Designed and began collecting English 1101 assessment data this fall

Faculty Spotlight: David Kleinman

By Bonnie McLean

David Kleinman describes his academic journey as “long and in transition.” He began his undergraduate education at University of Iowa as a pre-med major, but went on to experiment with different disciplines, including philosophy. He landed on English and ended up taking creative writing, which became a lifelong love. He entered DePaul University’s Creative Writing program, and his time in Chicago connected him to the music scene. He started his publishing career with music reviews and moved into trade publications while working odd jobs, including Barnes and Noble. He moved to Virginia for a teaching job and “I found that I loved it.” Eventually, he became a full-time faculty member at Thomas Nelson Community College and spent 17 years there before leaving in 2019. While working to finish and publish a book, David and his family decided to return to Chicago. His first impression of COD is that “it’s nice to be in a place where competence is of value and it’s not overblown.”

After recently undergoing the Safe Zone Training, David finds himself inspired to create zones of safety for students who feel vulnerable and those who need good role modeling in an increasingly fraught online environment. He notes, as a self-identified straight man, “I’m just worried about straight men. How can I get them out of this toxic space?” To help untangle bigotry and prejudice, he adds, “I love teaching argument” and uses fallacy, bias, and argumentation to help students analyze their own viewpoints.

David urges his colleagues to become familiar with administrators, such as counselors, advisors, and deans, who are trained in areas not often granted to English faculty. Finally, David adds some music and audiobook recommendations for his colleagues. He enjoys two Chicago-based artists: Neal Francis, whose soul music emerges from New Orleans tradition; and Reasavoir, whose music qualifies as jazz, with a mellow lo-fi sound. Finally, he enjoyed the audiobook of R.F. Kuang’s Yellowface, as well as John Wray’s Gone to the Wolves, which he calls “The heavy metal novel.”

Praxis: Scholarship meets the Classroom

By Steve Accardi

Jill Grauman and Steve Accardi recently had their scholarship published in Teaching English in the Two-Year College’s 50th anniversary issue.

The issue focuses on the state of writing programs and the teaching of writing at two-year colleges over the past 50 years. Jill and Steve draw on their work at College of DuPage to describe a future vision for two-year colleges across the nation.

Steve argues for two-year college/university partnerships. Most two-year colleges do not have articulated writing programs or a writing program administrator. There are writing courses, but they often do not build upon each other or align with current writing studies disciplinary knowledge and pedagogical approaches. As a result, students may receive out-of-date writing instruction that no longer meets 21st century writing demands.

Partnering with universities affords two-year colleges the opportunity to assemble aligned writing programs and argue for WPA positions, creating the conditions for improved writing instruction. Steve references the partnerships the Writing Studies program has made with universities, and the benefits that have accrued at both intuitions alike.

Building off this integrated strategy, Jill argues for faculty development programs to be created collaboratively across two-year and four-year institutions. Doing so strengthens programmatic coherence across institutions and helps faculty, at each institution, better understand their students, where they are coming from and where they are going next.

Too often the faculty development offered at two-year colleges centers on teaching in general. With this approach, faculty develop within the discipline, learning theories and pedagogies applicable within writing studies. Jill references Writing Conversations, the Writing Studies program’s faculty development initiative. Once a semester, Writing Studies faculty meet with writing faculty from the program’s university partners and exchange disciplinary knowledge and pedagogical approaches, specifically catered to their students and courses.

There are several other contributors in this symposium, speaking on the future of writing instruction at two-year colleges. They discuss just-teaching, DEI research, dual enrollment, WID/WAC programs, and statewide multi-intuitional partnerships.

If you have the time, during winter break, check out the issue. Learn about what writing teachers across the nation—and across time—have been doing in their writing classrooms, and how COD is contributing to and leading national conversations.

TEaching Spotlight: Laura Seeber

It is Laura’s creativity that drove her to teaching writing College of Dupage in 2017. As with the life of an adjunct, Laura also was teaching Composition at College of Lake County in Grayslake. For six years, Laura commuted from Rockford, Illinois to teach in person. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Laura took Jason Snart’s course about teaching Composition Online. This sparked new creativity and excitement for incorporating digital modes of delivery into the writing classroom.

Laura’s favorite part of teaching is peer workshop because student’s foster great conversations about writing. Dialogue about writing in the classroom is an important part of Laura's work. She was a member of the Composition Steering Committee in 2021. In the Spring of 2023, Laura worked closely with Jason Snart and a small group on a Global Society of Online Literacy Educators (GSOLE) project. She chose to adapt a Think-Aloud Protocol in her online asynchronous courses. Her goal was to foster conversations about writing in online courses where dialogue is often absent.

A recent research project her students have been working on is unpacking “Is College Worth It?”. Laura was inspired after student’s started by reading Karin Fischer’s “The Shrinking of Higher Education.” After reading Fischer’s piece, students brainstorm questions they have about their own college experience and/or the college experience in general. This gives students an opportunity to develop their own original perspective on this theme then. Laura has also found that these brainstorms are engaging for her classes and they really seem to enjoy it.

October 2023

Comp Steering's Recent work

Oct. 4, 2023 meeting

- Discussed 10-year student success rates for students retaking English 1101. On average, only about half of students who retake English 1101 are successful.
- Discussed English 1101 Intensive pilot program.

Oct. 18, 2023 meeting

- Accepted minor revisions to the Statement of Core Principles
- Decided on a process for sharing meeting agendas and notes
- Continue discussion of English 1101 Intensive pilot program. Jessica Nastal and Jill Grauman co-authored a proposal that outlines the program.

Events

- "Designing Inclusive Syllabus Policies for First-Year Writing"
  - 22 participants from across the college
  - Generated ideas Alejandra Ortega and Jill Grauman will use to generate policy drafts
- Teaching to Transgress Reading Group
  - 15 participants
  - Rich discussion; using a Padlet to brainstorm
- "Cultivating a Culture of Antiracism and Accessibility in Writing, Reading, Speech Assistance (WRSA)"
  - 16 participants
  - Generated ideas about how use the WRSA's antiracist and inclusive resources

Upcoming Events

Teaching to Transgress Reading Group on Monday, Nov. 20 1:30-2:30 in BIC 2D08 or via Zoom (Chapters 6-7)

Faculty Spotlight: Jessica Nastal

By Bonnie McLean

Jessica Nastal’s journey to the College of DuPage began in childhood, where she witnessed her mother’s determination to pursue the higher education that had previously been inaccessible to her. Jessica notes, “I never thought I would come back,” but always harbored the dream that a career at the place that shaped her developmental years would become a reality. Adding, “I took a very winding path to get here,” Jessica holds many titles and work experiences to her vitae: business marketing and technical writing internships, writing center tutoring, nonprofit writing, a library job, math and English tutoring; editorial roles for journals in writing studies; and administrative positions like interim dean of learning resources and accreditation co-chair. When she received MAs in North American and British Literary and Cultural Studies from Universidad Autónoma de Madrid and Saint Louis University, she did not know that writing studies could be a doctoral focus, but she knew that she wanted to work in two-year colleges in urban settings. After earning a PhD from University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 2014, her path wound to two other institutions before landing at COD as full-time faculty in 2023.

With her emphasis and research in writing assessment, Jessica hopes to examine writing placement here and closing equity gaps in composition. She asserts, “I like to think about assessment as a way for us to achieve the concept of opportunity to learn for all of our students.” One of her favorite assignments to teach is an end-of-semester collaborative proposal, in which students analyze a department’s website, conduct a rhetorical and genre analysis, and identify recommendations based on course readings. Their individual work transforms to team endeavors submitted to the department.

Reflecting on her career journey and our current social climate, Jessica listens to the advice of Civil Rights leader John Lewis, “to stand up for what is right. The good kind of trouble is worth whatever consequences because it has the possibility to improve our society (or our educational system) for all of us.” Finally, when asked for recommendations, Jessica suggests Failing Sideways: Queer Possibilities for Writing Assessment as a professional text. In our personal time, she urges Sunjeev Sahota’s China Room. If you’re looking for something good to watch, she advocates Reservation Dogs on Hulu.

Praxis: Scholarship meets the Classroom

Broadening the Conversation in Online Writing Instruction

Jason Snart is leading two grant-funded initiatives to expand publishing opportunities in the field of online writing instruction (OWI).

He is managing a Global Society of Online Literacy Educators, or GSOLE (https://gsole.org/), Research Fellows grant which is supporting primarily adjunct instructors. Research Fellow project participants select a particular OWI practice as outlined in an article from the journal that Snart founded and edits: the Online Literacies Open Resource Effective Practice. (The journal homepage is here: https://gsole.org/olor/ep.)

The EP, as it’s known, publishes relatively short, practice-focused articles on aspects of online literacy/writing instruction. Research Fellow project participants choose an article and practice to implement in their own online writing instruction. Participants go through a period of curriculum redesign in order to reconfigure their existing materials to include the new practice, often making minor adjustments as needed. Participants then collect data, via student surveys for example, to gauge whether the new practice had the desired effect, successfully addressed an existing problem, or allowed them to tap into previously untapped potential. Via data collection and personal reflection, grant participants gain insight on the practice itself as initially employed and of course on further modifications to the practice that could potentially increase impact. Once curricular redesign, implementation, and data collection/reflection have happened, participants then compose their own follow-up article, outlining why they chose the practice they did, how it was deployed, and of course whether it worked as planned. These follow-up pieces are published in Effective Practices.

The first GSOLE Research Fellow to publish her work is COD English professor Aleisha Balestri. She adopted a discussion board technique called “the provoker,” initially published by Scott

Warnock and Lisa Schepis-Myers in May of 2020: “‘The Provoker’ Discussion Board Threads” <https://gsole.org/olor/ep/2020.05.15>. Professor Balestri’s piece, “The "Provoker" Strikes Back: Fostering Student Community and Engagement through the "Provoker" Thread” can be found here: https://gsole.org/olor/ep/2023.06.18.

Grant participants are awarded the title of GSOLE Research Fellow and are compensated $500 for their work. Additional grant participants include COD English professors Bonnie McLean and Laura Seeber.

Snart is leading a related publication project via the GSOLE Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access - or IDEA - Committee, also focused on the Effective Practices journal, though in this case looking to publish pieces specifically focused on IDEA related OWI practices and with a view to soliciting article contributions from scholars who identify as underrepresented. Participants in this project are designated as GSOLE IDEA Innovators. The first IDEA Innovator award winner, Jubal Metzger-Smith (Old Dominion University and Hampton City Schools), just recently published their work in EP: “Accessibility and Inclusivity to the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students: Bridging the Gap with Loom” (https://gsole.org/olor/ep/2023.09.20/). IDEA Innovators are compensated $350 for their work.

Please feel free to check out Effective Practices to support and deepen your own writing instruction practice. And if you have an OWI practice that you feel is particularly effective, consider submitting to the journal! Direct any inquiries to Jason Snart at snartj@cod.edu.

TEaching Spotlight: Alejandra Ortega

Extending the Composition Classroom

When I first heard about the MAC’s Andy Warhol exhibit, Andy Warhol Portfolios: A Life in Pop, I knew I had to find a way to build a composition course around it. Since I was working on proposing an Honors course, I decided to use my proposal as a space to play with different writing assignments and thematic structures.

My current Honors 1102 course centers on the theme of identity and consumerism. These topics are rampant throughout the Warhol exhibit as we see his interest in the ways that the body, a person’s identity, and everyday objects can become commodities. As Isabelle Graw commented, for Warhol, the private and the public spheres become intertwined, leading to “society as a whole [being] regarded as a ‘factory society’” (100). From here, the course expands to the way this is addressed in popular culture today. This theme gives students the opportunity to think deeper about their own identities (and the different spaces they occupy) as well as how they come to understand or define “consumerism.”

To help students begin to find their personal interests in these topics, I tied the first major assignment to the Warhol exhibit. Students were asked to first attend the exhibit and select an art piece that interested them. They were not limited to the Bank of America collection, but rather could choose a photo from COD’s collection or a piece from the examples displayed on the walls interwoven through Warhol’s life exhibit. Students were tasked with noting what they heard and saw. Leading up to this visit, I taught lessons on Warhol and learned quickly that many of my students had not heard of him, nor had they been to an art exhibit before. Because of this, I also tasked the students with thinking about what they are drawn to in the exhibit, as well as how they feel navigating the space. This became a great opportunity for students to have a new experience of a museum exhibit within a familiar space on campus.

After their visit, students were assigned to write an observation essay. I did not control the structure of their essay, but rather asked them to consider approaching their writing from three possible avenues: the layout of the overall exhibit, what they learned about Andy Warhol, or their chosen art piece. This led to a wide range of essays from students. No two students approached the task the same, giving everyone a chance to begin strengthening their own voice and recognize value in their own interpretations and perspectives.

While many students seemed unsure of the writing process as they realized they had complete control over their essay’s direction, I found this project led to some of the strongest writing I’ve had the fortune to read. I learned a lot from my students as well, as many sought out more information from outside resources (we had a source search lesson prior to this essay) and some were brave enough to interview other exhibit attendees to get more perspective. Making use of the Warhol exhibit allowed our class to venture out of its comfort zone and provided students the chance to learn in other spaces at COD.

Student Spotlight: Jake Levine

Jake’s mom had mentioned to him that COD was bringing the Warhol exhibit, Andy Warhol Portfolios: A Life in Pop, but he had absolutely no intention of going to the event himself. However, this changed when he realized his ENGLI-1102 course was expecting him to.

At first attending the exhibit was just to fulfill the requirement, but as he explored the art and learned more about Andy Warhol, Jake said that he was impressed. He noted the general layout of the exhibit was clear and informative, and he realized there was more to the art world than what he previously thought.

But when it came time to write about his experience for class, Jake didn’t know where to begin. He had never written an observation essay before, and he also hadn’t known much about Warhol prior to the exhibit. “For me, personally, I found [the project] to be a bit challenging that there wasn’t a strict cut and clear outline or structure for the essay, so I didn’t really know how I could structure it,” he explains. “What was easier was that it was really about how I felt and took in the exhibit, which is nice that it was my own opinion, which is different from most other essays I have had to write.”

This ability to focus on opinion helped guide Jake as he wrote his essay. Jake learned that even if his interpretation isn’t the same as others who looked at the art, his perspective still has value. In the end he was glad he took advantage of the opportunity to see Warhol’s art, since it led to “a newfound respect for the world of art” that he hopes he can explore further. Jake concludes, “I had a great time and I am looking forward to future exhibits that will come to COD.”

Read Jake’s essay to learn more about what it was like to attend the Warhol exhibit, as well as his interest in the Muhammad Ali collection. It is shared in its entirety with permission from Jake.

September 2023

Comp Steering's Recent work

Welcomed our newest member, Sue Frankson
Began designing a fall 2023 assessment project on English 1101
Set up the book discussion group for Teaching to Transgress--and had our first discussion
Requested and gathered more data on student success in English 1101 and English 1102
Discussed an initiative to focus on equitable syllabus policies
Began designing a student success initiative--more details to come!

September Events

"Designing Inclusive Syllabus Policies for First-Year Writing" on Tuesday, Oct. 10 10:30 – 11:45 a.m. in SRC 3010
Teaching to Transgress Reading Group on Monday, Oct. 16 1:30-2:30 in BIC 2D08 or via Zoom (Chapters 3-5)
"Cultivating a Culture of Antiracism and Accessibility in Writing, Reading, Speech Assistance (WRSA)" on Tuesday, Oct. 24 1:30-3:00 in BIC 2D08 or via Zoom

Faculty Spotlight: Sue Frankson

By Bonnie McLean

When Sue Frankson, adjunct faculty and the newest member of the Composition Steering committee, moved to Vermont to begin her graduate school journey, she had no idea that a “road not taken” lay ahead of her, one that would prove consequential for the English discipline altogether. She received a teaching fellowship for English Composition courses while she was studying Irish Literature at the University of Vermont in 1992. At the time, rhetoric and composition studies were not popular or widely studied at her university, but one of her professors had just begun implementing Writing Across the Curriculum. This early exposure, coupled with a brief hiatus to work in the hospitality industry in Minneapolis, ignited a curious mindset and interdisciplinary research focus at the College of DuPage since the early 2000s.

Sue started teaching at COD because she wanted to return to the classroom, and she has stayed because she enjoys the community college environment. She notes, “Anybody can come and take a class. Everybody gets a chance.” One of her favorite areas to teach is research, especially the process of finding, evaluating, and synthesizing evidence in our Composition I and II courses. She empowers students to incorporate themselves in their writing, declaring, “I’m a big fan of narrative, in the sense that it’s a core part of writing.”

To her colleagues, Sue encourages us to “take time for yourself,” because it can be too easy to lose your sense of self, especially as an adjunct who teaches a variety of students in a variety of places and modalities. She advocates a teaching model that is student-centered but that also allows space to nurture your own passions and pursuits. Finally, when asked about what we should all be reading and watching, Sue recommends Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, because of its topical relevance. She adds, “Read all the books that are currently being banned!” And if you need something to watch, Sue recommends The Bear on Hulu.

Praxis: Scholarship meets the Classroom

By Jill Grauman

Most people, writing faculty included, are still scratching their heads over what AI-assisted writing, like ChatGPT, is going to mean for the future. However, the future is already here. Cardon et al surveyed business communication instructors about their understanding of how AI-assisted writing may pose challenges or advantages for writing instruction and learning. Their overall findings were:

Teaching has to change to include AI-assisted writing, though how, how much, and how enthusiastically varied quite a bit.
Instructors were concerned about accountability (students using AI in academically honest ways) and authenticity (losing credibility or personal style when using AI)

The authors recommend helping students to develop literacy in AI-assisted writing by teaching the following (see Table 7; p. 278):

Application - Understanding what AI can do and matching it with an appropriate task
Authenticity - Communicating in a genuine, human way
Accountability - Being responsible for how accurate and appropriate the writing is
Agency - Making one's own choices without over-reliance on AI

TEaching Spotlight: Aleisha Balestri

The Reimagining of a Course Objective

Course Objective Ten in ENGLI 1102: Create researched print and/or digital texts that respond to rhetorical situations.

Course Objective Ten seems deceptively simple, especially when it comes to a class centered around the research process. For example,when I first began teaching 1102,I would often ensure that I met this objective by simply asking students to create research papers around topics of their choice. I did this for years and was quite happy with it.

However, recently, I have begun to consider the multiple ways we share information outside of the classroom. More often than not, we communicate within a digital landscape, whether that be connecting with friends on Facebook or Instagram, collaborating with colleagues on shared documents or Twitter, or entertaining ourselves with YouTube and TikTok. We are lucky to have so many tools at our fingertips, tools that allow us to craft our messages and share knowledge by using not only words, but images, music, and more. Furthermore, these are also tools that many of our students have grown up with and use constantly, so why not bring them into the classroom?

Last year, I decided to do just that. For their second research project, I asked students to create a digital research paper. This “paper” could be a website, a video essay, a podcast, or even a TedTalk. This project asked students to not only apply their understanding of “a rhetorical situation,” but also revitalize the research process, for it encouraged students to consider the multiple ways we interact with research both within and outside of academia, and use that knowledge to fulfill the goals of their argument.

Afterwards, students shared that, although the project was a bit difficult at first, it was actually quite fun. Some students even explained that this change of format helped them connect to their topics more, for it allowed them to be more creative with their presentation of research, and they enjoyed showcasing their findings in an untraditional way.

Student Spotlight: Jennifer diaz

In the Spring of 2023, Jennifer created the website Medical Monstrosities for her ENGLI-1102 digital paper. This was the first time that she had heard of this type of project, so she began the unit a bit worried: “I was skittish at first because it was not a traditional paper, and I wondered whether or not the format would hinder or help me.”

However, within the coming weeks, Jennifer’s hesitation would be transformed into pure creative energy, especially when it came to the research process. In a traditional paper, one’s research is shared primarily through words, but because she decided to build a website, she was able to utilize multiple approaches and tools to demonstrate her findings: “I enjoyed the research, but there is only so much reading I am willing to do. I liked that this approach allowed multimodal tools, so I could incorporate videos too…It helped me understand that research does not have to be exhausting.”

This also impacted her goals for this project. For example, when speaking about choosing a topic, Jennifer explains that she wanted to “find a topic that connected her interests and life experiences,” but also wanted to present it in a way that would encourage others to take on this investigative nature as well: “I spent the first few days playing around and experimenting with [website] templates…I wanted to make it interactive.”

After considering the multiple avenues she could take, she decided to focus on the American healthcare system and its history of exploitation and unethical experimentation. This would eventually become the “Medical Monstrosities” website, a space where she could showcase her findings and encourage her readers’ investigative nature as well.

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