Teaching Writing Intensive Classes: For WRAC Certified Faculty

 


We appreciate all the KCC faculty who have gone through the certification process and continue to support KCC students by teaching Writing Intensive classes. Some of the requirements for these courses have shifted over the several decades that WRAC has been in existence. Currently, we ask that WRAC-certified faculty keep the following in mind:  

    • If you would like to be assigned a WI section in a future semester, please be in communication with your Chair and department administrators.  
    • Each semester, please check to see whether or not a Writing Intensive designation appears in your schedule on CUNYFirst. 
    • In your WI course syllabus, please include the common Learning Outcomes for Writing Intensive classes. These should be in addition to your own course outcomes and use the following language:  

 In this writing-intensive class, you will learn how to (1) use informal writing to help you read and understand class texts and (2) use multiple drafts to help you express your ideas.  

    • Include a statement in your syllabus letting students know that they’re taking a Writing Intensive course and explaining what that entails. Here is a sample statement you can use or adapt: 

 This writing intensive class is built around the premise that writing is less about what the product is or looks like and more about what the process of writing does for the writer. That is, the process helps writers discover ideas in and about texts (generative writing) and make sense of their own thinking as it becomes increasingly more complex and as they move deeper into their course reading (explorative writing). Therefore, much of your learning about the texts for this course will happen during your own iterative writing process, through a myriad of informal and formal writing assignments. This section of ____ meets the college’s writing intensive graduation requirement. You should see a designation on your transcript or receive a document from your advisor.  

    • In your course syllabus, please include detailed information about the kinds of reading and writing assignments students will encounter in their course and how much these assignments will count toward the final grade. 
    • For ideas and inspiration as you continue to teach WI classes, there are many resources available on the WAC Clearinghouse website, hosted by Colorado State University: http://wac.colostate.edu/. We particularly recommend the open-access book, Writing Expertise: A Research-Based Approach to Writing and Learning Across Disciplines, by Linda Adler-Kassner and Elizabeth Wardle, which can be found here: https://wacclearinghouse.org/books/practice/expertise/.  

  Please reach out to any of the WRAC Coordinators if you have questions or concerns related to teaching WI classes or to WRAC more generally.   Michelle Gabay, Interim Seminar Coordinator, esther.gabay@kbcc.cuny.edu Alyse Johnson, Program Administration Coordinator, alyse.johnson@kbcc.cuny.edu Rachel Ihara, Assessment Coordinator, rachel.ihara@kbcc.cuny.edu (Note that Cheryl Hogue Smith will return from fellowship leave in fall 2027)