2006-2008 WAC Survey Questions
Below please find the text to the 2006-2008 National WAC Survey. This survey is currently closed. For further information on the status of this project, please contact Tara Porter at tsporter@ucdavis.edu
We would appreciate your taking a few minutes of your time to complete the following set of questions about the present or past involvement of your institution in WAC-related activities. This survey is being sent to almost all institutions of higher education in the U.S. and Canada, our aim to derive a fuller picture of WAC program activity than at any previous time. (A separate survey is being conducted among higher education institutions in other countries.) When survey results are published, they will help institutions and faculty understand trends in program design, emphasis, and administration.
As of June 2008, we have received almost 1,300 responses to this survey. If your institution has multiple campuses (and you feel that your responses vary across campuses), please tell us.
1. Does your institution have an initiative or program dedicated to student writing across disciplines, e.g., WAC or “writing in the disciplines” (WID)?
___Yes ___No
2. Did your institution have in the past an initiative or program dedicated to student writing across disciplines, e.g., WAC or “writing in the disciplines” (WID)?
___Yes ___No
3. Type of Institution:
___Community College (cc)
___M.A.-granting university (MA)
___Four-year College (4 yr)
___PhD-granting university (PhD)
___Other:
4. If you said “yes,” please complete the rest of the survey or give it to the most appropriate
person. If “no,” does your institution have plans to begin such a program?
___Yes ___No
5. Comments:
6. Contact Information:
7. Contact name:
8. Title (e.g., director of):
9. Department:
10. Institution (required):
11. Address:
12. Phone:
13. Email:
14. Number of Students in Institution
15. Name(s) of Your WAC-relevant Program(s):
16. Web Address of Relevant Program(s):
17. Program leader primarily reports to:
___Department Chair
___Academic Vice President
___College or Division Head
___Other:
18. Program category at present (check all that apply):
___Writing across the curriculum
___WAC emphasis in writing center
___ Writing in the disciplines
___WAC in course models
___Writing and speaking across the curriculum (CAC)
___Other:
19. Number of years program has been in existence:
___Just starting
___1–5 years
___6–10 years
___11–15 years
___more than 15
20. Number of years current director has led program:
21. Course release for program leader. Course(s) per year:
22. Academic rank of program leader:
___Associate/Full Professor
___Administrative Faculty
___Assistant Professor
___Part-time, Non-tenure line
___Full-time, Non-tenure line
___Other:
23. Program emphases (check all that apply):
___Writing and/or speaking to learn
___Applying new technologies to learning
___Learning disciplinary conventions
___Critical thinking of writing and/or speaking
___Proficiency in standard written English
___Preparing students for the workplace
___Other:
24. Sources of program funding (check all that apply):
___Internal—department
___External—government agency
___Internal—college or division
___External—foundation or private donor
___Internal—central administration
___Internal—cross-college system
___Other:
25. Components of faculty development (check all that apply):
___A faculty seminar
___Collaborative faculty research projects
___Faculty workshops
___Informal but regular gatherings
___Program-sponsored travel to conferences
___Follow-up interview or meeting with faculty
___In-house program-related publication(s)
___Other:
26. Participation in program by (check all that apply):
___Writing center
___Writing Fellows or TA’s
___An all-university writing and/or writing and speaking committee
___Writing and/or writing and speaking committee with internal and external members
___Technology support and instruction
___Library/research instruction
___Other:
27. Importance of electronic technology in teaching in your program:
___Important in the institution but not essential in your program
___Important in the institution and essential in your program
___Not important in the institution but essential in your program
___Minimally or not important
28. Curricular elements of WAC program
a. WAC or CAC first-year composition course
___Now
___At one time
___None
b. Lower-division writing-intensive courses taught in other departments (including first
year seminars):
___Now
___At one time
___None
c. Upper-division writing-intensive courses taught by English Department or composition
program faculty for students across disciplines
___Now
___At one time
___None
d. Upper-division writing-intensive courses taught in other departments
___Now
___At one time
___None
e. Writing classes attached to courses in other discipline
___Now
___At one time
___None
f. Other:
___Now
___At one time
___None
29. Program assessment (check all that apply):
___Ongoing formal assessment by institutional committee
___State or regional mandated assessment
___Assessment explicitly targets student writing proficiency
___Assessment explicitly targets faculty development components
___Other:
30. Comments (optional):
31. Thank you! Would you like to be notified of results when published?
___Yes
___No
All survey responses are confidential, for data-gathering purposes only. If researchers wish to use names of institutions or names of specific respondents in reporting any data from the survey responses at conferences or in publications, permission will be asked and received from the particular respondents before the names may be used.