Speaking Across the Curriculum Mission
Speaking Across the Curriculum (SAC), a subcommittee of the Committee for the Assessment of Student Learning (CASL), has as its mission to serve as a resource for instructors wishing to incorporate speaking and more effectively assess oral communication. SAC re-affirms the importance of, and rationale for, speaking across the curriculum as explicated by the National Communication Association: “As an integral part of general education programs, students should learn to communicate ‘at a level that will serve the student both within the University and in post-graduate, professional, and personal life’” (www.natcom.org).
Ways that SAC can achieve its mission include the following:
- Offering workshops, either campus-wide or discipline/department specific, that focus on various aspects of speaking, including: assignment construction; using rubrics for assessment; nonverbal communication elements and listening; helping students organize, research, and write speeches; audience analysis; vocal delivery; presentation aids; and rhetorical situation.
- Providing information and links via SAC website.
- Disseminate pertinent information and speaking data to the campus community.
- Acting as informal consultants to faculty.
SAC will consist of membership from CASL and the Speech Communication Department.
