English

What is the program’s mission statement or statement of purpose? Why does the program exist?

The English Department of Eastern Illinois University offers undergraduate and graduate programs that assure intellectual and academic excellence among English majors and minors. In promoting awareness of cultural diversity in the study of language and literature, encouraging creativity, fostering proficient student writing in an age of electronic communications, and making appropriate contributions to general education and to other University programs, the Department serves a function central to the University’s mission. The Department maintains a diverse, highly qualified faculty committed to excellence in teaching, research/creative activity, and service, attracting a diverse population of students of high quality who will graduate as independent, critical readers, thinkers, and writers. Department faculty are actively involved in planning, articulating, administrating and assessing the aims of the Department, and in pursuing outreach programs and interactions among faculty, staff, students, and community.

How does the program mission align with the university mission?

The English Department’s mission has been, is, and will continue to be integrally aligned with the university’s mission: superior, accessible education; free and rigorous inquiry in the arts and humanities; excellent faculty in teaching, research/creative, and service activities; student-faculty scholarship; commitment to diversity and inclusion; all of which leading to students who will graduate as independent, critical readers, thinkers, and writers and as responsible citizens and leaders.

Whom does the program serve?

The English program serves students who desire a BA in English and a BA with Teacher Certification in English Language Arts. We also offer minors in English, in Creative Writing, and Professional Writing. In our two-year MA program, we serve students who wish to wish to do advanced study in Literary Studies, Creative Writing, Professional Writing, and Composition and Rhetoric. Our MA graduates in turn go on to PhD and professional degree programs, to teaching positions at community colleges and secondary-level high schools, or to positions in corporate, business, nonprofit, and non-governmental organizations. The MA program also serves those outside the discipline of English by offering a graduate certificate in the teaching of writing, and it serves high school teachers seeking the MA to further their skills and to teach dual-credit courses.

The English program serves students of every discipline, across the university, through our first-writing program, our numerous 2000- and 3000-level courses and EIU Senior Seminars for the General Education curriculum, our writing-centered service courses for other majors and programs, and our literature courses for students in Education studying to become early childhood, elementary, and middle level school teachers. In short, the program in English serves the entire university student population at virtually every level of their undergraduate college career—and for those in the MA program, beyond that.

What are the services provided? How do these services align with the university mission and program mission?

Describe the program’s origins (e.g. year established, purpose, expectations).

The Department of English was formed in 1899. In fact, the very first teaching faculty member appointed by Livingston Lord as the institution prepared to open the doors to its first class in September 1899 was an English teacher: William Monroe Evans, BS, LittD. Three among the initial eleven “normal school teachers” appointed were English teachers. The school’s initial faculty consisted of eighteen people: President Lord, a registrar, a librarian, four “critic teachers” (as the position was termed) in the model school, and the eleven teachers.

For many years, English faculty also taught reading, public speaking, journalism, and dramatics. Many departments are direct descendants of the English Department:

• Theatre Arts goes back to the dramatics club that was reorganized into a group called “The Players” in 1924 under the sponsorship of English Head Howard DeForest Widger, a member of the English Department whom we honor each spring at our English Student Awards Tea.
• From 1902, an elective course in “oral reading” was offered, and Widger taught public speaking for years. The first chair of Speech Communications (formed in 1934 and recently renamed Communication Studies) was James Glenn Ross who came to Eastern in 1934 as an instructor in the English Department. Later, Theatre Arts and what is now Communication Disorders and Sciences separated from Speech. So, although their more immediate connection is with Speech, their origins too are in English.
• The major name in the history of Student Publications at Eastern is Franklyn Andrews, an English professor, who advised both The Warbler (begun in 1919) and what is now the Daily Eastern News (begun in 1915) from 1931 to 1944. Journalism did not become a department separate from English until 1977. The first two chairs of the Journalism Department—Daniel Thornburgh and John David Reed—were both hired as professors of English.
• Buren Robbins, an English teacher, was instrumental—early in WWII—in the development of instruction in radio at Eastern. While radio programming goes back to 1925, courses in radio were added to the curriculum in 1946.

The first master’s degrees at EIU were awarded in 1952. For English, this degree was primarily a Master of Science in Education, until 1970 when authority was granted to issue a Master of Arts degree (which remains to this day). Undergraduate degrees are BA English and BA English Language Arts (Teacher Certification) and minor degrees in English, Creative Writing, and Professional Writing.  

How has the unit changed or adapted over time?

What we see as the English Department today is not what the English Department has always been. As departments have separated from English, the field of English studies has deepened and diversified. With minors in professional and creative writing, English majors are now prepared for a wide range of careers other than teaching. In addition trends in the field have led to increasing interdisciplinarity and involvement with technology, via digital humanities and new media.

If needed, provide supplemental comments to help the reader understand the program’s history and relevance to university mission.

The English Department mission statement is currently under revision (keeping in step with our ongoing, large-scale revision to our undergraduate majors in English and English Language Arts).  Our mission will continue to align that of the university. 

Provide data showing the four-year trend in the number of majors, minors, options, and concentrations.

Provide data showing the four-year trend in student credit hour (SCH) production, percent of SCHs that are general education, and percent of SCHs that are taught to non-majors.

What elements of the program’s curriculum are offered specifically to support other academic majors, minors, options, and concentrations?

For many years prior to the enrollment drops the university has experienced, 39%-44% of the seats in the 2000- through 4000-level English courses were occupied by English majors. Approximately 57-53%, respectively, were occupied by students completing General Education requirements or by students meeting requirements specific to other university programs (Special Education, Early Childhood Education, Elementary Education, and Middle Level Education, Pre-Law Minor, Journalism, among others).   3-4% of the seats were occupied by English MA candidates. In the past three years included in this analysis, as university enrollments have dropped, so has the number of English majors. As a result, 60%-62% of our sections have been for General Education, and a steady 74% of our student credit hours have been devoted to non-majors.

These statistics demonstrate the English Department’s dedication not only to the study of English language and literature, but also to General Education and the needs of numerous majors and concentrations across the university, and, more broadly, to the humanities as a vital part of every student’s education. We offer 9-10 different courses for the General Education curriculum, courses which constitute approximately 51-57% of those sections offered in English. The largest percentage of these sections consists of English 1001G, Composition and Language, and English 1002G, Composition and Literature—and their Honors equivalents. These two courses comprise two-thirds of the Language component of the General Education curriculum required by the university, and the first-year, two-semester writing program forms the largest single academic program in the university. We also offer two, high-in-demand EIU Senior Seminars, both on-campus and online.

English 1000, Fundamentals of College Composition (now taught by full-time faculty rather than graduate students), serves the entire university with basic writing instruction for those students who need specific attention in this area, but who otherwise were eligible for admission to the university. We offer Advanced Composition as a service course required by majors in the College of Education and Professional Studies and by the Pre-Law Minor. This course is also offered for cohorts of teachers of Special Education in the state who need the course for continuing certification. For majors in Early Childhood, Elementary, Middle Level, and Secondary Education, we offer courses in Children’s Literature, Pre-Adolescent Literature, Young Adult Literature, and Studies in Youth Literature. We offer numerous courses (and faculty expertise) in support of programs in Africana Studies, Film Studies, Medieval Studies, Asian Studies, Latin-American Studies, Religious Studies, and Women’s Studies. In support of EIU’s Study Abroad Program, we have for years offered short-term, faculty-led courses in England and South Africa. In addition to supporting our department Honors program, we offer seven different courses in multiple sections in support of the University Honors College and Program. We offer graduate-level courses in support of the EIU Writing Center and the university’s Writing-Across-the Curriculum Program, in addition to offering a new graduate course, in conjunction with Communication Studies, in support of the MS in Renewable Energy. We offer every summer ENG 4905, Studies in Youth Literature, in support of the College of Education’s Reading Certificate program. English 1001G is also an integral part of the university’s new and successful Summer Institute of Higher Learning.

Collaboration:

The English Department offers internships in professional writing at both undergraduate and graduate levels. At the undergraduate level, students complete 150 hours of work at the internship site in addition to 10 hours (undergraduate) or 15 hours (graduate) of classroom work. Our coordinator has arranged partnerships with a wide variety local businesses and non-profit organizations to provide a range of opportunities. In addition, faculty members in English serve as advisers for many RSOs: EIU Pride, EIU Creative Writing Club, Eastern Film Society, National Society of Collegiate Scholars, Sigma Tau Delta, Japanese Animation Society, and Women’s Empowerment League.

If needed, provide supplemental comments to help the reader understand the internal demand for the program. Note any clarifications or special circumstances (e.g., curriculum changes made by another program) that should be considered when reviewing the above data.

The EIU Writing Center’s recently developed Writing Fellow Program assigns an English graduate assistant to a specific course in a discipline other than English and its professor for the semester. In last year’s pilot program, a Fellow worked with a class and professor in Communications Disorders and Sciences, attending classes and working with students on their writing skills as they completed the assigned writing tasks. The response from students and professor were overwhelmingly positive. This pilot program exemplifies the goals of Writing Across the Curriculum.

List relevant data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Outlook Handbook, the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) New Graduate Salary Survey, and the EIU Career Services Annual Report.

PBIR did not generate data for this section because “English,” in itself, is not a detached field of employment. It is, by its very nature, multifaceted in terms of employment opportunity. We in the English Department actually enjoy being asked, “What can I do with an English major?” The answer is “Anything you want to do!” According to prospects and projections for employment for English majors in such resources as the National Association of College and Employers, Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook, and Employment Projections from Illinois Department of Employment Security, the opportunities for employment with an English degree are limited only by one’s imagination, from managerial to public relations positions, from editorial to business communications positions. Of course, the English Department does graduate many teachers of English Language Arts with secondary-school state certification. The BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook projects that teaching opportunities will increase by 9% over the next five years, and the Illinois Department of Employment Security projects that secondary school teaching positions will increase 12.15% over the next eight years.

From another perspective pertinent to more recent times of recession: According to the Georgetown Center on Education and the Workforce, reported in The Atlantic in June 2013, “as of 2010-2011, the most recent year with available data, recent humanities and liberal arts majors had 9 percent unemployment. That's right about on par with students in computer and math fields (9.1 percent), psychology and social work (8.8 percent), and the social sciences (10.3 percent).” The report goes on to indicate, “For economics and political science, meanwhile, the figures are 10.4 percent and 11.1 percent. . . . Meanwhile, in computer science, which is regularly talked about as if it's the single most practical major a young person can choose these days, graduates are still staring at 8.7 percent joblessness.” The report also notes that “none of these numbers are particularly good.” But nonetheless, English majors and humanities majors are not suffering higher incidence of unemployment; in fact, it’s just the opposite.

In addition to alumni surveys, the English Department has begun researching the career placement of our alumni by identifying them on social media and employers’ web sites. Beginning with alumni from the English BA programs and MA program, one to five years out, our findings are that:

• 20% of recent EIU English alumni put their reading, writing and critical thinking skills to use in the business world in banking, finance, insurance, or management, and another 6% run their own small businesses.
• 20% are pursuing graduate or professional degrees in fields including English, library science, African-American studies, media studies, and law.
• 20% work in writing, editing, marketing, or social media, or related fields.
• 15% are employed as instructors or professional staff in higher education or as librarians.
• 10% are pursuing professional paths as diverse as law, lighting design, and corporate recruiting.
• 10%-15% are teaching in middle and/or secondary schools.
• Recent graduates of the ELA teacher certification program have found jobs across the state of Illinois (over 60 schools), across the country (e.g., Arizona, Washington, D.C.), and around the world (e.g., teaching English as a Second Language abroad).
• Recent MA recipients with a concentration in Professional Writing have a 100% placement rate.
• Of MA graduates 2008-2012 with known outcomes (52), 90% are either seeking advanced degrees or working in their fields.

Is the program accredited or approved by a recognized external agency or otherwise certified to meet established professional standards? Provide an executive summary of and link to the program’s most recent accreditation or certification report, if available.

The English Language Arts program is part of the accreditation process that involves all of EIU’s programs in teaching. The English Language Arts program received “National Recognition” for our last successful report (2009) by the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) and the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE).

Is the program required to meet any regulatory or legal requirements? Is the program subject to any special auditing requirements?

What are the most important outreach or public service activities supported by the program?

The English Department sponsors and contributes to a large number of activities that reach out to local and regional communities for their benefit. In the summer, we offer a Creative Writing Summer Camp for regional high school students. Our faculty are involved in sponsoring the annual Embarrass Valley Film Festival (with the Tarble Arts Center), the annual James Jones Lecture (with History), and the Lions in Winter Literary Festival held each January. In addition, throughout the year, the department sponsors lectures and readings by internationally known scholars, poets, fiction and nonfiction writers. We have held a Literature Conference for Secondary School Teachers, for which we invite and host Illinois teachers. The Eastern Illinois Writing Project, a regional site for the National Writing Project and directed by an English faculty member, offers a Summer Institute for regional school teachers of all disciplines for a five-week seminar, and in the fall semester offers Professional Development seminars for area school teachers. Over the past several years, a group of faculty have produced a podcast, “The Close Reading Cooperative,” that offers brief (six to ten minute) lessons in reading techniques that can be applied across the literary curriculum. These podcasts are not tied to a specific course; rather, they serve as a review available to students whenever and wherever they wish to consult them. Available on EIU’s iTunes University, the CRC has reached local, regional, national, and international audiences.

How do the local community and the region benefit from the program?

Please see above.

If needed, provide supplemental comments or data sources to help the reader understand the external demand for the program.

An article worth noting, and entitled “What to Do With a B.A. in English,” was recently written by teacher and scholar Daniel R. Schwarz, who asserts: “the English major opens doors through which students walk to a splendid and varied future”:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/daniel-r-schwarz/what-to-do-with-a-ba-in-e_b_4204376.html

English (B.A.)

Significant Achievements that Document Quality/Improvement

Significant achievements that document support of VPAA and/or University goals

Integrative Learning Opportunities

Student Research/creative Activity

Faculty-student collaboration

Strategies to improve P-16 teaching and learning

External Partnerships

Pass rates on any professional/ occupational licensure exams

Faculty Achievements

Student Achievements

English (M.A.)

Significant Achievements that Document Quality/Improvement

Significant achievements that document support of VPAA and/or University goals

Integrative Learning Opportunities

Student Research/creative Activity

Faculty-student collaboration

Strategies to improve P-16 teaching and learning

External Partnerships

Pass rates on any professional/ occupational licensure exams

Faculty Achievements

Student Achievements

If needed, provide supplemental comments or data sources to help the reader understand the quality of program outcomes.

Best Practices.  Integrative learning has long been part of the English Department’s approach to teaching. Faculty in writing and literature courses require students to undertake metacognitive activities, inviting them to reflect on their own learning and the relationships among course materials, civic life, personal life, and future careers. Integrative experiences beyond the individual English classroom include:

• Team-teaching. For over twenty years, English has joined with the Philosophy Department to team-teach Cultural Foundations I and II, a two-semester sequence that is part of the General Education curriculum. English also joined with the Art Department to team-teach “Women, Language, and Literature” and “Women in Art” for the Women’s Studies Minor program. Recently, English joined with Communication Studies to team-teach “Communication in Science and Technical Organizations” for the MS in Renewable Energy.
• English Studies Student Conference. In the spring semester, the Department hosts an undergraduate student conference. Students present their own research, gaining experience as both presenters and audience members in a professional presentation setting.
• Graduate curriculum. Advisement, independent studies and internships allow graduate students to shape their research and work experiences around long-term goals. Students working on a capstone experience, whether a thesis, exam, or project, bring their intellectual curiosity to bear on the professional activities of their chosen discipline. Workshops offer insight into possible careers and advice on conference-going, applying to PhD programs, and other professional experiences.

Note any special benefits (e.g., personnel support, equipment, permanent improvements) that the program has received in the past three years from its grants and other sponsored programs.

How does the program benefit from donor gifts (e.g., scholarships, endowed chairs)? Does donor support provide a significant percentage of the program’s overall funding?

Donor gifts—received through the annual fund effort and throughout the year—are used primarily to assist our students in their studies. The largest portion of the contributions goes to student scholarships. Donor contributions also make it possible for us to offer the Visiting Writer and Visiting Scholar Lecture series, and to underwrite student writing awards presented at our annual Awards Tea. All contributions made stipulating a specific application or scholarship are, of course, applied as requested.

Moreover, our students continue to excel at the college and university levels, and we have a long history of our students being awarded the Livingston Lord Scholarship, the highest honor the university can bestow.

Seven of our endowed student scholarships and awards provide for multiple recipients, while six others provide for one recipient per scholarship. In all, English confers twenty-eight student scholarships and awards each year. A listing of scholarships and awards is available in section #4 of this document. Our speakers and lectures series, offered yearly at a variety of times over the school year, are free of charge and open to all members of the university and community.

List two or three key relationships that the program maintains with external constituencies (e.g., community colleges, other universities, government bodies). How do these relationships advance the university mission or otherwise benefit the university?

We have many key relationships with external constituencies that benefit the university and advance the university mission, among which are the Illinois Humanities Council, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Humanities Center, the Newberry Library in Chicago, and:

The National Writing Project: In 2008, through the work of English faculty, EIU was designated a National Writing Project site. Funded in part by a federal grant ($30,000 in 2008; $36,000 in 2009; and $46,000 in 2010, $40,000 in 2011 and 2012), the Eastern Illinois Writing Project (EIWP) brings 16 competitively selected teachers from many disciplines to campus, where they enroll in ENG 5585, a 6-credit workshop that enhances their ability to teach writing in their own elementary, middle and high schools. Some of these teachers then choose to further their education in Eastern’s MA program in English or in our 18-hour Certificate in the Teaching of Writing. The EIWP fosters a strong relationship between EIU’s English Department and regional high school teachers as well as putting these teachers in contact with each other, with other graduate students, and with a federally funded national organization.

Community Colleges: Every year since 2008, we have placed a graduate student with the Humanities Division of Parkland College. These students teach a freshman writing class under the supervision of both Parkland faculty and our own graduate program. This program fosters cooperation between supervising faculty on both campuses while giving the graduate student valuable two-year college teaching experience. We have also maintained a solid relationship with Lake Land College, where we have placed graduate assistants involved in teaching and in professional writing (in Lake Land’s Public Relations Department). Maintaining these relationships with local community colleges benefits EIU by making our program familiar to community college faculty, thereby aiding both recruitment of transfer students to EIU and the job prospects of our MA students.

If needed, provide supplemental comments to help the reader understand the resources generated by the program. Note any clarifications or special circumstances (e.g., revenue pass-throughs) that should be considered when reviewing the above data.

If needed, provide supplemental comments to help the reader understand the productivity of the program. Note any clarifications or special circumstances (e.g., accreditation requirements, curricular changes, program restructuring) that should be considered when reviewing the above data.

Not evident in the metrics of student credit hour production are the credit units designated as “non-instructional” (NIST) activities, that do not generate student credit hours but are integrally tied to teaching. In English, these assignments include advising (centralized); coordination of undergraduate studies, graduate studies, and teacher certification; coordination of the English Technology-Integrated Classrooms; direction of the Composition program, of the EIU Writing Center (and assistant direction), of Women’s Studies, of Faculty Development, and of various minor programs housed in the College of Arts and Humanities. And this is not to mention those assignments for faculty who contribute to university committees (such as the UPC Chair, among many others). The designation of NIST, then, fails to adequately recognize duties critical to the instructional mission of the university, college, and department.

If needed, provide supplemental comments to help the reader understand the costs associated with the program. Note any clarifications or special circumstances (e.g., expenditures made centrally or externally, expenditures made on behalf of other units) that should be considered when reviewing the above data.

How does the program seek to distinguish itself from similar programs at other institutions?

What distinguishes the undergraduate programs in English from similar programs in the state is our teacher-scholar model of teaching, learning, and professional activity, a model we believe is second-to-none in the state.  We study, we teach, we research, we write; we are active in service at all levels of the university and community.  Our teacher-scholar model embraces the importance of liberal arts in the University’s mission and within the human experience.  As teacher-scholars we sustain an enthusiasm for student learning, for the breadth of expertise that each faculty member contributes to the department, and for innovative, well-grounded teaching and learning.  Our classes are small, and PhDs are present in every course in the major. The combination of active research/creative activity with engaged teaching produces one-on-one contact with students—from freshman to senior—through conferencing, independent studies, and undergraduate research. Our teacher-scholar model allows us to foster students’ individual growth as they discover and develop their interests within the wide spectrum of English studies—literary study, creative writing, professional writing, composition, and teacher education.

Among Illinois graduate programs, Eastern’s English MA program is unique in offering a wide array of concentrations along with intense mentoring from faculty. Unlike UIUC, ISU, U of Chicago, SIUC, Loyola, UIC, NIU, Northwestern, and DePaul, EIU has no PhD program. As a result, English master’s students need not compete with doctoral students for faculty attention. Our graduate students concentrate in literary studies, creative writing, professional writing, or composition/rhetoric, but our flexible curriculum allows them to take courses in multiple concentrations. This flexibility allows them to find what truly interests them as they prepare themselves for careers or future study. The low faculty-student ratio allows for extensive mentoring and one-on-one teaching and learning.

Most importantly, the English MA program offers a uniquely supportive pathway into the classroom for graduate students, requiring more coursework and preparation in advance of receiving a teaching assignment than any other institution in the state. The combination of tutoring experience and practicum, followed by mentored composition teaching, allows graduate students to gain confidence and expertise before they apply to teach in a classroom of their own.

Note any unique and/or essential contributions that the program makes to the university.

Information for this subsection has been provided in Sections 2, 3, and 4 of this Program Analysis. But it is worthwhile to emphasize that the English Department has provided academic, curricular, and programmatic leadership for and contributions to such university programs as the EIU Writing Center, Women’s Studies Minor, EIU Faculty Development, EIU Film Studies Minor, Africana Studies, Interdisciplinary Center for Global Diversity, International Education Council, EIU Center for the Humanities, MS in Renewable Energy, Honors College and Program, EIU Study Abroad Program, Writing Across the Curriculum, and the EIU General Education first-year composition program.

Over the years, English faculty have routinely held membership on—and very often chaired—virtually all of the University’s planning, program, and governance councils and committees open to them. English faculty have routinely held executive positions in the EIU chapter of the University Professionals of Illinois (EIU-UPI). English faculty members are dedicated and contributing citizens of the university and its mission.

Provide any program-specific metrics that help to document program contributions or program quality. Examples of some commonly used program-specific metrics may be found here.

If needed, provide supplemental comments to help the reader understand the program impact on the university mission.

Provide a link to or listing of the program’s goals and/or strategic plan.

Strategic goals for the English Department include the following (connections to the university’s strategic plan and its “strategic themes” are indicated within brackets):

1. Revision of undergraduate major curriculum for the English BA and BA with Teacher Certification. Our aims are to increase the number of electives to encourage intentional study and learning and to add concentrations to provide flexibility as well as career preparation. [Academic Excellence, Global Competition and Changing Demographics, Financial Sustainability]

2. Revision of ENG 1001G/1091G and 1002G/1092G, the university-required first-year writing program, to ensure students more effectively transfer habits of mind and writing practices to diverse writing situation throughout the university. [Academic Excellence, Global Competition and Changing Demographics, Financial Sustainability]

3. Formation of an Alumni Advisory Council for the English MA program. [Academic Excellence, Global Competition and Changing Demographics, Campus and Community Life, Financial Sustainability, Marketing and Communication]

4. Implementation and refinement of a program to track the career-placement of English undergraduate and graduate alumni. [Academic Excellence, Global Competition and Changing Demographics, Campus and Community Life, Financial Sustainability, Marketing and Communication]

5. Expansion of collaborative teaching and scholarship opportunities offered by the various interdisciplinary minors and the Center for the Humanities.   [Academic Excellence, Global Competition and Changing Demographics, Campus and Community Life, Financial Sustainability, Marketing and Communication]

6. Development and/or expansion of faculty- and student-exchange programs and of partnerships with international universities, such as Harlaxton College (UK) and Hohai University (Nanjing, China). [Academic Excellence, Global Competition and Changing Demographics, Financial Sustainability]

What role will the program have in the implementation of the university’s strategic plan (provide link to strategic plan)?

P;lease see above.

What are the program’s two or three most promising opportunities that could help advance the university’s academic mission? Provide an estimate of additional investments or other costs required and additional student credit hours, revenue, or other resources generated.

1. The Writing Fellow Program provides a promising opportunity to extend and integrate Writing Across the Curriculum in the university. Investments would include funding for additional graduate assistantships (current stipend is $890/ month per assistantship). Training and teaching Fellows to take on writing instruction would generate student credit hours.

2. In preparation for the revision of the university-required first-year writing program mentioned above, English would like to engage the Consultant-Evaluator Service of the Council of Writing Program Administrators (WPA) to improve and assess our writing program. This Service occurs over several stages, including a self-study, a campus visit, a co-authored written report, and a six-month follow-up report. Investments would include $3000 to cover honoraria for two consultant-evaluators, a $250 administrative fee, and travel and lodging for the two consultants.

3. Digital humanities and scholarship have become increasingly important aspects of literary studies, rhetoric and composition, literacy and linguistic studies, creative writing, professional writing, and pedagogy studies. To seize the possibilities for integrative learning and teaching that the digital humanities represent, the English Department needs to conduct a search to appoint a tenure-line faculty member with expertise in this field. Scholarship using the digital humanities is by definition interdisciplinary and collaborative. Investments would be the salary of an assistant professor (roughly $60,000), and the teaching in this area would attract students and generate student credit hours.

If needed, provide supplemental comments to help the reader understand future opportunities for the program.