Composition Course Information for Faculty and Staff

1-3 p.m. Thursday, August 20, 2026, 6 Rohrbach Library
Join us for our Composition Kickoff and Orientation event. Discussion topics will include first-day activities, effective feedback, and AI in composition; this is a particularly good opportunity for new faculty.

Throughout the semester, we encourage you to attend “Comp Conversations,” an informal gathering to discuss various issues concerning the teaching of writing. All are welcome.

11 a.m. to noon Thursday, September 24, 2026, via Zoom
Join us for our Comp Conversation to discuss and solicit feedback on the current state of the composition curriculum. Discussion topics will include:

 - The research SLO in COMP 100
 - The sequencing of COMP 100 to COMP 20x
 - Comp 20x being used for Gen. Ed. categories A2 and A4 (and possibly an elective)
 - Related: The ongoing bottleneck of students needing COMP 20x
 - The general amorphous organization of composition: Laurie (CLAS) staffs composition 100 and 200 through English, 201 through SHC, 202 through Phil & Gov; course assessment is done through GEPAC; some curricular decisions are run through departments, while others involve all parties
 - Other curricular issues

All are welcome.

Thursday, October 1, 2026, in 6 Rohrbach Library
Workshop: 11 a.m. to 11:50 a.m. 
Discussion Group: noon to 12:50 p.m.
Feedback is essential to student learning but getting students to give and receive high-quality peer feedback can be challenging. How can we create classroom cultures that encourage honest, specific, and helpful feedback? This session will provide practical strategies for improving the quality of peer feedback in your courses and helping students develop skills they can use both in the classroom and beyond.

If you'd like to learn more about the event, please contact Erin Kraal, Director for the Center for Engaged Learning.

12:15 p.m. Wednesday, October 14, 2026 via Zoom

Speakers: Krista Prock, Tony Bleach, and Moe Folk

The speakers will share the results of a grant project in which they assessed information literacy in three core general education classes: FYSM 100, COMP 100, and COMP 200. The speakers assessed more than 200 student artifacts from these courses using the new SLO #5 (Information Literacy) rubric. In addition to sharing the results of that assessment, the speakers will share ideas for aligning composition courses and writing assignments to their associated information literacy SLOs, as well as how to best incorporate library interventions (e.g., class sessions with librarians, Zoom, chat, classroom visits) to increase student performance in key information literacy areas.

All are welcome.

11-11:50 a.m. Thursday, October 22, 2026, via Blue Room, Old Main

With the pervasive use of AI apps and tools, instructors in all fields and at all levels have voiced frustration and sometimes despondency about the challenges of having students create authentic, meaningful coursework. In this workshop, we will examine how long-standing strategies fundamental to good writing instruction can be used across the disciplines to help us develop and encourage such authentic thinking and learning with our students. We will discuss emphasizing process-oriented assignments and lessons; using peer review and collaboration with those assignments; incorporating informal/low-stakes writing, regardless of discipline, including metawriting and reflection; and utilizing digital tools in constructive, learning-centered ways. Well-established practices of the writing instructional classroom are, perhaps surprisingly, well equipped to help all teachers avoid falling into a policing role in this fast-changing new learning environment.