Also inside: - Coe College

Andrew Decker ’09 is one of 60
student consultants who staffs Coe’s
Writing Center.
for a new approach to writing.
“At that time, many people
saw teaching writing as
punitive,” said Heller. “‘You
didn’t get that grammatical
point, did you? Gotcha!’” In
addition, English Professor
Neil Woodruff and some of
his colleagues argued very
forcefully that the English
Department should not be the
only “keepers of the writing
flame.”
An ad hoc committee, which
included Heller, was commis-
sioned in 1983 to seek a
solution. They began by doing
research on composition
pedagogy. They read about
the process approach to
writing, which emphasized
planning and revision. And
they discovered college
Coe College Courier
WAC programs, which had
students using writing in all
their classes. “We realized we
wanted those,” said Heller.
After a national search, the
college hired Bob Marrs in
1986 as WAC coordinator;
Marrs also teaches writing
courses, and is in charge of
the college’s Writing Center.
“Besides being an excellent
teacher and passionate about
the liberal arts, Bob is a great
diplomat,” Heller said. “He
needed to convince some
of the more hesitant faculty
about the new program.”
According to Marrs, one
reason the writing program
garners so much support
at Coe — even among
initially-wary faculty — is its
simplicity. The program is
based on just one sentence:
In Writing Emphasis courses,
students must write 2,000 words
with an opportunity for revision.
“Everyone can define writing
as their needs may be,” said
Marrs. “Our program allows
for an enormous range of
possibilities.” Professors can
have students use writing to
enhance learning, or they can
have students learn to write in
a particular discipline — or
both. “And it’s all on the honor
system,” he said. “We don’t
Student consultants and Writing Center coordinator Bob Marrs traveled to
Kansas City in October for the Midwest Writers Center Association Conference.
require faculty to turn in syllabi
or have me check assignments.
That way it’s not much of a
burden for them or for me.”
Faculty Support is Strong
“I like assigning papers because
I like seeing what my students
think about things,” said
Assistant Professor of Political
Science kim Lanegran, who
emphasizes writing in all of
her classes. Participating in a
WAC program was a given
for Lanegran, who was hired
in 2005.
“Writing is the most important
thing we teach students,” she
said. “The facts will change.
The theories will change. But
students will always need to
be able to synthesize evidence
and communicate their ideas
clearly. They will do that
every day of their lives.”
In Lanegran’s classes, students
do a wide variety of writing
assignments, from reading
response papers to research
papers to analysis papers. In
her Women and Politics class,
Lanegran’s students had to
interview college students about
their views on politics. They
then had to apply theories
about feminism and politics
to analyze the answers.
“They liked this paper, even if
they really hated the person’s
views,” said Lanegran.
Lanegran likes the help her
students can get from Coe’s
Writing Center, an integral
part of the WAC program
and the largest undergraduate
writing center in the country.
The consultants there help
students find their own voice
and their own thesis. That’s
the hard part. “And that’s
27
www.coe.edu