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As we get closer to the beginning of the semester, I expect that many faculty members–new AND returning–will be looking for ideas for their college composition courses. Those of you who have been around for a while might remember the faculty/student/grad student resources pages that I had on our old web site. Well, I am slowly but surely rebuilding them on our new site.
Early today I posted a “Resources @ KU” page which contains a link to “Faculty Resources.” Over the next several weeks I will be (re)building resources pages for students and grad students. But, given that faculty are beginning to think about their fall courses I wanted to post some sample syllabi asap.
So, if you are looking to switch up your composition classes this fall, or you are one of our new faculty members who will be teaching composition here in the fall, please check out our Faculty Resources Page!
I hope everyone is having a wonderful summer and is getting geared up for another fun and fab academic year (while soaking up those final weeks of summer of course!). While things slow down over the summer, they certainly don’t stop.
June saw another round of Directed Self-Placement (DSP) as part of first-year student orientation, Connections. Despite projections that we were going to see a drop off in enrollment this fall, we are pretty close to the numbers of last year’s incoming class (especially if we factor in a make-up orientation session in late August). This year’s DSP saw some aberrations for which we’re not quite sure how to account. In particular, we’ve seen an almost 50% drop-off in enrollment in ENG 022 Introduction to College Composition. We know a few things may have contributed to this drop-off: the College of Education discouraging their students from taking ENG 022 because of a lack of elective space in their curriculum, for example. I expect what this means is that ENG 023 may be more challenging–for both students and faculty–this fall. We will be closely following our 023 courses this fall to see what the impact of this drop-off in ENG 022 may be.
At the end of last semester our composition group introduced a plan for a new concentration in what we’re calling Composition, Rhetoric, and Literacy Studies (CRLS). Over the summer, we continued developing courses and plans for slowly introducing this concentration into the broader English curriculum. As we develop courses and plan events related to CRLS we will post some of our discussions here.
As you may have read in a previous post, our tenure-track position in Composition and Rhetoric was approved and is officially posted. To our delight, we have already received several applications despite the fact that the deadline is not until November. We’ll have our first round of interviews at MLA in San Fransisco, December 27-30. This hire will bring the number of our tenure-track composition faculty to five. We are looking forward to bringing a new person on board as we begin to develop both our graduate and undergraduate offerings in composition and rhetoric.
On August 7 and 21 we will hold our first-ever “Composition Fairs.” We hope these fairs will be places where new and returning faculty can get ideas for their composition courses, peruse resources and sample assignments, and gain some insight into new developments in the field of composition and rhetoric. The August 21st date will be combined with an Introduction to Composition at Kutztown for New (and returning) Faculty.
We also began initial planning of the Fifth Composition Conference for Student Writers and other assorted composition events for the academic year. (For last year’s Composition Conference click here)
So, as you can see, we may have slowed down a bit but we have certainly not been idle! Stay tuned for more updates and information! Enjoy the final weeks of summer!
Our ad for a tenure-track position in Composition and Rhetoric for fall 2009 is now posted on Kutztown University’s web site:
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Kutztown University of Pennsylvania enrolls approximately 10,000 students in graduate and undergraduate programs. The University is located in the borough of Kutztown in a charming rural setting, and is within 20 minutes driving time of the diverse metropolitan areas Allentown/Bethlehem and Reading, and within 60 minutes of the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The University is very interested in hiring employees who have had extensive experience with diverse populations.
The English Department invites applications for a tenure-track position in Composition and Rhetoric beginning Fall 2009. Ph.D. in Composition and Rhetoric preferred, ABD accepted with completion of dissertation before second year of appointment. Demonstrated experience and research in one or more of the following areas a plus: History of Composition and Rhetoric, Classical Rhetorics, Multicultural Rhetorics, Visual Rhetorics, Writing Program Administration, Assessment of First-Year Writing, or WAC. Strong applicants will also be committed to a “stretch model” approach to introductory composition courses.
The 4/4 teaching load will include College Composition, Introduction to College Composition, Honors Composition, and Advanced Composition with opportunities to develop and teach upper-level and graduate courses in Composition, Rhetoric, and Literacy Studies. Three (3) years of college-level teaching experience required with significant experience teaching Composition. Successful interview and demonstration of teaching abilities required.
Send a letter of application, vita, three current letters of reference, and all official college-level transcripts to Dr. Kevin Mahoney, Chair, Composition Faculty Search Committee, 241 Lytle Hall, English Department, Kutztown University, Kutztown, PA 19530. Only complete application packets will be considered. Review of applications will begin November 14, 2008 for MLA interviews and will continue until the position is filled. For more information on our program, visit our website at: http://kucomprhet.wordpress.com or contact the Committee Chair at Mahoney@kutztown.edu.
Kutztown University of Pennsylvania is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity employer and actively solicits applications from women and minority candidates. Kutztown University of Pennsylvania is a member of the State System of Higher Education.
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