Public Writing Initiative -- Annual Report, 2012 - 2013

The Pennsylvania State University - Public Writing Initiative

Annual Report, 2012-2013

Cynthia Mazzant

Coordinator

Geffrey Davis

Krista Quesenberry

Fellows - August 2013


Introduction

2012-2013 Statistics

Guest Speaking Engagements: 25

Commissioned Assignments: 1

Information about these and other developments can be found in the following pages. For more information, please contact Cynthia Mazzant at cmm29@psu.edu

The Public Writing Initiative (PWI) is a small group of instructors from the English Department, associated with and supported by the Penn State Learning program.   

Our purpose is to promote the ideals of public scholarship, learning and writing that take place in all fields, disciplines, and, ultimately, in all careers. To that end, we bring together introductory writing instructors (ENGL 015S and 030S) and upper-level writing instructors (ENGL 202 A, B, C, and D) with local professionals from business, technical, nonprofit, corporate, and community groups. Our mission is not only to foster a sense of connection between students and their surroundings, but also to highlight the importance of writing skills across disciplines—from art history to astrophysics, from economics to engineering.

In 2012-2013, our nineteenth year, we continued to strive for these goals through two programs:

The Guest Speaker Program, which brings local professionals into writing classrooms to discuss their first-hand writing experiences, helped students in 25 courses to gain a deeper understanding of writing in the workplace, in civic life, and in other non-academic contexts.

The Commissioned Assignment Program, which allows students to write documents needed by local organizations, was not used in the 202 classroom this year. New course development in the 202D and the 137H/138T courses required public writing with commissioned assignments, thereby rendering this program almost obsolete. Two Honors Freshman classes (030S and 137H-138T) took on a commissioned assignment and wrote for Voices, a State College independent news magazine, throughout the academic year.

Glossary of Classes

  • ENGL 015/015S: Freshman Seminar/Composition & Rhetoric
  • ENGL 030/030S: Honors Freshman Seminar/Composition & Rhetoric
  • ENGL 137H/138T: Honors Civics & Rhetoric
  • ENGL 202A: Writing in the Social Sciences
  • ENGL 202B: Writing in the Humanities
  • ENGL 202C: Technical Writing
  • ENGL 202D: Business Writing
  • ENGL 213: Introduction to Poetry 

Guest Speaker Program

Program Statistics

Speakers: 13

Instructors: 9

Sections Served: 25

Students Engaged: 583

Speaker Affiliations

  • Carly Barry, Tech Writer, Minitab
  • Dr. Craig Bohren, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Meteorology, PSU
  • Rick Bryant, Director, State College Arts Festival
  • Ann Donovan, Watershed Specialist, Centre County Conservation District
  • David Hutchinson, Co-Chair, State College Public Issues Forum
  • Cynthia Mazzant, Arts Consultant, PSU Lecturer
  • Debbie Meder, PSU Controller’s Office, Assistant Controller
  • Julie Miller, State College Area School District, Public Information Specialist
  • Carla Rossi, PSU Controller’s Office, Financial Officer
  • Jon Secreto, Owner, Comic Swap
  • Jorge Sofa, Professor, Physics Dept, PSU
  • Cody Steele, Strategic Initiative Coordinator, Minitab
  • Lissette Szwydky, Strategic Initiative Coordinator, Global Programs, PSU

The goals of the Guest Speaker Program are

  1. to convince students that writing is important in the workplace and thereby motivate them to learn writing skills;
  2. to inform teachers of, or supplement their experience with, workplace situations;
  3. to increase consistency in writing principles taught in professional writing courses, the students’ technical courses, and the workplace; and
  4. to make contact with professionals who might participate in other PWI programs.

Fall 2012 (10 Speakers, 12 sections)

Spring 2013 (8 Speakers, 13 sections)

015S

Instructor: Erica Fleming

Speaker: Jon Secreto

137H/138T

Instructor: Cynthia Mazzant

Speaker: David Hutchinson

213

Instructor: Geffrey Davis

Speaker: Jon Secreto

202A

Instructors: Rose Bohn, Cynthia Mazzant

Speakers: Rick Bryant, Ann Donovan, Julie Miller, David Hutchinson

202B

Instructors: Elizabeth Nelson, Geffrey Davis, Justin Mellett

Speakers: Jon Secreto, Lysette Szwydky, Cynthia Mazzant, Rick Bryant

202C

Instructors: Al Holtzinger, Rose Bohn

Speakers: Lysette Szwydky, Jorge Sofa, Carly Barry, Dr. Craig Behren, Cody Steele

202D

Instructors: Stacy Tibbetts, Stephanie Scott

Speakers: Debbie Meder, Carla Rossi

Commissioned Assignment Program

Program Statistics

Commissioned Assignments: 2

Instructors: 1

Sections Served: 2

Students Engaged: 37

Fall 2012 (1 Assignment, 1 Section)

030S

Instructor: Cynthia Mazzant

Students wrote short articles and stories for Voices, a Centre County independent monthly news magazine. Students were assigned articles to cover events and to create new pieces and submit story ideas for the Arts & Entertainment Section of the paper.

Spring 2013 (1 Assignment, 1 Section)

138T

Instructor: Cynthia Mazzant

Following the format above, students submitted Arts & Entertainment articles for Voices but also wrote articles and covered events for the Sustainability Forum the 138T students conducted. Students also volunteered at and developed materials for the regional Poetry Out Loud Competition.

Recommendations

The speaker series was highly successful this year as we reached out to instructors during the first weeks of the semester. In addition, fellows attended Graduate Student meetings and were able to “pitch” the program with success. It is recommended that the program keep at least one lecturer with strong ties to the lecturer community on the committee. Also, timing as mentioned in the past is crucial, as is timing of luncheons and coordination meetings.

It is also recommended that the Commissioned Assignments incorporate and recruit instructors from freshman writing, creative writing, and editing classes.