The Conference on College Composition and Communication recently honored the UCSB Writing Program with its prestigious Certificate of Excellence award, acknowledging the unique program for its faculty support, innovative curriculum, evaluative practices and extensive field research.

Although this is the first year UCSB applied for the honor, it was one of only three writing programs nationwide to receive the annual award. Founded in 1949, the CCCC supports college composition and communication by holding meetings, supporting research and enhancing learning conditions.

Writing Program Director Linda Adler-Kassner said the honor provides the program with acknowledgment of its hard work and growing popularity.

“I’m extremely proud that we’ve won the award because it is quite a distinction, and it really speaks to the support UCSB has offered the program over the years,” Adler-Kassner said.

Roughly 7,000 students take at least one course in the Writing Program each year, with 99 percent of them as undergraduates, Adler-Kassner said.

According to its website, the program offers various basic lower-division as well as 30 upper-division courses that break down writing styles in subfields that include areas such as journalism and academic research amongst others. It also offers a professional writing minor that has emphases in professional editing, multimedia communication and business communication.

For the 2013-14 school year, the program will begin offering a minor in the area of writing and civic engagement, Adler-Kassner said.

“We have a few classes in upper-division sequences, but we really wanted to have a new strand in the minor looking at writing in broader purposes to engage people in issues that are important to them,” Adler-Kassner said.

Kane Anderson — a teaching assistant for Writing 2 and graduate student — said the UCSB Writing Program has been revolutionary in providing incoming students with the necessary skills to complete university-level writing.

“The instructors in the Writing Program really make it their mission to teach about writing as an object of study,” Anderson said.

 

A version of this article appeared on page 3 of January 28th, 2013’s print edition of the Nexus.

Print