During the 1977-78 academic year, the faculty and administration agreed that student writing skills were below the standards which N. C. Wesleyan College deemed acceptable. Especially, the faculty believed that incoming freshmen skills were poor enough to warrant a special program to address the needs of these under-prepared students. Thus, the "Developmental Studies & Testing Program" was implemented with effect from fall 1978. This initial endeavor was intended to identify those students whose writing and reading competencies were "below college level", and provide support services--including pre-college-level writing and reading courses--to ensure that these particular students had every opportunity to develop their language skills, and to succeed in their chosen majors. All entering freshmen were asked to write a sample essay; the essays were read and rated by members of the English Department. Those freshmen whose essays were identified as "below college level" were required to successfully complete English 10 (now numbered English 090) in addition to the general 2-course composition requirement. In addition, those students each took the same four courses during the first semester of the freshman year, courses especially chosen to maximize their chances for success. A class-room sized room was allocated for use as a writing center. This stage of the writing initiative at N. C. Wesleyan College was headed by Dr. Mike McCully of the English Department. During this period Professor Toby Fulwiler came to campus and led faculty in their first writing workshop. He expressed both surprise and delight that so many of the faculty (at least two-thirds) were willing to voluntarily attend Saturday workshops on using writing for more than assessing students' knowledge.
In 1983-84, the catalogue definition of the program was revised to add a description of a Learning Center, which was located on the second floor of Braswell Hall, the main classroom building. A full-time Learning Center Director was employed, and a wide range of workshops, tutoring opportunities, and support services became available for all students on campus. Mike McCully resigned from the college and was replaced by Dr. Emily Meredith.
During the 1987-88 academic year, faculty inaugurated the Writing Proficiency Test, in effect a college-wide exit exam. The catalogue carried the following description:
READING AND WRITING PROFICIENCY--All students enrolled in a degree program, including transfer students and students at the branches, must demonstrate proficiency in writing as a condition of graduation. Students demonstrate this required proficiency only by receiving a "Pass" on the Writing Proficiency Essay (WPE). |
WRITING PROFICIENCY ESSAY--The Writing Proficiency Essay is offered three times during the academic year. Students may attempt the essay only at one of its regularly scheduled times. A student may attempt the essay as many times as necessary in order to receive a "Pass". |
The essay topic was selected by a committee of six faculty representing each of the academic divisions; these same faculty members also read all the essays. The committee was trained by Emily Meredith, Director of Developmental Studies, in holistic reading of papers according to methods developed at Princeton University. Dr. Meredith remained as Director of Developmental Studies until the end of 1988.
The descriptions of the Developmental Studies Program and the Learning Center remained in the 1988-89 college catalogue, and Dr. Vivienne Anderson joined the college as Director of the Writing Program. Dr. Anderson was the college's first fully-credentialed writing teacher. In the 1989-1990 college catalogue the Writing Proficiency Exam requirement remained the same, but the description of the Developmental Studies and Learning Center changed.
DEVELOPMENTAL STUDIES: Students who do not pass a developmental course (English 090, Math 090) will re-enroll in that course the following semester. Students who do not pass the same developmental course for the second time will be placed on academic probation, regardless of their grade point average. Students who do not pass the same developmental course for the third time will be suspended from the College, regardless of their grade point average.
THE LEARNING CENTER: Located in Room 236 Braswell, the Learning Center provides a variety of academic support services to help Wesleyan's students improve performance in their courses. The Director of Tutorial Services will help the student set up an individualized reading improvement program. Students may also set up programs to improve their writing and study skills.
The Learning Resourse Center's services are available on a flexible schedule, and students who need help or have questions should contact the Director of Tutorial Services.
From the beginning of spring semester of the 1989-1990 academic year, the WPE was administered four times yearly. By the following year, in response to various complaints about the WPE's vague questions and its inability to improve reading (a vital part of writing proficiency), students were asked to read an essay in preparation for taking the exam. The exam question was based on an aspect of the reading. At about the same time the Writing Program Director initiated WPE workshops, both on the main campus and on the site extensions at Goldsboro, Raleigh, and New Bern. The workshops were composed of three 4-hour workshops, offered on weekends. The WPE committee developed a WPE manual to help students prepare for writing the essay.
Dr. Margaret Morrison joined the faculty in 1991 and was named Director of the Learning Center. She renamed the center "Tutors' Crossing" and developed an out-reach program to attract more frequent use of the services offered. Tutors were available until late in the evenings, and could be found at various tutoring sites on campus, including the library, the cafeteria and in the dormitories. The WPE had served to bring writing skills to the forefront of attention on campus. However, except for carefully monitoring of the pass/fail rate of students attempting the WPE, no systematic assessment of writing skills across disciplines was adopted. And, although faculty at large were requiring more writing from students in all their classes, many graduating seniors were unable to pass the WPE.