1. When is this paper due? A draft of this paper is due in class on Thursday. A second draft is due the following Thursday.
2. When will we get grading rubrics and help on this paper? The grading rubrics are on line. You can help each other with the papers as you are working on them. I am happy to schedule meetings to go over any assignment with any student, but I don’t cancel class to conference. That’s purely voluntary on your part, but always an option.
3. Do we just research one college? Yes, for this part of the assignment, you each research one college, looking closely at its writing program. Describe that program in terms of courses, goals, assignments, structure (how does the whole program fit together), theoretical underpinnings, teachers, etc. Stay focused on one program, but feel free to bring in info from the Spear article if that will help you.
4. Is this a comparison paper? No, not necessarily. You are simply describing a writing program at another college. However, at the end of your paper, it would be good to reflect upon whether you think that program might work here and why or why not.
5. What if I can’t find any information? If you are looking information in one location, you probably won’t find it. But with careful searching, there’s lots of information out there. Help each other. Look at:

• the college’s main web site for mission statement, demographic info, geographic information.
• the writing program’s web site for information about writing courses and sequencing.
• the English department’s web site for links to faculty web sites.
• the course catalogue for course descriptions.
• the general education courses web site.
• specific instructors’ web sites for syllabi and classes.

1. What if I can’t find enough information about a specific program? If you’ve tried all the above sites, feel free to make an appointment to come by my office to run through a search with me. I will not find material for you, but I’d be happy to show you how to search web sites.
2. What if one of the links from the web site doesn’t work? Run a Google search for the college you are interested in (but please email me the updated URL when you find it so I can update the link). Those links are there to provide basic connection to a program—they do not offer all the info you need
3. The sample paper had quotes in it. Are we supposed to interview people? The assignment does not require that you interview people. This student went beyond the basics of the assignment (part of why this was an A paper). She found some quoted information on web pages and got some by e-mailing a faculty member she found on the web site.
4. The sample paper looks longer than three pages. Does our paper have to be longer than three pages? Your paper may be as long as it needs to be to completely respond to the assignment. I think that that will mean a paper at least three full pages long. You may turn in a paper of one page or ten pages. I don’t think a one page paper will be able to respond to the assignment fully enough for a C grade, and I think a ten page paper might be a bit drawn out and boring. The student sample was a very complete response to the assignment, about 4.5 pages long.
5. What format do I use for this paper? Please put your name at the top of the page (no other info needed), number pages somewhere on each page, use 1" margins, and give your paper a title. If you’d like to use headers, bulleted lists, single spacing, etc. to make your paper look like a professional document, I’d certainly give you credit for helping me by making it easier to read your paper. I don’t require that for this paper, but the group paper does need to pay attention to design.
6. What are we doing in groups/when are we going to work in groups? You’ll be spending a lot of the rest of the semester in groups. Your group is there to help you do research and to help you write better by answering questions, offering ideas, helping you think about things in new ways. Specifically, the next thing you are doing in groups is writing the cover for your group to turn in with your 4 or 5 individual papers. The idea is that you will discuss your papers and write about program similarities and differences.
7. What if my group sucks? You’ll be spending a lot of the rest of the semester in your group. If there are problems in your group, you need to confront people with what those problems are. If there are group members who have a difficult time staying on task, someone needs to begin to take charge of keeping people on task. Set an agenda for the meeting. If someone is really exhibiting behavior detrimental to the whole group, ask that person to leave your group, or ask me to intervene. (Behavior detrimental to the whole group: not showing up, showing up late or unprepared more than once or without a really good excuse. Not contacting group members in case of absence, lateness, or unpreparedness. Behavior that is inappropriate, harassing, rude, or just distracting after the group has asked that the behavior end. Being unwilling or unable to complete tasks and share information. Offering "I dunno" or "whatever" too often when asked for opinions. Refusing to find any role with in the group.) As a group you need to decide what you can’t tolerate. But please don’t just throw out the weakest link if s/he is trying to contribute and offering places where s/he can contribute. People offer a variety of talents to projects. Try to help each person find his/her talent.
8. When are my summary annotations due? Be reading and turning them in regularly throughout the semester. (But they are "due" at the end of the semester. ) I will certainly not take away credit, etc. for "lateness." The dates on the syllabus are to help you space your work across the semester. Read the assignment carefully and be sure to ask me any specific questions you have. You are doing the annotations because there will be few required readings in this class. Therefore, you may direct your own reading by searching out areas of the class topic that are of interest to your or helpful in your group’s research. The summaries are to provide you with the background info you will need to be a better group member and write better papers.
9. What do I do if I don’t like to learn, don’t want to do research, think this is boring, or don’t have time to work in groups? Drop this section of this course and take it next semester. This is a course that is about developing pre-professional writing skills: that means skills you will be using someday in the workplace. To succeed in workplace activities, you must develop skills in project management, group communication, collaboration, and research. Success also means finding things of interest in challenging yourself intellectually to do a good job. That means beginning research in a timely fashion; undertaking research to provide you with the information you need to complete a task; being a tenacious researcher; working with others to develop ideas; developing professional work habits—habits that are goal-driven not punishment-driven. I will not be after you to do your work. I will not check to see if you are reading and researching. You are responsible to your group, not to me. I care about your success and will do all I can to help you with genuine problems and specific questions. But I can only offer you the opportunity to develop the skills that will help you become successful, I can’t feed you those skills or make you want to be successful, academically or professionally.

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