Sustainable WAC

A Whole Systems Approach to Launching and Developing Writing Across the Curriculum Programs

Michelle Cox, Jeffrey R. Galin, Dan Melzer

• Publisher: National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE)
• Year: 2018
• ISBN:
  9780814100547
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Teaching Languages

Winner of the 2021 Association for Writing Across the Curriculum/WAC Clearinghouse award for Best WAC Monograph

A 2008 survey of Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) programs found that nearly half of those identified in a 1987 survey no longer existed twenty years later, pointing to a need for an approach to WAC administration that leads to programs that persist over time. In Sustainable WAC, current or former WAC program directors Michelle Cox, Jeffrey R. Galin, and Dan Melzer introduce a theoretical framework for WAC program development that takes into account the diverse contexts of today's institutions of higher education, aids WAC program directors in thinking strategically as they develop programs, and integrates a focus on program sustainability.

Informed by theories that illuminate transformative change within systems—complexity, systems, social network, resilience, and sustainable development theories—and illustrated with vignettes by WAC directors across the country, this book lays out principles, strategies, and tactics to help WAC program directors launch, relaunch, or reinvigorate programs within the complicated systems of today's colleges and universities. Acknowledging that every WAC program grows out of a specific institutional context and grassroots movement, this book is a must-read for everyone currently involved in a WAC program or interested in exploring the possibility of one at their college or university.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Foreword
• Acknowledgments
• 1 The Need for a Systematic Approach to Building and Sustaining WAC Programs
• 2 The Whole Systems Framework for Launching and Developing WAC Programs: Theories and Principles
• 3 The Whole Systems Process for Launching and Developing WAC Programs: Methodology and Strategies
• 4 Stage One of the Whole Systems Methodology: Understanding the Institutional Landscape
• 5 Stage Two of the Whole Systems Methodology: Planning a Program
• 6 Stage Three of the Whole Systems Methodology: Developing Projects and Making Reforms
• 7 Stage Four of the Whole Systems Methodology: Leading for Sustainability
• 8 The Potential for Transformational Change: Implications of the Whole Systems Approach for WAC at Every Scale
• Appendix A: Step-by-Step Process for Creating Radar Charts (AMOEBA Graphs) in Microsoft Excel 2013
• References
• Index
• Authors
• Contributors