Announcing the Winners of the 2008 Diana Hacker TYCA Outstanding Programs in English Awards for Two-Year Colleges and Teachers

REACHING ACROSS BORDERS

Award Winner

"The Arts in Ghana with Service Learning"
The Ohio State University Agricultural Technical Institute, Wooster, OH

The Arts in Ghana with Service Learning is a multicultural, international program which reaches from Ohio to Ghana with the prime object of introducing two-year college students to the culture of the people of Ho, Ghana. The program allows students to perform service learning; however, it is also transdisciplinary with the humanities, English, the social sciences and business.

Honorable Mention
                
"Washington Online Writing Lab (WOWL)"
Centralia College, WA

The project’s goal is to provide writing support services to students at four community college campuses while assessing whether a shared tutoring program such as OWL could be implemented and maintained by a group of colleges in a cost effective manner.

ENHANCING DEVELOPMENTAL EDUCATION

Award Winner

"Gateway to Success"
Santa Barbara City College, CA

The Gateway program is part of the “Partnership for Student Success,” a Santa Barbara City College faculty driven initiative developed to help students achieve success in their first years of college. The program was designed on the concept of triangulated supplementary instruction that builds a strong and complementary relationship between the instructor, tutor, and each student participating in the Gateway.

Honorable Mention
                
"The W.R.I.T.E. Brush-up Course Program"
Nassau Community College, Garden City, NY

In 2007, nearly 2,000 of 8,000 entering students failed NCC’s Writing Placement Exam and placed into English 001; about 20% of these students “moved up” to credit-bearing English 101 after passing a first-day retest. The purpose of the W.R.I.T.E. Course is to eliminate first-day retesting in our non-credit developmental writing program, since this causes chaos and disruption.

FOSTERING STUDENT SUCCESS

Award Winner

"YVCC English Department Mid-Program Assessment"
Yakima Valley Community College, WA

Using rubrics and departmental paper readings, the English Department at Yakima Valley Community College has developed an assessment process designed to involve faculty in the development of outcomes that promote student success in composition courses. This process has provided tangible evidence of student skills and opportunities for meaningful discussions among faculty about appropriate outcomes and ways to achieve them.

Honorable Mention
                
"Increasing Agency and Collaboration through the Merging
of SOTL and Assessment"
University of Wisconsin Colleges, Waukesha, WI

After becoming English Department Assessment Coordinators in 2005, they merged departmental assessment with Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) project. The initial goal was to increase agency by researching an issue of interest within the department, using methodology appropriate to the discipline. However, after completing the two-year cycle, they discovered their research supported several important conclusions about student learning.

ENHANCING LITERATURE AND CULTURAL ARTS

Award Winner

"Writing and Literature Program"
Borough of Manhattan Community College, New York, NY

The Writing and Literature Program at the Borough of Manhattan Community College began in 2000 in with the goal of preparing nontraditional students for success as English majors in baccalaureate programs and for successful careers as writers, journalists, teachers, English professors, and other professionals whose work requires high level writing, reading, and critical thinking proficiency. The Program now enrolls 320 students.

Honorable Mention   
                
"Women’s Literature Read-In"
Lansing Community College, MI

The “Women’s Literature Read-In” was established by the English Program to celebrate Women’s History Month. It is a cross-campus and community effort that features members of the college community, both students and employees, and members of the public. The program’s goal is to cultivate an appreciation of the richness of women’s literature from all cultures and eras.