Core Values for Department of Writing Arts Undergraduate Programs

Adopted Fall 2007
Revised 2/2010; 12/2011; 5/2017

Because writing is a powerful mechanism for creating meaning, implicit within this mechanism are power, responsibility, and deliberate choice. Therefore, the Writing Arts Department values the following for students in the Writing Arts Program:

1. Writing Arts students will demonstrate understanding of a variety of genre conventions and exhibit rhetorical adaptability in applying those conventions.

2. Writing Arts students will understand theories of writing and reading and be able to apply them to their own writing.

3. Writing Arts students will demonstrate the ability to critically read complex and sophisticated texts in a variety of subjects.

4. Writing Arts students will be able to investigate, discover, evaluate and incorporate material into the creation of text.

5. Writing Arts students will demonstrate self-critical awareness of their writing.

6. Writing Arts students will understand the impact evolving technologies have on the creation of written texts.

7. Writing Arts students will show an understanding of the power of the written word and that such power requires ethical responsibilities in its application.

8. Writing Arts students will understand the rhetorical nature of style in writing, including the dynamics of usage, mechanics, and grammar, dependent as they are on context, purpose, and audience. 

9. Writing Arts students will have knowledge of the professions available to them or will be able to articulate how they will apply their understanding of writing in their future career, or both.