FYC @ USF

Photo by Lacie Keller

MONTHLY NEWSLETTER JANUARY 2012

Predator ? Or FYCs new mascot ?

Last semester, we established ve goals that we wanted to achieve for our students as they establish their agency in 1101 and 1102. We are pleased with the progress we made, and at our rst committee meeting of this semester we decided to expand our goals. Here is a brief look at what we accomplished last semester and what we would like to accomplish this semester:
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Welcome Back Newsletter

Celebrate Student Success: Past, Present, and Future
The members of the Celebrate Student Success committee would like to welcome everyone back after a well-deserved holiday. We would also like to invite all FYC instructors to participate in our work this semester as we move forward with our goals of promoting and celebrating student success and of providing students opportunities for agency.

table of contents:
Social Action Day Montage Student Success Goals Save the Date Important Meetings Library Research Sessions Curricular Initiatives New 1102 Reader FYC Tech Help for Students

2 3 4 4 5 6 7 8

FYC Newsletter Editor: Dan Richards, Community Manager

2012

As your Community Manager, my responsibility is to ensure the maintenance and improvement of FYCs web presence. This includes the overseeing of the main FYC site (fyc.usf.edu) and all the various sub-sites; the production of videos that represent our program; assisting FYC instructors with all their technological needs (including Blackboard and SharePoint); and being an integral part of all the committees that work tirelessly to maintain and improve our status as a top-notch, progressive FYC program. For more about me, check out my site: http://danielrichards.net.

Photo by Lacie Keller

Goals for 2012

1) Have at least 100 1102 students present at
Rhetoric in Action Day: This fall, we had 104; this spring, wed like to have 150 1102 students and a separate event focusing on 1101 remediation projects.

2) Provide excellent examples of rhetoric in action

projects for new 1102 students: This fall, we had a former FYC student speak to several 1102 classes about her rhetoric in action project on sexual assault and how that work has led to other opportunities for her, including leadership opportunities on campus. Her presentations were framed as a way to motivate students to take meaningful action in their projects. We also added videos and examples of projects, as well as the piece by WUSF University Beat that featured our rst Rhetoric in Action Day last spring. For this spring, we now have a life-size statue that was presented by a FYC student at our fall Rhetoric in Action Day; her artwork is built of trash (see main page photo above) that could be recycled and represents the amount of trash an average USF student produces each week. Our goal is to have it represent the level of work we as a program are looking for in rhetoric in action projects by allowing students to see it in person and on video and by asking the student artist to speak to classes this semester. We also plan to solicit project examples from former FYC students with the help of our fellow instructors and to make classroom visits to introduce the work of the committee to students as a way of encouraging their success and soliciting feedback on how they feel they would best be encouraged by the program.

projects to the webpage as a way to show students the type of work we are looking for in 1102 as well as photos of students in ash mobs, in class work, and during our rst annual Student Success Week. This spring, we will continue lming vlogs, interviews, and ash mobs so that our students can gain agency and see rhetoric in action. We also plan to lm collaborative peer reviews between multiple classes as well as a few humorous videos, including the comeback of the Grammar Referee.

4) Establish a Student Success Week as a way to

encourage student success and progress midsemester within the classroom space: This fall, we made candy bags for every face-to-face FYC class as well as designed and printed three blank award certicates (including our own committee logo designed by Danielle Farrar) for every FYC class and asked instructors to take these surprises into their classrooms during the week of October 10-13. We asked instructors to give awards such as Best Blog, Class Leadership, and Best Peer Review Workshop and to take photos of their students with their certicates. We also visited random classes to interview students about their successes. This spring, we will hold Student Success Week from March 5-9; we plan to continue with the candy and the awards, and we would like to visit more classes this semester as well as encourage students to contribute vlogs and blogs to The Symposium about student success. We plan to incorporate a collaborative service project for FYC students into this week as well as a way for students to succeed within a community outside of the classroom.

5) Continue and improve the committee newsletter

as a way to provide space for student voices as they reected on their successes: This fall, we solicited responses from students on their work and created a 10-page newsletter with selected students text and photos of award winners and students in action. This spring, we will continue with the newsletter; we hope to include an electronic copy with links to student projects and photos, and we also hope to identify 1101 student success as well.

3) Create more videos for the committee webpage

as both a marketing tool for the committee and a resource for instructors: This fall, we asked students to lm vlogs (video blogs) on student success as way to provide them opportunities for agency. We also lmed interviews with 1102 students as we asked them to discuss specic successes they had both in the classroom and with their projects. We also added more student

save the date

Have an important date relevant to FYC instructors? Email Dan Richards.

january 16
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday (no school)

february 1
Celebrate Student Success Committee Meeting 2pm-3pm (continuous) Location: CPR 343

march 2
Town Hall Meeting Topic: Discussing ENC 1101 Audience: all Time: 11am-1pm Location: TBD

3
Town Hall Meeting Topic: Discussing ENC 1102 Audience: all, especially incoming instructors

2
Picnic, following Town Hall meeting (Riverfront Park)

3
Collaborative Model Meeting Time: 11am-12pm

12-17
Spring Break Holiday

Town Hall: 1101

Town Hall: 1102

Collaborative Model Meeting

What is The Sandbox? Great question, really. At its heart, the Sandbox was created to store unnished or work-in-progress documents, resources, PowerPoints, handouts, or whatever else teachers use to do their job. Many of the resources we create are good only for our specic class, or t the needs of our particular students. This might not be appropriate to post on the main FYC or Instructor pages as resources. But, they would be appropriate to store in the Sandbox.

What is The Symposium? Essentially The Symposium is a free-blogging space for all students currently enrolled in any FYC course: 1101, 1102, or 1102 online. Consider using this space to have students complete their informal writing component of the grade. This makes things easier for you and also encourages students to take advantage of the single-sign on (SSO) we worked so hard to achieve. Please encourage your students to post in this space!!

This space is perfect for any public collaboration between students and instructors in different courses. Essentially, the Public Square serves as the place on the FYC site where students and instructors can create their own SharePoint pages to collaborate on work, share their projects, or just practice informal writing in public writing spaces. This space is available by clicking on the link The Public Square under the the Instructor heading on the main FYC homepage.

From Lily: Library Research Sessions

Greetings from your USF librarians! We look forward to working with you this semester. Please remember to schedule your library research sessions, using the online form, http://www.lib.usf.edu/services/forms/instruction-sessionrequest/, or by contacting me directly (ltodorinova@usf.edu). These sessions can be held in one of the library's computer labs, or in your own classroom. The format for the class includes a 25-35 min demo of library resources, plus time for activities, work, and individual questions. Library instruction is most effective when it is scheduled closely around the ENC1101/2 assignments (not too early, or too late in the semester). We are always excited to collaborate with you and happy to accommodate the needs of your class. I hope to see many of you! Have a great semester.

Lily Todorinova, Academic Services Librarian Check out here campus guide prole by clicking here!

Curricular Initiatives in 2012

Collaborative Model
This model is based on the idea that more time should be spent by students working in groups, conferencing with the instructor, and conducting a fair amount of peer review. Committee Members: Dr. Donnelly, Jen Yirinec, Megan McIntyre and Dan Richards. Several instructors are already in the process of teaching this model to their ENC 1102 students. To check in on what we are doing, blogging about, and teaching, please see the CM Model page on the Instructor Site. http://fyc.usf.edu/instructors/Teaching%201102%20CM/ SitePages/Home.aspx

Digital Rhetoric:1102 Online

This pilot is going really well so far. More than just an online version of the face-to-face version of 1102, ENC 1102 Digital Rhetoric challenges students to critically engage in new media platforms that are currently changing the way we communicate. Podcasting, blogging, vlogging, social media...you name it, these folks are on top of it. If you are currently teaching 1101 students who are planning on taking 1102 next year sometime, be sure to direct them to the appropriate place on the site (here) to nd out if the online version of the course is for them. Our instructors believe in this product, so the more student interest the better.

1101 Initiatives: Sarah Beth Hopton

After a successful online conversion, training, and launch of ENC1102: Digital Rhetoric, the technology subcommittee began its work to digitize ENC1101. This development process, live by summer 2012, includes a complete course build out in Blackboard and instructor training specic to online pedagogy. Additional assets include a library of interactive modules, designed in Articulate Studio, that will utilize gaming theory, colorful graphics, and the iterative design process to produce instructional modules instructors can assign to supplement in-class learning. These modules will be available on the FYC website for use by face-to-face as well as distance teachers.

Rhetoric Matters 2e
Language and Argument in Context Bedford/St.Martins Whats different? I. More emphasis on fallacies vis-a-vis appeals II. More thorough discussion of Rogerian Argument III. Specic student perspectives on Rhetoric in Action ...And much more!
This text is shaped by and would not exist without the hard work Megan McIntyre and Curtis LeVan put into the rst edition of Rhetoric Matters. This text continued to develop because of the incredible foundation they built. [from Acknowledgments]

Editor: Cassie Childs

ph.d student in literature and FYC guru

FYC Tech Sessions: Office Hours

From My Reviewers, to blogging, to the FYC site, to podcasting, ENC courses ask much from students in terms of technology. But students do have help. A few instructors will be providing what we are calling Tech Office Hours, giving students the opportunity to receive one-on-one assistance with those working closely with these technologies. Here are the details: Location: 304B Dates and Times: Tuesday, January, 24th, from 12pm-2pm (D. Richards) Wednesday, January 25th, from 12pm-2pm (M. McIntyre) Thursday, January 26th, from 12pm-2pm (D. Donnelly) Monday, January 30th, 11am-1pm (J. Yirinec) Your students have been sent an email outlining the details but be sure to reinforce it during class if you can, encouraging those who you know for sure would benefit from such assistance.