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Audrey Minch
John Chrisman
ENC 1102
1 May 2015
Unit 4 Paper
Introduction
Being enrolled at a university means being a part of a huge community filled with
opportunity, diversity, and atmosphere. Ive been able to experience all of these at the University
of Central Florida where I am currently an enrolled student. It didnt take long for me to realize
that UCF was where I wanted to spend my college career. It had everything I wanted a
beautiful campus, a wide variety of activities, and is known for student success. All universities
around the world have the main goal of their students being successful while enrolled and upon
graduation. Different universities have their different ways of accomplishing this goal. But what
really works? There has been research done by many trying to decipher what really leads to
student success. There are so many different factors of what leads to success and these various
researches all have their own opinion. Some say it sits on just the students shoulders, others say
the universities, and some the parents. But there hasnt been much research done on the
possibility that one specific part of a university may play a major role in student success and
could result in an affect over the entire university. Although I personally believe that success
comes from more than one thing, I wonder what it is about UCF that sets them apart. To do so, I
will analyze the University of Central Florida as a discourse community. To focus my research, I
will focus on one of the many genres at UCF, Webcourses, and its values to see if this one
specific program affects UCF as a whole.

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Webcourses is an online program used by students and teachers to track their classes. Its
highly appreciated at UCF and plays a huge role in student life. Students and teachers use the
online program every day all for diverse reasons. It allows a great base of communication for
teacher to student, student to teacher, or student to student and keeps both student and teachers
organized and on task. To see how Webcourses and its values lead to student success and how it
sets the University of Central Florida apart from other universities in terms of having a tool to
aid students in their college endeavors to ensure their success, my research question is as
follows:
1. How do the values in the genre Webcourses effect the rest of the community of the
University of Central Florida in terms of student success?
The University of Central Florida as a Discourse Community
A discourse community is defined by six criteria according to John Swales, a professor of
linguistics at the University of Michigan, in his article The Concept of Discourse Community.
His six criteria are 1) a discourse community has a broadly agreed set of common public goals
(220), 2) a discourse community has mechanisms of intercommunication among its members
(221), 3) a discourse community uses its participatory mechanisms primarily to provide
information and feedback (221), 4) a discourse community utilizes and hence possesses one or
more genres in the communicative furtherance of its aims (221), 5) in addition to owning
genres, a discourse community has acquired some specific lexis (222), and 6) a discourse
community has a threshold level of members with a suitable degree of relevant content and
discoursal expertise (222).

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The University of Central Florida fits all six of Swales criteria. An agreed set of common
goals include graduating and student success. A mechanism of intercommunication among the
members is Knightsmail, our emailing system. Participatory mechanisms to provide information
and feedback are the classes available at UCF. Genres we have include not just Webcourses but
financial aid, academic advising, textbooks and more. The university definitely has a specific
lexis fitting to Swales definition as puzzling to outsiders (222). There are chants, cheers, and
puns of all kinds that outsiders typically would not understand. And of course UCF has a
threshold of members ranging from students to teachers to staff to alumni.
Discussion on Electronic Portfolios and the Importance of Values
There has been a great ordeal of research done on success in college and different factors
of what may lead to it. The Huffpost Miami published an article in 2013 ranking the eleven
major universities in Florida based on graduates success one year after graduation. The
University of Central Florida received number one, tied with the University of South Florida,
based on their high percentage of graduates employed or furthering their education, the average
salary of undergraduates employed full-time in Florida, and the cost per graduate to the
university. According to Huffpost, success is determined by these three criteria which are based
on value and cost.
Debra Humphreys, who received her PhD from Rutgers University and is the Vice
President for Policy and Public Engagement at the Association of American Colleges and
Universities, says that a college degree is essential for success in todays competitive global
economy (6) in her journal Success after College: What Students, Parents, and Educators Need
to Know and Do. But she claims that since no student is the same and no university is the same,
the student, the university, and the parents of the student need to know what to do to ensure

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successful students. Focusing on the role of the university, Humphreys says students and their
parents must ensure that their investment in college education will have real value over the
course of a lifetime (10). The students and parents need to know that the university they choose
has strong values that in turn will benefit them in the future. Explaining how universities should
maintain their values, Humphreys says that its not just enough for a university to provide
curricular maps, but they must be useful to every single student and need to result in greater
communication between faculty and student. She articulates that the most promising vehicle for
accomplishing these two steps is the electronic portfolio where all students are able to present
his or her work and to reflect over time on his or her educational accomplishments (11).
In Tanjula Pettys journal Motivating First-Generation Students to Academic Success
and College Completion, she focuses on different values, how they affect a students success,
and what keeps students, especially first-generation, to stay in school. Petty, Founder and Chief
Executive Officer of Petty & Associates Consulting Firm, says that universities need to
recognize the origin of challenges students face and develop successful mechanisms for
motivating those students (135). By the end of her journal, she says the values that institutions
need to have are motivation, understanding, and helping students face their challenges and
weaknesses.
Evidently, there has been much research done on what leads to success for students. This
research provides a good look at what seems to work in a university and what should be valued.
It is clear to see that electronic sources do help students with their success and that universities
need values but there isnt much research done on values within those electronic programs. If
there was more research put into how the two work together, it could aid universities all across

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the globe on how to further their students success just by creating an online portfolio with strong
values.
I also conducted primary research by interviewing three current students at UCF and
asked them about what success is to them, about UCF, and about Webcourses. Melinda Lopez, a
business marketing major, says that to be a successful student, You want to make time for
school and studying, but also be involved and her definition of success is doing your absolute
best at everything you do. When asked about Webcourses, Melinda says, Webcourses is
helpful, there is nothing wrong with the program. I think what is most annoying is some teachers
dont use it. I would love for it to be mandatory for all teachers.
Mitchell Jones, a business management major, says that student success is To complete
whatever it was that led you to attend college. Whatever drives you, when that is completed, I
believe that is success. His definition of success is Being in a place where you are satisfied
with how you have lived your life and what you have done with your life. When asked about the
opportunities for success provided at the University of Central Florida, Mitchell agreed that there
were many.
Amanda Boyd, a nursing major, says that what leads to student success is dedication to
studies and the help and support of others and her definition of success is achieving ones
personal life goals. When asked about the opportunities at UCF, she responded with UCF
offers me everything I need to be successful and it is my duty to utilize all of them. In terms of
Webcourses she thinks it is a vital tool for students to succeed. Amanda says that Webcourses
keeps her organized by sending me notifications to my Knightsmail, sending me upcoming
assignments, helping my teachers stay in touch, and providing grade estimations.

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Webcourses Analysis
The definition of genre has changed again and again over time. And according to Carolyn
Miller, a leading technical communication professor, genres effect our everyday lives (Dirk 254).
We find ourselves in more than one genre, sometimes without even knowing. We are also in
different discourse communities which increases the sum number of genres we are a part of.
Amy Devitt, a specialist in the study of genre theory, says, genres have the power to help or hurt
human interaction, to ease communication or to deceive, to enable someone to speak or to
discourage someone from saying something different, (Dirk 252). In other words, a genre is a
tool that is used to accomplish a specific goal or certain task.
Webcourses is an online system where teachers and students can stay up to date with their
classes. Teachers can create assignments, update grades, and notify their students while students
can turn in assignments, check their grades, communicate with their professors if need be, and
keep track of important dates. When you log in to the website, at the top there are links to
courses, grades and calendar. Courses is a link to all classes the student or educator has, grades
shows an overall score for all classes enrolled in, and the calendar has all upcoming dates filled
in. There is a chat and discussion board where teachers and students can communicate with one
another. There is also an option to attach links where files can be uploaded by teachers for
students to see. This can be used to upload notes, study guides, extra credit, or anything of the
sort. The overall goal and task of Webcourses is to aid students in furthering their success. The
following illustration show how Webcourses is organized.

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When first logging into Webcourses using an ID number and password, the user is
brought to their homepage where any recent changes are shown in the middle and on the right
side of the page, to-dos and upcoming assignments are also to the right, and other navigation is at
the top. By clicking on the calendar, the user can see all their upcoming work at once for every
class and personal dates they can put in themselves. By clicking on their grades, students can see
how they are doing in all their current enrolled classes. And by using the courses drop down
menu, the user can pick one specific class to check on. Once the user has selected a class, they
have many options to choose from on the left of their page. They can stay up to date with any
announcements or assignments, check on any discussions or chats whether between students or
professors, link to any specific files they may need, or get a more detailed look at their grades.
Whatever the user needs, its all there with just a click.
When asked about the University of Central Florida and Webcourses, Melinda Lopez,
Amanda Boyd, and Mitchell Jones all spoke positively. Melinda Lopez, who believes that
student success comes from working hard and being well rounded, finds Webcourses incredibly
helpful. She says, Webcourses definitely helps with my success because it keeps me on track

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with my grades. Mitchell Jones, who chose UCF because of the multitude of opportunities and
it was the better option for him, says Webcourses does help him with his success as a student
because it allows me to check my grades and such on a daily basis and allows me to check up
on myself. Amanda Boyd says it helps her because, it helps me check my grades, stay on track,
and contacts other students and staff with ease.
The lens I will use to analyze my genre is values. In Webcourses, the values include
organization, responsibility, motivation, good grades, remaining on task, and overall student
success. This genre was created to be the best way possible for students to achieve their goals.
Webcourses is organized simply where everything a student needs can be found quickly and
easily. These values that Webcourses treasures go hand in hand with being organized and helping
students achieve their goals. Organization is a value itself and Webcourses is used to keep
students organized which is why its set up the way it is. Responsibility, motivation, and good
grades all take part in helping students reach their goals in Webcourses by reminding students
what assignments are due soon, when they have completed an assignment, and having easy
access to grades. Petty stands correct when she said motivation is important as does Humphreys
she said that an electronic portfolio is incredibly effective in student success.
Conclusion
One can tell after analyzing the University of Central Florida as a discourse community,
looking at it using activity theory, and analyzing Webcourses while looking at it through a lens
that values are incredibly important to the university community. These values say that UCF as a
whole takes student advancement seriously. It is clear that the values in Webcourses affect every
student causing those values to spread across the entire community and affect the University of
Central Florida as a whole in terms of student success. The research done by those who study

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discourse communities, activity systems, genres, and lenses have assisted the understanding on
how they all work together. The research on student success, universities, and how values play a
role in all institutions has helped students, parents, and those institutions as discourse
communities know what to do for their students to become successful while enrolled and after
graduation. Electronic sources used to keep students on track have proven to be what institution
should use to best benefit their students. All in all, Webcourses values definitely affects all
students, all faculty, the student success rate, and the University of Central Florida as a whole.

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Works Cited
Boyd, Amanda. Personal interview. 28 Apr. 2015.
Dirk, Kerry. Navigating Genres. Writing Spaces: Readings on Writing. Vol. 1. Eds. Charles
Lowe and Pavel Zemliansky. West Lafayette: Parlor Press, 2010. 249-262. Print.
Here Are The Florida Universities Ranked By Most Successful Graduates. Huffpost Miami.
TheHuffingtonPost.com, 10 Oct. 2013. Web. 11 Mar. 2015.
Humphreys, Debra. Success after College: What Students, Parents, and Educators Need to
Know and Do. Liberal Education 99.2 (2013): 6-13. Web. 17 Mar. 2015
Instructure. Webcourses. UCF. Web. 18 Mar. 2015.
Johns, Ann M. Discourse Communities and Communities of Practice: Membership, Conflict,
and Diversity. Writing about Writing: A College Reader. Eds. Elizabeth Wardle and
Doug Downs. Boston/St Martins, 2011. 498-518. Print.
Jones, Mitchell. Personal interview. 18 Mar. 2015.
Kain, Donna and Elizabeth Wardle. Activity Theory: An Introduction for the Writing
Classroom. Writing about Writing: A College Reader. 2nd ed. Eds. Elizabeth Wardle and
Doug Downs. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2014. 273-283. Print.
Lopez, Melinda. Personal Interview. 18 Mar. 2015.
Petty, Tanjula. Motivating First-Generation Students to Academic Success and College
Completion. College Student Journal 48.1 (2014): 133-140. Web. 18 Mar. 2015.
Swales, John. The Concept of Discourse Community. Writing about Writing: A College

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Reader. 2nd ed. Eds. Elizabeth Wardle and Doug Downs. Boston: Bedford/St Martins,
2014. 215-229. Print.