The Writing-Enriched Curriculum

The Writing-Enriched Curriculum at Moravian University (WEC) is an initiative connecting Writing Studies theory and discipline-relevant writing practice with the goals of improving student learning and graduating effective writers across the university. Roughly modeled on similar initiatives at North Carolina State University and the University of Minnesota, this initiative is optimized for the Moravian context.

The WEC model, designed for long term sustainability, uses an intentionally slow and methodical process which typically asks an academic department or program (hereafter, “unit”), led by an appointed faculty liaison from that unit, to work with a member of the Writing at Moravian team to:  

  1. study and map their curriculum as it relates to writing via student, faculty, and, if relevant, professional affiliate surveys as well as document analysis (e.g., assignment prompts, grading rubrics, student writing samples, etc.);
  2. reflect upon their curriculum and teaching as it relates to writing, responding to data from curricular study in structured meetings led by a WAC consultant; 
  3. develop an evidence-informed and faculty-responsive writing plan as defined above—usually written by the department liaison—making a concerted effort to connect the writing plan to equity and accessibility-focused campus goals and initiatives, general education, and other relevant institutional outcomes and priorities;
  4. implement the writing plan, which oftentimes calls for revision of the unit’s curriculum, including course-level writing instruction approaches, assignments, and assessments; 
  5. develop an assessment rubric and/or other relevant assessment instruments using faculty-generated criteria that can be used to measure discipline-relevant writing outcomes and other WEC and broader student learning goals (e.g., criteria to be used to review writing prompts); 
  6. iteratively assess student writing artifacts using the locally designed assessment instruments(s); and 
  7. iteratively make revisions to the writing plan and curriculum based on the results of those assessments.

For more information, see the Moravian University Writing-Enriched Curriculum Approval Process Document, which has a brief overview of the program. 

WEC Departments

The following departments participated in WEC between 2016 and 2020: 

Is your department or program interested in participating in the WEC initiative? Contact us at writing@moravian.edu.