2008 Woodie Awards
Letters to the Editor
Issue date: 10/4/06Section: Editorials and Opinion
Re: "Some Classes Not Core to Students' Learning Desires:
Staff writer Marlena Holenski: That noise you heard last week? It was members of my English Department, high-fiving one another and cheering after reading your article. We couldn't agree more with your claim that "writing well is the most valuable skill that anyone can have" regardless of one's major. (Nor will you get any argument here that there could be more required English courses.) On behalf of my colleagues, I'd like to make you our honorary English Department Public Relations Spokesperson. Or at least treat you to lunch.
Here's the good news though: the state of student writing at St. John's has never been better. Thanks to Father Harrington's goal that all St. John's students have a reputation for successful writing, and generous (very generous!) donor support, we now have the Institute for Writing Studies located on the fist floor of the Queens library, with a second site in Mahoney Hall on the Staten Island campus. The IWS is actually a combination of several programs.
First, the Writing Center formerly located in St. John Hall has moved into the new Institute. We now have more than 40 undergraduate and graduate consultants (a.k.a. tutors) eager to discuss writing in one-on-one sessions with any member of the St. John's community. In the past four weeks we have already held more than 580 sessions!
Second, there is now a brand new Writing Center on the Staten Island campus directed by Dr. Harry Denny, a nationally recognized expert in Writing Center pedagogy. This Writing Center also features undergraduate and graduate consultants trained to work with all members of the St. John's community on virtually any writing task.
We now have a First Year Writing program. Fifteen full-time writing faculty were hired to teach the core ENG 1000C course. These faculty--all of them published writers with expertise in teaching composition--have offices adjacent to the Writing Centers, allowing for greater dialogue among students and faculty.
Staff writer Marlena Holenski: That noise you heard last week? It was members of my English Department, high-fiving one another and cheering after reading your article. We couldn't agree more with your claim that "writing well is the most valuable skill that anyone can have" regardless of one's major. (Nor will you get any argument here that there could be more required English courses.) On behalf of my colleagues, I'd like to make you our honorary English Department Public Relations Spokesperson. Or at least treat you to lunch.
Here's the good news though: the state of student writing at St. John's has never been better. Thanks to Father Harrington's goal that all St. John's students have a reputation for successful writing, and generous (very generous!) donor support, we now have the Institute for Writing Studies located on the fist floor of the Queens library, with a second site in Mahoney Hall on the Staten Island campus. The IWS is actually a combination of several programs.
First, the Writing Center formerly located in St. John Hall has moved into the new Institute. We now have more than 40 undergraduate and graduate consultants (a.k.a. tutors) eager to discuss writing in one-on-one sessions with any member of the St. John's community. In the past four weeks we have already held more than 580 sessions!
Second, there is now a brand new Writing Center on the Staten Island campus directed by Dr. Harry Denny, a nationally recognized expert in Writing Center pedagogy. This Writing Center also features undergraduate and graduate consultants trained to work with all members of the St. John's community on virtually any writing task.
We now have a First Year Writing program. Fifteen full-time writing faculty were hired to teach the core ENG 1000C course. These faculty--all of them published writers with expertise in teaching composition--have offices adjacent to the Writing Centers, allowing for greater dialogue among students and faculty.
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