Re: Student involvement

[Josie B Davis <josieb@boisdarc.tamu-commerce.edu>]

> Dear James,
>      Here at Texas A&M (ETSU), we have a publication called _Write On_
> which is composed of the essays written by our own BWs' and the students
> in our first year composition courses. It is centered in the
> Communications Skills Center (our Writing Center) where the tutor's and 
> the WC director judge the entries and choose the winning essays which
> we then publish. We, the graduate and undergraduate students, are very
> fortunate to have the type of support and communication that is found in 
> the Literature and Language Dept. here at TAMU-Commerce. The
> faculty and staff--including the GAs/TAs who teach several composition
> courses, communicate quite well and eah one of us encourage our
> students to submit their works to "their" publication. We also use the
> publication--the published texts of student writers--in our BW and first
> year comp. courses. This not only encourages new student writers but also
> gives students who come into the world of academia and belong to the
> group defined as the "culture of silence" (by Paulo Freire) some
> selfesteem. I'm not sure if this idea and use of a student publication
> will help you or not, but maybe it will give you something to think
> about--strong communication and committment within the dept. and among the
> TAs and GAs is the key to this type of project working. Sorry if there are
> any mistakes. I go to school here in Commerce, and I am in a hurry to
> leave for home (Magnolia, AR).
>