1 or 2 semesters of FYE?

["Cozzens, Christine" <ccozzens@agnesscott.edu>]

Dear Friends,

We are undergoing a review of distribution requirements and all that that
entails, and you guessed it, our two-semester first year comp course is
under fire.  

There are plenty of defenders (including the president); in fact there are
only a few who want to reduce it to one semester--but they are noisy. It's
not the course itself they are attacking (the course is generally praised by
students and faculty), but they want to add a semester of science, a
semester of social science, a semester of fine arts, a first-year seminar,
and generally gain more territory for their disciplines.  

I should add that our course, though literature based, is primarily a
writing course.  We teach a variety of forms of writing, pay attention to
aspects of process that will help students in any course, emphasize research
skills and oral communication, and keep tabs on the needs and concerns of
faculty in all disciplines as we tune our course anew each year to what
students and faculty need.  

The argument that bothers me is "So many other schools have reduced it to
one semester--so that must mean it's right to do so" or reasoning to that
effect. I contend that we have avoided a dangerous trend by keeping two
semesters, and that with literacy foundations not exactly improving in
secondary school and further back, it has never been more important to keep
formal writing instruction at the college level intact.  I should add that
although we have WAC through tutors attached to courses a la the Brown model
and a faculty that does pay attention to writing compared to some schools,
we are too small to expect departments to make a major commitment to
discipline-based writing courses.  In other words, except for the work of
our very active writing center, FYE is the only formal writing instruciton
our students get.  

So in other words, my question is, have other schools abandoned the second
semester of FYE because it was pedagogically justifiable to do so? Have we
somehow missed the boat by maintaining a two semester program?  I'd
appreciate some words of wisdom, and I won't disguise the fact that I hope
some of you also will defend two semester of composition.

Thanks in advance!

Christine Cozzens
Center for Writing and Speaking
Agnes Scott College