ASU Writing Programs employs over 200 teachers annually. Professors, Lecturers, Instructors, Teaching Assistants, and Faculty Associates share the responsibility of teaching composition and rhetoric courses to more than 10,000 students each academic year. Writing Programs is proud to claim many teachers with more than a decade of continuous service.
Information on Individual Courses Writing Programs Committee Representatives
Primary Writing Programs Policies
Current Writing Programs policies can be found at the WP Canvas Course
Guidelines for Use of Office Space and Storage in Ross-Blakley Hall First-Floor Neighborhood
Resources for Faculty
Textbook Policy (Brief edition)
Click here for the full policy and rationale
It is Writing Programs policy that all classes use a textbook or equivalent materials. All teachers who are in their first year at ASU or are teaching a specific course for the first time must use a textbook from the “Writing Programs Textbook List,” or the materials mandated by the practicum for that course. Teachers who have taught in ASU Writing Programs for at least one year and who have taught the course in question at least once before at ASU may select their own materials, either an alternative textbook or a custom selection of other material. See the full policy above or the flowchart below for more information on using custom course materials.
Please note that Writing Programs requires the use of non-fiction readings only. Even though some of the textbooks on this “approved” list include works of imaginative literature, do not use or assign those texts in a Writing Programs class.
Please also note that books approved to be used in one course should not be used in another—for example, a book used in ENG 216 should not be used in ENG 102 and vice versa.
Download of Writing Programs Textbook Order Form (Use this form if you are using a textbook from the Writing Programs Textbook List: book-order-form-2025-2026.docx
Download of Traditional Bookstore Order Form (Use this form if you are using a textbook outside of the Writing Programs Textbook List.): textbook_order_form_bookstore.doc
Download of Custom Course Materials Form (See Textbook Policy.): custom_course_materials_submission_form.docx
Training
Please contact Andrea Dickens ([email protected]) for information on how to qualify for an online teaching assignment in the Writing Programs.
Policies related to all Writing Program Faculty:
1. All WP faculty must complete a series of departmental workshops on teaching online courses at ASU prior to being assigned to an online or hybrid class. The workshops are scheduled throughout the year previous to the fall in which the teacher wants to begin online or hybrid teaching. All WP faculty are eligible for these workshops, whether or not they anticipate assignment to online or hybrid classes.
2. WP faculty teaching online and hybrid classes are responsible for ensuring they have access to computing support and Internet connection sufficient for timely review of students’ coursework and correspondence with students.
3. All ASU Writing Programs faculty will be observed in their first semester of teaching an online or hybrid class.
4. WP faculty who have an all-online teaching assignment are expected to attend official events scheduled for all Writing Programs faculty, such as the Fall Convocation, and must meet in-person with the Writing Programs Director or the Online Coordinator at least once in each semester of all-online teaching.
5. Writing Programs will attempt to accommodate all qualified faculty who wish to teach online by assigning them to at least one online class.
Policies related to TA Assignments:
1. TAs are expected to be resident while receiving assistantship support for their graduate studies and will not receive all-online assignments.
2. “The Department understands that some doctoral students need to leave Arizona for personal reasons while they continue to work on finishing their degrees. However, TAs who have moved or are contemplating moving must understand that the Department cannot guarantee online teaching for all out-of-state TAs; in fact, students cannot expect to have more than one online class assigned in any given semester. Furthermore, TAs with online courses should be available for face-to-face meetings with students and should be available to switch to onsite teaching if low enrollments necessitate cancellation of online courses. If online teaching is not available to you and you cannot commit to teaching in person, you will need to decide if you will relinquish your teaching assistantship. If you have any questions about your teaching assistantship, please contact Sheila Luna.”
Policies related to Instructor Assignments:
1. Instructors may receive all-online assignments to classes on a semester-by-semester basis only. Typically, an instructor cannot expect an all-online schedule for two consecutive semesters.
2. Instructors teaching an all-online schedule are expected to complete Writing Programs and/or departmental service assignments.
3. Instructors should be available for onsite teaching if low enrollments necessitate cancellation of online courses. If classes are cancelled, WP will make every effort to reassign teachers to other courses/sections. However, we cannot guarantee reassignment to online sections. Therefore, teachers should always be available for onsite teaching.
Policies related to Faculty Associate Assignments
1. Faculty Associates may receive all-online assignments to classes. These assignments are based on departmental need and section availability.
10/28/2009 Policy developed by Shirley Rose, Director of ASU Writing Programs; Jacqueline Wheeler, Associate Director of ASU Writing Programs; Teryl Sands, Online Coordinator for ASU Writing Programs, and Demetria Baker, Program Manager for ASU Writing Programs