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Department of English
Writing Programs Faculty Resources
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
(For Textbook Policy details, see the tab above.)
Writing Programs Teachers' Guide
Standard Writing Programs Policies
New Office Hours Policy & Rationale (Fall 2017) | Substitute Assistance Program Guidelines
Substitute Request Form |
Policy / Procedure Flowcharts
Absence Flowchart
| Academic Dishonesty Flowchart | Grievance Procedure Flowchart |
Resources for Faculty
Student Athlete's Academic Coaches Contact Info.
ENG 105 and 200 Series Information Document
Update on ENG 302 Curriculum - Spring 2017 | WPs DIGICATION Course Resources Writing Programs Administrative Contacts Stretch Program Information Sheet |
Other Partnership Resources
Teachers' Online Writing Network (TOWN) Center
Spring 2016 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.
Click here for the Writing Programs Textbook list 2019-20
Click here for the updated Textbook Order Form
Click here for the Custom Course Materials Form
Making Decisions about Course Materials Flowchart - use this flowchart to help determine what your course materials options are.
Policies Regarding Assignment to Teach Online and Hybrid ASU Writing Programs Classes
Policies related to attending departmental workshops for Fall 2015:
- If you would like to become certified to teach a hybrid or online courses, Ellen Johnson and Bruce Matsunaga are offering workshops over the 2015-2016 school year to prepare you for instruction in these environments.
- To qualify for Fall 2016 hybrid/online instruction, you must attend a minimum of 8 workshops over this year's Fall and/or Spring semesters offered by Bruce and Ellen.
- At least two of the workshops attended must be those led by Ellen.
- A minimum of 4 workshops must be completed before February 1.
- This is to ensure commitment to teaching hybrid/online and to avoid scheduling problems after the Fall 2016 teaching assignments have been scheduled.
- Please contact Ellen or Bruce if you have any questions about their respective workshops.
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 Ron Broglio or 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
Welcome to ASU’s Writing Programs, New TAs!
A Summer orientation has been designed to help you develop a flexible and lively framework for making decisions about the First Year Composition (FYC) classes (ENG 101 and 102) that you’ll be teaching this year. Orientation highlights these courses’ features and their place within the curricula of Arizona State University’s Writing Programs (ASU’s WPs).
The following resource consolidates some information past cohorts of New TAs have found useful prior to the first day of orientation including information about the required textbook for your first semester, using Blackboard / Digication, and the nested concepts of TA orientation as well as how they are situated within ASU Writing Programs. (new_ta_welcome_document_spring16.docx)
Summer Orientation for New Teaching Assistants/Associates (TAs)
You are required to attend a Summer Orientation Session in which you will prepare to teach ENG 101: First-Year Composition during the fall semester. Attendance throughout the Orientation Session is a mandatory part of your TA contract. If you are unable to attend any Summer In-Person Orientation Session days, you should not accept this TA position.
The main goal for the Orientation is for you to work closely with the department’s TA Educators and your fellow TAs to construct and plan your own daily syllabus for ENG 101. During Orientation, you will be provided with textbooks, a sequence of writing assignments that you will follow in ENG 101, and sample daily syllabi on which you can base your own syllabus. You will have a large responsibility in adapting these samples to best fit your teaching style and strengths.
ENG 101 Assignment Sequence
The following resource gives an overview of the assignment sequence that New TAs in ASU’s Writing Programs can anticipate teaching in ENG 101—and, most importantly, the learning outcomes that this sequence of assignments is designed to help students meet. If you are reading this prior to New TA orientation and have questions, please don’t worry. We’ll have plenty of time during orientation to address your questions together as we move from this general assignment sequence to specific project descriptions. (eng101assignmentsequence_spring2016.docx)
ENG 594: TA Seminar (3 credit hours)
As a contractual part of your TA-ship, you are required to register for and attend ENG 594 during the Fall semester. You will receive 3 credits for this course, which helps you teach ENG 101 and prepares you to teach ENG 102 in the spring. This course meets two days a week (typically T/Th) and is a rigorous graduate-level seminar. As such, the course asks you to read assigned graduate-level articles on theories of teaching composition and participate actively in class discussions about ways to implement those theories in your classroom. While the main focus in the course is pedagogy and praxis, the philosophy underlying the course is that good teachers make theoretically informed decisions about their classroom teaching practices; therefore, a key to the course is critical engagement with scholarly texts.
In the past, students have been assigned weekly reading responses, group presentations, and research projects that asked them to explore an issue that arose from their teaching. Later in the fall semester, you will also be required to create a complete syllabus (including paper assignments and daily activities) for ENG 102, which you will teach in the spring.
Spring Practicum
During the Spring semester, you are required by your contract to attend a weekly, 1-hour meeting with your TA educators. In addition to providing you continuing support for your teaching, this practicum introduces you to a deeper level of understanding about theories and practices of teaching. While you will be assigned some practical work projects throughout the practicum, there is only minimal reading, since the practicum carries no course credit.
Courses You Will Be Assigned
All TA’s teaching for the first time in the Writing Programs at ASU are required to teach ENG 101: First Year Composition in the Fall semester and ENG 102: First Year Composition in the Spring semester—no exceptions.
ASU Writing Programs is highly invested in teaching excellence, and we thus provide this year-long TA education program that is rigorous and engaging. We ask that you consider all of these requirements when making your decision about accepting the teaching assistantship which you have been offered. If you have any questions about these requirements or need further clarification as you make your decision, please contact your designated new TA mentors.
More detailed information about these requirements and other expectations of TAs can be found in the following document. (ta_expectations_sping2016.docx)