The Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) Program at Appalachian State University has received national recognition, earning a 2024 Exemplary Enduring WAC Program Award from the Association for Writing Across the Curriculum and WAC Clearinghouse.
The annual Exemplary WAC Program Awards recognize the extraordinary achievements of WAC directors and their teams in establishing, maintaining and sustaining programs that foster and facilitate exemplary engagement with writing across the curriculum at their institutions, as well as institutional commitments to support these achievements. WAC Programs that are recognized as "Exemplary Enduring" have been in operation for at least 11 years.
Housed in University College, App State's Writing Across the Curriculum program works closely with the General Education Program, the Composition and Rhetoric Program, the University Writing Center and the First Year Seminar Program to offer consultations in course and assignment design and response and evaluation to writing in all classrooms. WAC also offers writing workshops and consultations to all departments, programs and units across the university, as well as to other schools and North Carolina Community Colleges.
The awards committee noted that App State's Writing Across the Curriculum program "stands as the epitome of an enduring WAC program," adding, "We appreciate the forward-thinking, data-driven approach the program offers to not only its students but also its faculty."
Additionally, the committee commended the breadth of App State's program, highlighting in particular:
- the program's undergraduate Vertical Writing Curriculum, which ensures each student graduates with well-developed critical thinking skills and competitive writing skills;
- the program's free, annual Writing Across Institutions conference, which provides NC Community College faculty with access to best practices in the teaching of writing, as well as opportunities to connect with scholars from the field; and
- the program's attention to the needs of a diverse and rapidly changing student body, including transfer and first-generation students.
Faculty from disciplines across the university have expressed their gratitude for the App State WAC program and its team, with one faculty member describing their WAC experience as "the single most useful professional development workshop I've ever been part of."
According to the awards committee, App State's WAC program serves as a helpful model for other programs and WAC professionals engaging in similar types of work, with an impact that reaches far beyond the university.
Dr. Chris Anson, past director and current strategic advisor of the Campus Writing and Speaking Program at North Carolina State University, shared, "We've learned so much from App State's excellent WAC programming," adding that the work of founding App State WAS director Georgia Rhoades has been "influential across our many North Carolina campuses and beyond."
Terry Zawacki, emeritus faculty member at George Mason University and former director of the school's Writing Across the Curriculum program and University Writing Center, said, "The App State WAC program, which has been an exemplar for a very long time, has, for some reason, flown under the radar. I'm very glad to see it recognized with this long overdue award."
App State's Writing Across the Curriculum program was one of two programs recognized with this year's Exemplary Enduring WAC Program Award, with North Carolina State University's Campus Writing and Speaking Program also receiving the award.
This year's award-winning programs will be recognized at the 2025 International Writing Across the Curriculum Conference, to be held at Colorado State University. Winners also receive institutional membership to the Association for Writing Across the Curriculum (AWAC) and are invited to host an AWAC workshop during the upcoming academic year.
Visit the WAC Clearinghouse website to learn more about the Exemplary WAC Program Awards and to read profiles of the winning programs.
Photo caption: App State's Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) program has been honored with a 2024 Exemplary Enduring WAC Program Award from the Association for Writing Across the Curriculum and WAC Clearinghouse. Pictured, from left to right, are App State Writing Across the Curriculum Consultants Miles Britton, senior lecturer in the Department of English; Kelly Terzaken, lecturer in the Department of English; Julie Karaus, assistant director of App State's University Writing Center; Dr. Sarah Zurhellen, WAC program assistant director; and Dr. Beth Carroll, director of App State's WAC program and University Writing Center and professor in University College. Pictured at far right is Maddie Gorniak, research assistant for App State's WAC program and graduate student in the marriage and family therapy program. Photo by Chase Reynolds
Pictured, from left to right, are App State Writing Across the Curriculum Consultants Miles Britton, senior lecturer in the Department of English; Kelly Terzaken, lecturer in the Department of English; Julie Karaus, assistant director of App State’s University Writing Center; Dr. Sarah Zurhellen, WAC program assistant director; Dr. Beth Carroll, director of App State’s WAC program and University Writing Center and professor in University College and Maddie Gorniak, research assistant
