Teaching a Writing Intensive (WI) course at Hostos Community College requires designing and implementing a syllabus that conforms to the College’s WI Guidelines. At Hostos, WIs are certified by section and professor, and not by course. This ensures that you are teaching the WI you created and that students are benefiting from a well-designed WI syllabus.
To prepare a WI syllabus, professors work closely with a CUNY Writing Fellow and attend WAC workshops to ensure that the syllabus meets the WI Criteria and that faculty are familiar and comfortable with WAC principles and practices.
Adjunct faculty wishing to teach an existing WI course may complete our Blackboard Online Certification Course with the guidance of a Fellow in order to become certified. Adjunct faculty wishing to design a new WI course must work with a full-time faculty member and a Fellow to go through the standard certification process.
Full-time faculty wishing to teach an existing WI course may also become certified to do so by completing the Blackboard Online Certification Course in conjunction with a Fellow.
In addition to the breakdown of assignments normally included in a syllabus, the final WI syllabus includes all the prompts for formal assignments, a sampling of prompts for the informal assignments, and a completed WI Checklist. The syllabus also includes a statement explaining that the section is WI and what students can expect.
Once their syllabi and checklists are complete, professors present the syllabus to the WI Task Force. This Task Force is an ad hoc committee comprised of faculty who have developed WIs in the past. The committee reviews and vets the syllabus to see that it adheres to the WI Guidelines, makes suggestions for revisions if needed, and decides whether the course may become officially designated and run as a WI.
Please feel free to contact WAC Co-Coordinators Prof. Linda Hirsch (lhirsch@hostos.cuny.edu X6760) or Prof. Sean Gerrity (sgerrity@hostos.cuny.edu X2509) if you have any questions.