The Washington State University writing programs were allocated $668,267 for the 2008-2009 year according to the Washington State University budget statement.
“The fact that we have such little money for the writing program and what we can do [with it] are really a pretty good deal for the university,” said Diane Kelly-Riley, director of the writing assessment program.
One benefit for the university has been the awards and accolades the program has received. The writing program was awarded the “Writing Program Certificate of Excellence” in 2009 by the Conference on College Composition and Communication, according to the WSU Writing Portfolio Eighth Findings report.
“We’re the only institution to have a university-wide writing program and university-wide writing portfolio,” Kelly-Riley said.
The WSU writing program began in 1993 for two main reasons.
“The state legislature mandated an assessment of general education programs back in the late 80’s,” Kelly-Riley said. “Major employers in the state of Washington also said that they weren’t satisfied with WSU graduates’ writing abilities, and that if we didn’t improve students’ writing abilities, they weren’t going to hire undergraduates anymore.”
“The tier-two process is a matter of catching students at a stage in progress before they enter their major’s writing courses and giving them the support they need, trying to make sure that they are at a place where they are ready to do that more sophisticated writing,” said Donna Evans, English teaching assistant.
Since then, “More than 55,500 students have completed the writing portfolio,” Evans said.
Kelly-Riley says the Writing Program serves four main purposes: Evaluating students’ writing before they get into their writing in the major courses, recognize students whose writing is exceptional, prepare students to be effective communicators, and collect data related to departments’ and university performance.
“In terms of the climate for higher education right now for accountability and accreditation, it’s really an essential program that helps WSU complete its mandate for those issues as well,” Kelly-Riley said. “It also provides good information for departments trying to improve program quality.”
The 2007-2009 Tier II average ratings show 9.5% needs work ratings, 7.1% outstanding ratings, and 83.3% acceptable ratings, according to the WSU Writing Portfolio Eighth Findings report.
“That 10 percent of students [who receive needs work ratings], and that’s about 500 students that you’re talking about, really do need some sort of structured support,” Kelly-Riley said.
“There’s also the idea that the junior portfolio process itself is a learning process,” Evans said. “It’s a matter of building from the time you enter the university up to that point when you enter into your major courses and you’re building your writing skills in order to accomplish something. I think it makes students more aware of the need to work on writing.”
The writing program is the only standardized test all students are required to take at WSU and the test itself is self-supported by student fees, Kelly-Riley said.
“As you can see, we’re kind of down to the bone in terms of what the budget is,” Kelly-Riley said. “I think it would be really detrimental to the program if we did have to take budget cuts.”
Contacts:
Diane Kelly-Riley
509-335-1323
Donna Evans
509-335-2581
Eighth findings
http://www.writingprogram.wsu.edu/units/writingassessment/reports/WP2007-09assessmentreport.pdf
Monday, December 14, 2009
Monday, December 7, 2009
Round table round up
Questions for Russian Round Table
1. How do you determine what is ethical to report in context of what the public needs to know and wants to know?
2. How, if at all, has religion influenced your reporting?
3. How do you tackle the idea of "battlefield scorekeeping" vs. the larger social context of the war?
4. What is your standard for privact for families of victims of war?
5. How have you adapter to or what is your opinion of new media and the struggles and advantages it brings?
1. How do you determine what is ethical to report in context of what the public needs to know and wants to know?
2. How, if at all, has religion influenced your reporting?
3. How do you tackle the idea of "battlefield scorekeeping" vs. the larger social context of the war?
4. What is your standard for privact for families of victims of war?
5. How have you adapter to or what is your opinion of new media and the struggles and advantages it brings?
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Document Story Proposal
For my document story, I'm writing about the WSU Writing Program and the WSU Writing Center and what it takes (financially, mainly) to make an award-winning writing program. I have two documents, the budget for the previous year for the Writing Program and the Writing Center, and the Eighth findings of the WSU Writing Portfolio.
Monday, November 30, 2009
Tweet Tweet
The online social network Twitter has become a hotbed for online journalism activity and a resource for newspapers nationwide.
In his blog, Alessio Signorini, a researcher at the University of Iowa, estimated that in October 2009, Twitter received about 26 million tweets per day, up from only 2.4 million tweets daily in January 2009.
Signoini went on to write that of those 26 million tweets, 22.3 percent - or nearly 5.8 million - tweets contained a link. Newspapers now have a unique opportunity to present readers with a direct link to stories and web content like never before.
Local newspapers using Twitter include The Daily Evergreen, The Spokesman Review, The Lewiston Tribune and the Moscow-Pullman News. All four papers report a high of 30 to 40 clicks per link they tweet.
“It appears that we have a 30 percent click through rating, with an average of 30 to 40 clicks per link,” said Jeff Purcell, new media manager for The Lewiston Tribune and the Moscow-Pullman Daily News.
According to Purcell, the Tribune first registered their name with the Web site six or eight months ago but didn’t really start utilizing the account until about two months ago.
Purcell said that the Moscow-Pullman Twitter account has more followers, which he attributes to a younger demographic due to the newspaper’s proximity to the two universities.
Washington State University’s The Daily Evergreen, created a Twitter account to create more of a Web presence, reach a greater audience and have a stronger breaking news cycle, according to Rikki King, editor of The Daily Evergreen.
King also said the newspaper gets news tips from students and community members who tweet about their thoughts, clubs, meetings, activities and campus life.
There are also characteristics Twitter provides that other networking sites and traditional advertising do not. King thinks that Twitter gives an opportunity to link to breaking news, is more direct and personal, and involves a more technological audience.
Aspects of Twitter that local newspapers report struggling with are determining what to tweet and how formal or informal the tone of the tweets should be.
“It’s been tricky finding out what to share on our Twitter account,” said Andrew Zahler, online producer for The Spokesman Review.
In regard to the Spokesman’s Twitter account, Zahler said he tries to find a balance between being too institutional and just sharing links, and being too informal and using acronyms.
With these barriers and in light of the dramatic changes in membership Twitter has experienced this year alone, newspapers are left with an uncertain, yet hopeful, tweeting future.
“I’d love to see our traffic from Twitter go up to boost our site numbers,” Zahler said. We’ve tried a few experiments with crowdsourcing on Twitter. I’d like to do a little more of that because it gets back to the interactive part of Twitter.”
Purcell also has high hopes for the future of the newspaper’s online entity and residents’ interaction.
“I really think the next step is community,” Purcell said. “How that will happen – social networking, user blogging, or a user-related news site – I have no idea. We’re working on that but there’s definitely some frustration there.”
Sources:
Jeff Purcell- 208-848-2257 (found via Twitter)
Rikki King- 509-335-1099
Andrew Zahler- 509-459-5314 (found via Twitter)
Alessio Signorini - http://deepintech.wordpress.com/
In his blog, Alessio Signorini, a researcher at the University of Iowa, estimated that in October 2009, Twitter received about 26 million tweets per day, up from only 2.4 million tweets daily in January 2009.
Signoini went on to write that of those 26 million tweets, 22.3 percent - or nearly 5.8 million - tweets contained a link. Newspapers now have a unique opportunity to present readers with a direct link to stories and web content like never before.
Local newspapers using Twitter include The Daily Evergreen, The Spokesman Review, The Lewiston Tribune and the Moscow-Pullman News. All four papers report a high of 30 to 40 clicks per link they tweet.
“It appears that we have a 30 percent click through rating, with an average of 30 to 40 clicks per link,” said Jeff Purcell, new media manager for The Lewiston Tribune and the Moscow-Pullman Daily News.
According to Purcell, the Tribune first registered their name with the Web site six or eight months ago but didn’t really start utilizing the account until about two months ago.
Purcell said that the Moscow-Pullman Twitter account has more followers, which he attributes to a younger demographic due to the newspaper’s proximity to the two universities.
Washington State University’s The Daily Evergreen, created a Twitter account to create more of a Web presence, reach a greater audience and have a stronger breaking news cycle, according to Rikki King, editor of The Daily Evergreen.
King also said the newspaper gets news tips from students and community members who tweet about their thoughts, clubs, meetings, activities and campus life.
There are also characteristics Twitter provides that other networking sites and traditional advertising do not. King thinks that Twitter gives an opportunity to link to breaking news, is more direct and personal, and involves a more technological audience.
Aspects of Twitter that local newspapers report struggling with are determining what to tweet and how formal or informal the tone of the tweets should be.
“It’s been tricky finding out what to share on our Twitter account,” said Andrew Zahler, online producer for The Spokesman Review.
In regard to the Spokesman’s Twitter account, Zahler said he tries to find a balance between being too institutional and just sharing links, and being too informal and using acronyms.
With these barriers and in light of the dramatic changes in membership Twitter has experienced this year alone, newspapers are left with an uncertain, yet hopeful, tweeting future.
“I’d love to see our traffic from Twitter go up to boost our site numbers,” Zahler said. We’ve tried a few experiments with crowdsourcing on Twitter. I’d like to do a little more of that because it gets back to the interactive part of Twitter.”
Purcell also has high hopes for the future of the newspaper’s online entity and residents’ interaction.
“I really think the next step is community,” Purcell said. “How that will happen – social networking, user blogging, or a user-related news site – I have no idea. We’re working on that but there’s definitely some frustration there.”
Sources:
Jeff Purcell- 208-848-2257 (found via Twitter)
Rikki King- 509-335-1099
Andrew Zahler- 509-459-5314 (found via Twitter)
Alessio Signorini - http://deepintech.wordpress.com/
twitter...
"Are Tweets Literature? Rick Moody Thinks They Can Be" by Alexandra Alter for the Wall Street Journal on 11.30.2009.
"For the next three days, author Rick Moody will be delivering a new short story in 153 Tweets, in hourly increments."
I think this is a pretty interesting use of Twitter both for new media and for literary culture. I do wonder though, whether people will commit to the entire thread of tweets to read the whole story.
http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2009/11/30/are-tweets-literature-rick-moody-thinks-they-can-be/
"Refining the Twitter Explosion" by Noam Cohen for the New York Times on 11.8.2009
Twitter gives a representation of the world, but with so much information available, it's hard to search for content and organize what is available. "Geolocation" will work with G.P.S. to determine the location of tweets and categorize accordingly.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/09/business/09link.html?_r=1&scp=4&sq=twitter&st=cse
"For the next three days, author Rick Moody will be delivering a new short story in 153 Tweets, in hourly increments."
I think this is a pretty interesting use of Twitter both for new media and for literary culture. I do wonder though, whether people will commit to the entire thread of tweets to read the whole story.
http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2009/11/30/are-tweets-literature-rick-moody-thinks-they-can-be/
"Refining the Twitter Explosion" by Noam Cohen for the New York Times on 11.8.2009
Twitter gives a representation of the world, but with so much information available, it's hard to search for content and organize what is available. "Geolocation" will work with G.P.S. to determine the location of tweets and categorize accordingly.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/09/business/09link.html?_r=1&scp=4&sq=twitter&st=cse
Monday, November 16, 2009
Pullman news
"Library starts charity food drive" by Kari Bray in the Daily Evergreen.
You can donate food rather than pay cash for library fines.
www.dailyevergreen.com/story/30052
"Author to talk about novel and promote 'Everybody Reads'" by Kristen Perrin in the Daily Evergreen
Neill Public Library to host author of "Snow Falling on Cedars" as part of the regional 2009 Everybody Reads Program.
www.dailyevergreen.com/story/30048
You can donate food rather than pay cash for library fines.
www.dailyevergreen.com/story/30052
"Author to talk about novel and promote 'Everybody Reads'" by Kristen Perrin in the Daily Evergreen
Neill Public Library to host author of "Snow Falling on Cedars" as part of the regional 2009 Everybody Reads Program.
www.dailyevergreen.com/story/30048
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Local trend is contrary to national headlines
**Newspapers across the Palouse appear to be weathering the economic storm better than national and metropolitan newspapers.**
“If you look at the numbers of readers we’re reaching now, [and] if you add in the paid online readership and the online readership that we have, we’re reaching more people than ever in our 97-year history,” said Nathan Alford, publisher of the Moscow-Pullman Daily News and the Lewiston Tribune. “We’re not hanging our heads.”
According to the Statement of Ownership, Management, and Circulation filed by TCP Holdings, owner of the Daily News and Tribune, on average, both newspapers have seen about a 3 percent decrease in total distribution.
Circulation rates have decreased less than 3 percent for The Eagle & Boomerang, based in Moscow, according to office manager and reporter Suesanne Smith.
“[Circulation] hasn’t dropped like everywhere else has,” Smith said. “There are a lot of places that are really losing [subscriptions] but weekly and locals aren’t losing the same.”
And so it seems that newspapers across the Palouse are weathering the economic storm better than national metro newspapers.
“I think that what happens is the people who watch the industry and the news headlines … translate those national headlines with a big, broad brush and assume that that same economic scenario is what’s affecting community market newspapers,” Alford said. “In reality, of the 1,400 newspapers in the country, only 180 to 200 of those are metro newspapers … and the rest are community market newspapers much like ourselves.”
In “U.S. Newspaper Circulation Falls 10%,” published Oct. 27, 2009 in The New York Times, author Richard Perez-Pena wrote, “In the six months ended Sept. 30, sales fell by 10.6 percent on weekdays and 7.5 percent on Sundays, from the period a year earlier, for several hundred papers reporting to the Audit Bureau of Circulations.”
Perez-Pena went on to detail some individual circulation rates nationwide: The Los Angeles Times dropped 11 percent in weekday sales, the USA Today had a 17 percent decrease and the The New York Post fell 19 percent.
According to Perez-Pena, this drop caused USA Today to slip from the “top spot in weekday circulation for the first time since the 1990s,” and The Wall Street Journal, whose circulation rose 0.6 percent, took over the leading position.
Though local newspapers aren’t experiencing double-digit decreases like several large newspapers nationwide, one area of concern among local newspapers is advertising.
“We have seen some loses [in advertising revenue] but they have been made up by other gains,” said Gordon Forgey, publisher of the Whitman County Gazette. “With some very successful special sections, it’s above what it has been in previous years.”
The Moscow-Pullman Daily News and the Lewiston Tribune have a slightly different story.
“Advertising revenue has been down much more than circulation,” said Michael McBride, circulation director for TCP Holdings. “Advertising is down probably 20 percent and that’s where the majority of the money’s at. Classified advertising is way down and that’s where they’re seeing the biggest hit.”
In addition to advertising adaptations, the administration is looking to make even more changes to stay on top of the changing economic climate.
TCP Holdings has invested in a new printing press, has taken on delivery for the Spokesman Review and combined their circulation departments when the Daily News switched to an A.M. delivery cycle.
The new press provided more vibrant, consistent color, and is more economically and environmentally effective because it uses less power, ink and paper. Alford is confident that the new press will be a key player in pulling the newspapers out of the economic downturn.
“I think we’ve made smart decisions for a community newspaper, which is really owned by its readers,” Alford said. “We’ve made very minimal cuts in full-time staff.”
Contacts:
Nathan Alford
208-848-2220
Michael McBride
208-848-2220
Gordon Forgey
509-397-4333
Suesanne Smith
208-882-0666
“If you look at the numbers of readers we’re reaching now, [and] if you add in the paid online readership and the online readership that we have, we’re reaching more people than ever in our 97-year history,” said Nathan Alford, publisher of the Moscow-Pullman Daily News and the Lewiston Tribune. “We’re not hanging our heads.”
According to the Statement of Ownership, Management, and Circulation filed by TCP Holdings, owner of the Daily News and Tribune, on average, both newspapers have seen about a 3 percent decrease in total distribution.
Circulation rates have decreased less than 3 percent for The Eagle & Boomerang, based in Moscow, according to office manager and reporter Suesanne Smith.
“[Circulation] hasn’t dropped like everywhere else has,” Smith said. “There are a lot of places that are really losing [subscriptions] but weekly and locals aren’t losing the same.”
And so it seems that newspapers across the Palouse are weathering the economic storm better than national metro newspapers.
“I think that what happens is the people who watch the industry and the news headlines … translate those national headlines with a big, broad brush and assume that that same economic scenario is what’s affecting community market newspapers,” Alford said. “In reality, of the 1,400 newspapers in the country, only 180 to 200 of those are metro newspapers … and the rest are community market newspapers much like ourselves.”
In “U.S. Newspaper Circulation Falls 10%,” published Oct. 27, 2009 in The New York Times, author Richard Perez-Pena wrote, “In the six months ended Sept. 30, sales fell by 10.6 percent on weekdays and 7.5 percent on Sundays, from the period a year earlier, for several hundred papers reporting to the Audit Bureau of Circulations.”
Perez-Pena went on to detail some individual circulation rates nationwide: The Los Angeles Times dropped 11 percent in weekday sales, the USA Today had a 17 percent decrease and the The New York Post fell 19 percent.
According to Perez-Pena, this drop caused USA Today to slip from the “top spot in weekday circulation for the first time since the 1990s,” and The Wall Street Journal, whose circulation rose 0.6 percent, took over the leading position.
Though local newspapers aren’t experiencing double-digit decreases like several large newspapers nationwide, one area of concern among local newspapers is advertising.
“We have seen some loses [in advertising revenue] but they have been made up by other gains,” said Gordon Forgey, publisher of the Whitman County Gazette. “With some very successful special sections, it’s above what it has been in previous years.”
The Moscow-Pullman Daily News and the Lewiston Tribune have a slightly different story.
“Advertising revenue has been down much more than circulation,” said Michael McBride, circulation director for TCP Holdings. “Advertising is down probably 20 percent and that’s where the majority of the money’s at. Classified advertising is way down and that’s where they’re seeing the biggest hit.”
In addition to advertising adaptations, the administration is looking to make even more changes to stay on top of the changing economic climate.
TCP Holdings has invested in a new printing press, has taken on delivery for the Spokesman Review and combined their circulation departments when the Daily News switched to an A.M. delivery cycle.
The new press provided more vibrant, consistent color, and is more economically and environmentally effective because it uses less power, ink and paper. Alford is confident that the new press will be a key player in pulling the newspapers out of the economic downturn.
“I think we’ve made smart decisions for a community newspaper, which is really owned by its readers,” Alford said. “We’ve made very minimal cuts in full-time staff.”
Contacts:
Nathan Alford
208-848-2220
Michael McBride
208-848-2220
Gordon Forgey
509-397-4333
Suesanne Smith
208-882-0666
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