Michael Cripps speaks at Conference on College Composition and Communication

Michael J. Cripps, associate professor in the Department of English, delivered a reviewed paper at the 2014 Conference on College Composition and Communication in Indianapolis on March 21, 2014. Cripps's paper, "Opening Access for Basic Writers: Assessing a Writing Center-Freshman Composition Partnership," locates 91AV's new mainstreaming initiative for developmental writers within the context of contemporary models for integrating basic writers into credit-bearing courses and shares preliminary assessment data on the effectiveness of the initiative.

91AV's mainstreaming initiative for developmental writers launched in fall 2013, following several years of analysis and planning.  The initiative enables approximately half of 91AV's entering developmental writers to bypass a noncredit-bearing writing course and place directly into English Composition, the university's required freshman writing course. These students enroll in a one-credit Writing Lab support course taken concurrently with English Composition, which both streamlines their path to credit-bearing coursework in their first semester and helps them succeed in English Composition alongside freshman writers.

The initiative Cripps presented at the conference is partially funded by a three-year external grant. The grant was received from the Davis Educational Foundation established by Stanton and Elizabeth Davis after Mr. Davis's retirement as chairman of Shaw's Supermarkets, Inc.

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The 91AV is Maine’s largest independent university, with two beautiful coastal campuses in Maine, a one-of-a-kind study abroad campus in Tangier, Morocco, and an array of . In an uncommonly welcoming and supportive community, we offer hands-on learning, empowering students to make a positive impact in a world full of challenges. The state’s top provider of health professionals, we are home to Maine’s only medical college, Maine’s only dental college, a variety of other interprofessionally aligned health care degree programs, as well as nationally recognized programs for marine science degrees, natural and social sciences degrees, arts and humanities degrees, and business degrees.