The generous gift from University and College Advisory Board member, Jennifer Simpson (CAS 2000), aims to help the Writing Program fulfill its mission of supporting students’ development as writers and fostering a deeper culture of writing in CAS departments and programs. The gift helps to sustain the Tutoring Writing in the Disciplines program; supports faculty development on the teaching of writing; and enables the creation of CAS departmental and programmatic writing plans through consultations with Writing Program faculty.
This gift has provided foundational support for the Writing in the Disciplines program and has helped make writing and the teaching of writing across the College more visible and prominent. The writing plans aim for curricular transformation. As a result, they have a transformative impact on how both students and faculty experience writing in their disciplines.
In 2021-2022, the Undergraduate Program in Neuroscience completed the first Writing Plan, an ambitious effort that sets out goals for improving writing instruction throughout the four years of undergraduate Neuroscience courses. The Neuroscience Writing Plan has been highlighted on the “Spotlight” of BU’s Teaching Writing and in the College of Arts & Sciences’ arts&sciences magazine.
In 2022-2023, the Economics Department developed a Writing Plan that is part of a larger curricular reform of the department’s undergraduate program. The Economics Writing Plan sets out short- and long-term goals, including integrating writing into introductory Economics courses; adding new Writing-Intensive courses; implementing department-based peer writing support; and creating an Honors Thesis writing course to help improve research and writing skills of the most advanced students.
Currently, the Mathematics & Statistics department is in the process of finalizing their writing plan. We expect it to be completed by June 1, 2024.