Supplemental Writing Skills

Kay Losey, Director of SWS 
loseyk@gvsu.edu

Cherilyn Denomme, SWS Support
denommec@gvsu.edu

Brooks College of Interdisciplinary Studies Dean's Office
224 Lake Ontario Hall
Allendale, MI 49401
(616) 331-8655

Mission

The mission of the SWS Program is to enable students to write effectively*for multiple purposes and audiences through the integration of writing across the curriculum.

Vision

The ability to write effectively in a variety of rhetorical situations is the hallmark of a liberally educated person. The most effective way to help students achieve this goal is by providing a framework for courses that integrate writing with content. The writing instruction in these courses is supported by current research and theory in writing.

We value:

• A university community that shares responsibility for writing instruction;
• Writing instruction that is integrated with course material regardless of discipline;
• Writing instruction that occurs throughout the four years of undergraduate education;
• Pedagogical approaches that are based in theory and research in composition, including (but not limited to) writing as a process and writing to learn approaches;
• The importance of practicing the conventions and forms of an academic discipline in order to learn them.

* Effective writing is sensitive to the rhetorical situation and genre constraints. It meets established standards for style and correctness in that situation.