RATER INFORMATION
Apply Now to Be a WAC Assessment Rater!
Being a WAC rater presents an opportunity to participate in engaging conversations about what we value in student writing, add a service component to curriculum vitae, and supplement summer income.
Requirements: You must have exerience teaching or supporting a WAC-designated or writing-intensive course and must be actively employed by the university.
If you are interested, complete the application (even if you are waiting for summer teaching assignment confirmation).
Direct any questions to
Julianne Zvolensky
or
Sipai Klein.
Deadline: Friday, April 19th
General Information
WHO?
20-25 evaluators who teach WAC and writing-intensive courses and regularly assign and comment on student writing in their classes. Tenure-line faculty, instructors, Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs), and adjuncts are welcome to participate provided they meet this criteria.
WHAT?
Raters will use an online interface to read and rate papers, based on our
11-trait WAC rubric. There is an extensive norming process periodically throughout the two weeks that opens interesting discussions about what we value in writing and why and ensures that inter-rater reliability is high. More background information on the WAC Assessment is below.
WHEN?
Monday, May 6 – Friday, May 10
and
Monday, May 13 – Friday, May 17
The times will be 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Raters must commit to participate for the full first week of Monday, May 6 – Friday, May 10. (This is the week between the end of the Spring semester and the start of Summer Terms 1 & 2). During the second week of Monday, May 13 – Friday, May 17, full daily commitment is expected, and raters may select in advance on which days they will participate.
Raters with the most availability are preferred.
WHERE?
Week 1: In-person in the University Center for Excellence in Writing, GS 215
Week 2: Virtual via Zoom
Throughout: Canvas, Google Drive, and the WAC Assessment website.
WHY?
The WAC assessment seeks to determine the improvements in student writing across a wide range of WAC courses as well as areas of concern. Raters often find norming conversations engaging and revealing about their own values in student writing. Also, it is a chance to earn extra money in the summer and gain valuable assessment experience.
HOW MUCH?
The compensation for your time and energy will be $20 an hour.
WAC Assessment background
Each term since Spring of 2008, WAC, in conjunction with the office of Institutional Effectiveness and Analysis (IEA), has compiled a stratified random sampling of approximately 15-20 WAC-designated courses across the university and requested that each student in those sections submit material for the annual program assessment. Each student in the identified sections submits a first and final draft of a substantial, end-of-term thesis-driven writing assignment that uses multiple sources (a research paper, literature review, analysis paper, etc.), in addition to completing a short survey regarding their writing.