|
|
Collaborative Practices
|
What are the reasons some basic writing courses bear credit while others do not?There are many reasons why institutions do or do not offer credit. Here are a few issues that affect the credit bearing status of basic writing courses and others that are considered “remedial.” State Board of Education Policies Many times, the State Board of Education mandates laws concerning “remedial” and developmental courses in colleges and universities. For example, the Idaho State Board of Education governs policies for all the state universities in Idaho. This includes Boise State University. A postsecondary policy states that “The colleges and universities will provide review courses for those individuals in need of developmental instruction.” It also mandates that “Developmental and remedial courses will not apply toward the requirements for graduation.” Rhonda Grego and Nancy Thompson of The University of South Carolina discuss similar mandates: “Then, at the end of the 1980′s, we were informed that our state’s Commission on Higher Education (CHE) had decided that basic writing courses would no longer carry any kind of college credit (even elective credit)” (62). This means that the university has no choice in the matter of credit. Thus, the issue is not in the hands of the university or college, at all. The requirement comes from a higher governing agency, the State Board of Education. Our survey suggests that the State Board of Education also controls such states as Texas, Illinois, Mississippi, and Maryland in this matter. Our guess is that many other states are also not allowed to give credit for “remedial” or basic writing courses because of policies set forth by the state board. Transfer Constraint Policies Many two year and community colleges do not give any kind of credit because the credit status directly affects which courses can be used to transfer to another college or university. In order for a basic writing class or any class to be “transferable,” it needs to be very similar to or cover the same information as a class in another college or university. Many “remedial” or basic writing courses in other colleges and universities do not bear credit, so this becomes a transfer constraint: the basic writing course cannot be transferred because it does not resemble the credit bearing freshman composition courses that do bear credit. Our survey suggests that both Bucks County Community College in Pennsylvania and J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College in Virginia have Basic writing Courses that do not bear credit because of transfer constraints. We assume that this is the case with many community and two year colleges that feed into larger universities. Precedent/Historical Policies At times, it appears that the credit status of basic writing courses doesn’t change because of precedent. Judith Rodby of California State University, Chico, addresses this issue: “Why is/was there this insistence on no-credit writing courses? Nostalgia. We were told that remedial courses cannot receive credit because they are remedial and the university does not give credit for remedial courses” (108). The Assistant Dean of Missouri State University at West Plains said, “It’s only elective credit. Mainly, we’re a two-year campus that inherited the course and the credit. We’ve resisted changing it because students seem to take it more seriously since it does ‘count’ toward graduation” (survey). The Writing Center Director at Western Michigan University points out that, “Histories vary, but we who have inherited the class from other eras hear the No Credit status supposedly reduced pressure on students so they could simply try to do their best” (survey). So, whether a course does or does not earn credit, it appears that the policy remains in affect, at times, simply because of precedence. |