Accessing Student Opinion Survey Results

Results of A & S evaluations and FWP surveys can be accessed through mybama, faculty tab, OIRA resources box. Click on “Student Opinions of Instruction/Course Evaluations”

To see the FWP questions (revised in Summer 2014), download a copy of the survey.

If you have problems accessing the program surveys contact the Associate Director Jessica Kidd.

Class Caps and Overrides

• EN 101 and EN 102 classes are generally capped at 24 students per section.
• EN 103 and EN 104 classes are generally capped at 18 students per section.

As a rule, we do not allow overrides. If there is a rare override necessity, these override requests MUST be approved through the First-year Writing Program office.

EN 103 Proposals

Examples of Past EN 103 and EN 104 Classes (with links to the proposals)

Spring 2010, EN 103

• Critical Thinking and Conspiracy Theory

Fall 2010, EN 103

• The Comic Book and Cartoon Panel: Analyzing the Political and Social Arguments of Visual Rhetoric

Spring 2011, EN 103

• Local Lore: Writing and Rhetoric in Tuscaloosa

Fall 2011, EN 103

• The Self in the Digital Age

Fall 2011, EN 104

• Fondness and Fanaticism: The Many Forms of Devotion
• Fidelity or (Re)Vision in Adaptation

Spring 2012, EN 103

• Exploring the Unfamiliar
• Criminal Trials: Beyond Reasonable Doubt

Fall 2012, EN 103

• Animals
• Finding Alabama’s Voice in the 21st Century

Fall, 2012 EN 104

• The Invention of Words

Spring 2013, EN 103

• Extreme Rhetoric
• Southerners on Screen

Fall 2013, EN 103

• American Spectacle

End of Semester Materials

Near the end of each semester, you will receive an email from the FWP requesting an emailed packet of end-of-semester materials. Please follow the instructions carefully, and turn in these materials as soon as possible after posting final grades. The materials you provide are used in the case of grade disputes, are needed from EVERYONE, and are MANDATORY.

Living-Learning Community Courses

Kevin Waltman (walt001@ua.edu) is the coordinator of Living-Learning Community classes.

Online Courses

Dr. Natalie Loper (nloper@ua.edu) is the coordinator for 100-level online classes.

Helpful documents for online teachers:

• Pre-semester checklist for 100-level online instructors
• Creating Turnitin and Peermark Assignments
• Setting up a library in Turnitin

Requesting Recommendation Letters

• The Director of First-year Writing serves on the hiring committee for FTTI positions and on search committees for positions like the CLTF. The director cannot write letters specifically for these positions while serving on these committees. The director can write generic recommendations for an interfolio or other dossier account. If you plan to apply for local department positions, plan ahead and ask for an observation and generic letter before job ads are posted in January. See below for additional guidelines for requesting a letter.
• You must have been observed within the last year for FWP staff to write you a letter. If you haven’t been observed recently, plan ahead and set up an observation.
• Ask the person who observed you teach. It is very hard for FWP staff to write a good letter if they haven’t seen you in the classroom.
• Remember that 533/534 observations may not be the best material for a recommendation letter. Staff are usually looking for areas for improvement when they observe those first classes. FWP staff may decline to write a letter based only on a 533/534 observation.
• Make your request for a letter well before you send an interfolio request or a request from a school or employer. FWP staff don’t automatically write letters every time they are asked. They only write letters when they believe they can strongly recommend someone.
• Consider other faculty members in the English department. The people who write your letters should be people with whom you’ve built professional/academic relationships.
• FWP staff classified as instructors may decline to write letters for UA instructorship applications due to a conflict of interest.
• FWP staff write confidential letters only. Because employers and departments look more favorably on candidates who have waived their right to view letters, FWP staff will only write confidential letters.
• Consider creating an Interfolio account or using another dossier service if you will need multiple copies of your letter sent out.
• Include all pertinent details in one email: contact info for letter recipient, letter delivery method, job or program details, details about yourself that you would want included in the letter, deadlines, etc. Please also include UA employment dates and details, such as lists of relevant classes taught (and when).
• Provide a SASE if you need a physical letter mailed.
• At least one month of lead time is a good rule of thumb for letter requests. Plan on more time if you need to request an observation.

Themed 102 Ideas: Page with resources for theming your 102 course