Mission

The mission of the Oregon Writing and English Advisory Committee (OWEAC) is:

• To promote high academic standards in English composition and literature in high schools, community colleges, and universities;
• To facilitate communication among English faculty in Oregon;
• To provide policy recommendations to the Joint Boards Articulation Committee (JBAC) regarding English instruction.

The work of this committee shall emphasize improvements in English composition and literature instruction that enable students to understand and apply reading and writing skills essential to critical thinking and to their success as students, informed citizens, and members of the workforce.

OWEAC is a permanent advisory committee serving high school and college English faculty in Oregon and is linked to the Joint Boards Articulation Commission, which reports to the Oregon State System of Higher Education (OSSHE).

OWEAC HISTORY

The State System of Higher Education/Community College Coordinating Committee originally appointed this Ad Hoc Committee on Competencies in English Composition in 1974. Our original charge was to improve articulation between community and four-year colleges, with special attention to transfer and equivalence of required composition courses. Committee activities gradually broadened (and its name changed to the State Composition Advisory Committee and then to the Oregon Writing and English Advisory Committee) to consider the goals and content of required writing courses, testing and measurement of writing skills, teacher preparation and continuing education. With the advent of educational reform, OWEAC’s mission has further expanded.

OWEAC OBJECTIVES

OWEAC shall evaluate and recommend placement, sequencing, content, proficiencies, performance standards, student outcomes, and teaching strategies and learning environments of language, literature, reading, and composition programs in high schools, community colleges, and four-year colleges and universities.

OWEAC shall monitor, review, and publish guidelines on issues that affect language, literature, reading, and composition instruction related to:

• Curriculum (core composition and literature requirements, reading competencies, developmental writing, articulation, and workplace writing);
• Instructors’ professional development;
• Changing technology (computer-based instruction, distance learning);
• Changing student needs (foreign students, students with limited English proficiency, Article 504 accommodations);
• Assessment, testing, advising, and placement; and,
• Education reform.

OWEAC shall review and publicize core writing and literature requirements to create a ‘seamless’ transfer from high school to college and to improve articulation and communication between all levels.

OWEAC shall serve as a clearing house to publicize changes in writing and literature programs in the state of Oregon, particularly horizontal and vertical college writing programs.

OWEAC shall review and publicize guidelines for nontraditiional reading, writing, and literature programs that meet high standards, yet that accommodate nontraditional students.

OWEAC shall liaison with and advise other agencies and organizations that are involved in setting policies affecting English instruction, such as the Oregon Department of Education, the Oregon Council of Teachers of English, the Oregon Consortium on Composition and Rhetoric, and the Oregon State System of Higher Education.

OWEAC’S OPERATING PRINCIPLES

1. Membership: Members of OWEAC are drawn from writing program coordinators, English faculty, or administration from representative high schools, all public community colleges, and all four-year colleges and universities in Oregon. One representative from each school shall serve at the discretion of the participating school. Representatives from the Department of Education and OSSHE may attend on a non-voting basis.
2. Officers: Members nominate and elect a Chair, Vice-Chair, Secretary, and Technology Officer at the spring meeting for a two-year term.
3. The Chair shall 1) conduct OWEAC meetings, 2) work to meet each year’s goals, 3) provide an annual summary of OWEAC accomplishments, 4) conduct elections when next Chair is to be elected, 5) co-chair key committees as needed, 6) serve as liaison to the Department of Education and Oregon University System, and 7) represent follow up as Past Chair to complete goals begun as Chair.
4. The Vice-Chair shall 1) serve as co-chair of key committees as needed, 2) conduct meetings if Chair is absent, 3) attend key OUS meetings and committees if Chair is unavailable, 4) conducts part of meetings dealing with committee work, 4) volunteers as substitute Secretary if Secretary is absent.
5. The Secretary shall 1) help Chair set agenda, 2) accurately record minutes, 3) find substitute Secretary when unable to attend meetings, 4) make sure approved minutes are archived on OWEAC website through Technology Officer, 5) make sure approved documents are archived on the OWEAC website through the Technology Officer.
6. The Technology Officer shall 1) maintain the listserve, 2) update the website with minutes, meeting information, membership, OWEAC statements and recommendations and other materials as needed, and 3) modifies website as needed.
7. Meetings: OWEAC shall meet once each quarter during the academic year at a location members agree upon, with a quorum consisting of those members present.
8. Minutes shall be distributed to all members following each quarterly meeting.