THE INFORMER PAGE 6

MARCH 12, 1990

B y
CONFERENCES OF INTEREST:

R EID

Leadership and Management Skills for Women

A notice recently appeared in the /nformer regarding this
conference (May 3 - 6, 1990). More information is available
from Frieda Wiebe in the Library.

1990 Learned Societies Meetings - University of
Victoria

As the Learneds are nearby this year, a number of people
may wish to attend. Please note that registration should be
completed by April 1, 1990 and that the fee rises after that
date. If you plan to seek funding from the Faculty
Development Committee and have not already applied (in the
Feb. 15 group), please note the March 30 deadline—your last
opportunity. Faculty should also seek funds from
departmental PD budgets since the Committee is unable to
provide full funding. It would, therefore, be a good idea to
obtain local funds early enough to register by April 1 and then
apply to the Committee by March 30 for any additional funds
needed.

Writing-Across-the-Curriculum

Groups of interested faculty have met twice in the last
while to discuss matters related to W-A-C.

On January 25, a small group discussed Documentation
and Bibliography, learning from Rosemary Coupe what
systems are used around the college and learning what major
systems seem to be in vogue throughout North America. As
always, it is difficult to find a norm to which all will
subscribe, but it appears that the current MLA style (including
its variant APA, used in some Social Sciences) and the current
Author-Date style might be adequate for all college uses. The
group felt that students should be moved away from footnotes
which are no longer in widespread usage (although certain
disciplines still use them in upper division work.)

We would urge faculty to consider:

the use of internal citation over footnotes,

the use of a List of Works Cited over a Selected
Bibliography, and

the use of limited “content notes” when needed.

Explanations of these matters can be had from the Writing
Centre.

On February 8, a group met to discuss techniques
suggested at last May’s conference. The group shared a
number of reactions to various approaches and the very real
problem of workload. We also discussed the notion of
Writing Fellows (see a recent NISOD bulletin for a discussion
of this concept) and agreed to explore the idea. Naturally,
hiring students as writing fellows raising a number of working
conditions issues, but the idea of making writing central to
every class, and yet not an additional burden on every teacher,

FACULTY DEVELOPMENT

GILBERT

is crucial if general literacy and critical thinking is to increase.

A questionnaire is being circulated to all faculty, asking
for your reactions to any W-A-C techniques you may have
tried out. Please tick your way through the form and
return it so that we have some sense of what experimentation
is underway in the college.

March 8: Reports from Grant Recipients

Last fall we heard from a number of recipients of Faculty
Development Grants; those who attended the seminar found
much of interest. On March 8 we will hear from other
colleagues; you are invited to attend. 12:30, C301

March 15: Small Group Instructional Feedback

On March 15, Wendy Burton from Fraser Valley College
will be on campus to introduce a classroom research technique
called “Small Group Instructional Feedback.” In this
approach, faculty members partner and each visits the class of
the other. Using a specific set of criteria, the partner tries to
determine strengths and weaknesses and then shares these with
her partner—who does the same. We are hoping a number of
faculty will attend this workshop to learn about this technique
and that some will try it out before our May conference.
Please attend if youcan. 12:30 C301.

Call for Papers

The BCOFR Education and Research Society Race
Relations Journal has issued a call for papers on the subject of
“The Politics of Race and Ethnicity in the 1990s.” Deadline
for submissions is May 30, 1990 (for projected publication on
July 31, 1990). Write to Alan Dutton or Kam Prasad, eds.
Race Relations Journal, BCOFR Society, Ste. 206-13281,
72nd Ave., Surrey, BC. A brief pamphlet announcing the call
can be seen in Humanities.

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