Drew University Composition Program Instructor's Handbook & Guide

  General Profile of Drew University College of Liberal Arts Students

Drew undergraduates are for the most part "traditional" students: 18 year olds who were busy graduating from high school just this summer. According to the Drew University webpage, in Fall 2000 the college had 1,537 undergraduates, and of those 41 percent came from out of state, 14 percent were American students of color, and two percent were international students.  The entering class in Fall 2000 was 428 students strong, and of those, 61 (14%)  were American students of color (22 admitted through the Educational Opportunities Program), 8 were international students, xx* were students over 24 years of age (admitted through the Office of Continuing Education --known as the CUE Program), and based on national averages, as many as 15% have been or could be diagnosed with a learning disability of some kind (Drew-specific data is not available). 

The male/female ratio of the incoming class in Fall 2000 was 37:63, which is not unusual for liberal arts colleges. Of those, 56% of our students came from New Jersey. The majority of our students  are the children of parents who also received a college education, and 39% of them attended private school at least through high school. While more than two thirds of students receive financial aid, the remaining students have parents who can afford the $30,000+ price tag of an education at Drew.**  Most students live on campus (on average about 10% of the total class, but only about 3% of the first year class, are commuters), and most attend Drew full-time (in Fall 2000, there were 53 part-time students in the college). Of the students who entered in fall 1999, 13.8% did not return for their sophomore year, most of them having transferred.  As a balance, in Fall 2000 there were 37 students who had transferred in to Drew, most in their sophomore year.  The incoming class also generally includes 5-10 students designated as "Special."  These are students who are not regularly matriculated and are taking 1-3 courses.  Most hope to be accepted to Drew in the following semester or year and have those classes count toward a Drew degree. A few special students will transfer those credits elsewhere; some are "trying out" college.  All students have a Drew issued computer and email access and network a connection in their rooms (students designated "Special" may buy a computer from Drew).  About 75% have some familiarity with computers and at least with basic software.  Many think of "research" as something that is conducted entirely "on the web," and most multi-task while searching for that information (it is not unusual for students to be simultaneously downloading music; listening to other music--most of it also downloaded from the Internet; checking e-mail, researching on-line, carrying on up to six "Instant Messenger" conversations, and working on a paper). 

Academically, most of our students were in the top 25% of their high school graduating class. The average combined SAT score for the incoming class is 1219.  Most are from comfortably middle class backgrounds.  Most say they selected a small school fairly close to home because they were attracted to the benefits that come with a small liberal arts college.  Among those benefits are accessible professors; small classes; a small campus; a well established academic and personal safety net; a good chance of most people knowing your name; a broad-based liberal arts curriculum; professors who mostly hold PhDs; academic and administrative flexibility; and a good, solid, education. We do not have a Greek letter system and we do not have Division 1 athletic teams. We do have the usual alcohol and drug sub-culture, though, and like most schools we are alarmed by the stories of alcohol abuse that we hear, but have not yet totally banned drinking on campus. Most of the time, Drew students are courteous and reasonably hard working. Most are well-behaved in class, most arrive on time, and most do their work by the due date. In their first semester they are especially eager to learn, and it is our job to foster that enthusiasm and work with the First Year seminar program to provide the critical thinking, reading, and writing skills they need to do well at Drew. 

*Data forthcoming! 
** For 2000-2001 the costs were: Tuition $23,472; Fees $546; Room and board $6,702. 
See the College of Liberal Arts Factbook for more up-to-date information.

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Students who believe that their SAT-I verbal scores do not accurately reflect their writing abilities may take an alternative placement examination during orientation.  This examination tests reading comprehension and a variety of prose writing skills, and is untimed (although we do note start and end times).   

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Although it is hard--and unwise--to generalize, you can expect that the students in your classes will need you to focus on the following: 

  English 1-A

Students in English 1-A tend to be less prepared for college writing than some of their peers.  This lack of preparation may take many forms, though. You may encounter students who are effective writers overall, but need to work on developing the vocabulary and/or sophistication of sentence structure expected of college writers.  Some students may need work on their prewriting or general time management skills so that they can effectively meet college deadlines (this group often includes some students with learning disabilities).  Other student may need to work on their revision skills so that they can turn first draft prose into the kind of prose expected of college writers.  Still others may need to refine their critical thinking skills so that they can structure an effective paper and analyze what they read (both college texts and their own prose).  Another group of students may need to work on their reading skills (speed and overall comprehension), while a final group may need to work on sentence-level interference from a native language other than English.  Most English 1-A students need to work on the formal argument strategies essential to most college writing.  English 1-A students frequently benefit from one-on-one instruction and tutoring as they write and revise their papers.  Few say that they enjoy writing when they enter the class. 

  English 1

This course is designed for entering students who write reasonably well (and may have written A papers in high school), but need to learn to write in the manner expected of students at a liberal arts college.  Some students may need you to work with them on some of the issues described for English 1-A students, but on the whole the work with students in English 1 will focus on academic styles, modes, and conventions.  English 1 students typically need to work on writing summaries, syntheses, definitions, comparisons, analyses, critiques, and college level research papers.  Many will need help learning to develop a thesis (and learning the difference between a thesis and a topic).  They frequently need some instruction in organization, effective transitions, revision, and correct citation, and some will also need some guidance at the sentence-level (although this will tend to be related to complex sentences).  English 1 students generally have sufficient skill to work productively in small group writing workshops as they write and revise their papers.  Most tend to perceive themselves to be good writers, although not all are able to accurately assess their strengths and weaknesses as writers and some may lack confidence.  The majority of them say that they enjoy writing (although not necessarily writing research papers). 

  English 2

English 2 students generally need little instruction in surface-level aspects of writing, but need to focus most of their attention on conducting and reporting research in an effective college-level manner.  English 2 typically focuses on academic writing skills, and students put most of their energy into producing a research project (on-line or in paper form).  The course provides instruction in disciplinary conventions, correct citation, and strategies for developing long papers.  Students learn to evaluate their options as they balance attention to the needs of their audience with their purpose for writing.  These options include the genres of writing addressed in English 1, although most English 2 students need to be reminded of these genres rather than instructed in them.  English 2 students generally work alone for most of the time, although they also benefit from peer group workshops at critical stages in the writing and revising process.  English 2 students tend to perceive themselves to be reasonably good writers, but most believe there to be room for improvement and most are able to articulate their strengths and weaknesses as writers fairly accurately. 

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