CONWAY, Ark. (July 8, 2013) – Hendrix College recently
received a $250,000 grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to fund a
two-year Writing Across the Curriculum project.
The grant supports a faculty committee charged with reviewing
writing instruction and outcomes at Hendrix and elsewhere. The committee will make
recommendations at the conclusion of the grant period.
Longtime English professor Dr. Alice Hines, who developed
and currently manages the Writing Across the Curriculum program at Hendrix,
recently completed a sabbatical to study writing programs at other
institutions.
Hines’ sabbatical research will be critical to the faculty
committee’s work, says Dr. Alex Vernon, the chair of the Humanities area.
The Mellon-funded project will also include a pilot course
on essay writing developed by Dr. Pat Hoy, who recently retired as director of New
York University’s expository writing program.
Under Hoy’s tutelage, five Hendrix faculty members will
offer seven sections of the pilot essay writing course. The faculty members
include Dr. Vernon, Dr. Toni Jaudon, and Dr. Tyrone Jaeger from the English
department, as well as Dr. Allison Shutt (history), and Dr. Rod Miller (art).
“We believe that forming practiced writers should be a
signature feature and outcome of any liberal arts education,” said W. Ellis
Arnold III, Acting President of Hendrix. “The assistance of the Andrew Mellon
Foundation in developing a new writing program will have a significant impact
upon the College’s ability to produce graduates with writing skills that will
serve them for a lifetime in a wide range of professional and personal
endeavors.”
Founded in 1876, Hendrix College is a national leader in
engaged liberal arts and sciences education. For the fifth consecutive year,
Hendrix was named one of the country’s “Up and Coming” liberal arts colleges by
U.S. News and World Report. Hendrix
is featured in the 2012 edition of the Princeton Review as one of the country’s
best 377 colleges, the latest edition of Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change
the Way You Think about Colleges, Forbes magazine's annual
list of America's Top 650 Colleges, and the 2013 edition of the
Fiske Guide to Colleges. Hendrix has been affiliated with the United Methodist
Church since 1884. For more information, visit www.hendrix.edu.