A&M-Commerce Writing Program Receives Certificate of Excellence

A student studying sitting down at a desk.

A&M-Commerce's Writing Program received a Certificate of Excellence from the Conference on College Composition and Communication. The award will be presented in March at the Conference's annual convention, held in Pittsburgh.

“The Certificate of Excellence is one of the highest honors for a writing program and is a prestigious award given each year at the leading conference in writing studies,” said Dr. Jessica Pauszek, director of writing and assistant professor of English.

Asao B. Inoue, 2019 Conference chair, stated that the A&M-Commerce Writing Program's emphasis on exploring literacies and writing that “emerge across multiple linguistic, cultural, gendered, geographical and social barriers” is a model for other programs to follow, especially with its focus on transnational literacies and the ways that literacy is impacted by geopolitical, national and linguistic borders.

For A&M-Commerce, the award is a result of the hard work and collaboration among graduate student instructors, adjunct instructors, staff, tenure-track faculty and more. Pauszek stated that the award also recognizes the Writing Program's dedicated work with students from diverse national, linguistic and socioeconomic backgrounds.

“This award is a major accomplishment and is the first time that our program has received this recognition,” said Dr. Hunter Hayes, department head for Literature and Languages.

Hayes emphasized that the Writing Program received the award because of the diligent efforts of Pauszek and with the support of Dr. William Kuracina, dean of the College of Humanities, Social Sciences & Arts, and Dr. John Humphreys, provost and vice president for academic affairs.

Pauszek stressed that the Writing Program's commitment to serving students which led to the award extends beyond her tenure and includes the leadership of past directors including Dr. Donna Dunbar-Odom, Dr. Shannon Carter and Dr. Tabetha Adkins.

About 800 students take first-year English composition courses each fall and spring semester with doctoral-level graduate assistants comprising the majority of the instructors for the courses. Pauszek trains and provides ongoing mentoring to the graduate assistants and oversees all aspects of the program including devising course syllabi.

Since 1949, the Conference has been the world’s largest professional organization for researching and teaching composition, from writing to new media.