How do we use this information? 

The Program uses assessment results to support continued excellence by informing conversations about assignment design, instructional supports, and shared learning goals. 

The Writing and Rhetoric Program Director hosted two peer-led assignment design workshops for FWR course instructors. Each workshop focused on a specific rubric criterion - Sources & Evidence or Critical Inquiry - and followed the model of the National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment (NILOA) Assignment Design initiative. 

Building on the assessment findings, especially the opportunity to strengthen Critical Inquiry, the Program is focusing on designing inquiry-driven major writing projects. Program leadership took the following actions: 

• Introduced the Consider–Connect–Contend (C–C–C) model as a common structure for inquiry-based major writing projects, aligned with current FWR learning goals and practices. 
• Integrated C–C–C training into the graduate pedagogy course to strengthen graduate student preparation in designing major assignments that develop students’ Critical Inquiry skills. 
• Required new graduate student instructors to use or closely adapt the C–C–C structure when designing the major writing project sequence for their Fall 2026 and Spring  2027 ENWR 1510 courses. 
• Organized a Spring 2026 panel presentation to introduce the C–C–C approach to FWR instructors and to support cross-role conversation about inquiry-based assignment design (including WR faculty, graduate students, postdoctoral instructors, Faculty Writing Fellows, and part-time lecturers). 

The Program will continue to collect and use student learning outcomes data to strengthen the educational experience.