The Integrated Writing Program and the Writing Center are gearing up to serve the UP community in spring 2019, according to Molly Hiro, English. The Writing Center (BC 163) is a completely free resource, staffed with trained writing assistants who can help students at all levels, from all disciplines, at all stages of the writing process. The center opens for the semester on Sunday, January 20 (open daily except Saturdays). Please visit the Writing Center website to learn more and make appointments.
One of the best means of getting students to bring their work-in-progress to the Writing Center is for faculty themselves to encourage them to do so (some professors require at least one visit; some give extra credit to students for using our services). When talking to your students about the UP Writing Center, you might keep in mind the following:
- Our goal is not just to inspire better papers, but create better writers. This means we don’t “fix” papers; we work with students to improve their overall writing skills for this and future tasks.
- Writing assistance isn’t just for students with major grammar or mechanical problems. Instead, we focus on higher-order concepts such as argument, organization, development, and other areas. Even accomplished writers can make progress on their work in a half-hour session.
- While our writing assistants represent most majors as well as the professional schools, they are trained in a semester-long course to work with students from any discipline.
- When a student meets with a writing assistant to discuss a paper for your course, you’ll get a copy of the conference report—a brief summary of what the student and writing assistant worked on (This is an easy way of keeping track of who visited the WC for assigning extra credit, e.g.).
- An effective way to familiarize your students with the Writing Center and to demonstrate your support for our services is to invite a writing assistant to visit your classroom with a 5-10 minute presentation during the first few weeks of the semester. Email our hotline at writing@up.edu with the day and time of the class you’d like a writing assistant to visit and we’ll get back to you shortly.
- Lastly, all Moodle pages now have a link to the Writing Center—see the top left corner, under “Learning Resources.”
To foster student writing integrity at UP, consider using the Turnitin function through your class Moodle page. Instructions for using this paper-authentication software can be found here.
All of your students should possess The Pocket Cengage Handbook since it is required in their two writing-embedded courses. The handbook helps keep our campus on the same page when it comes to grammar, punctuation, citation styles, and basic expectations for essay writing across the University. If you need a desk copy of this reference, please contact the Writing Center director by the second week of the semester.
As the director of the Integrated Writing Program and the Writing Center, Hiro is happy to be a point of contact on all writing-related matters this semester. Need insight on crafting better writing prompts? Resources for integrating writing instruction into your class-time? Help with language to use when evaluating student writing? Please feel free to contact her at hiro@up.edu or x8031.
The next meeting of the Faith and Intellectual Life Discussion Group will be Friday, January 25, 3:30-5 p.m., in the Murphy Room. The group will be discussing “The Poison We Pick” by Andrew Sullivan, “Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation?” by Jean M. Twenge, and the poem “What We Want” by Linda Pastan. Readings can be found on the 
For many years, the University has been able to sell Tri-Met bus and light rail passes through the Office of Public Safety, including subsidized monthly passes. Unfortunately, due to the imposition of new federal taxes on transportation discounts and changes in Tri-Met administrative processes, we can no longer offer this benefit to our students, faculty, or staff. There is a limited inventory of books of 10 individual tickets that public safety will sell until they are gone.
The Provost’s Office is pleased to announce the formation of an Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC.) The IBC is charged with reviewing and approving research, classroom and laboratory educational activities that require the use of recombinant or synthetic nucleic acid molecules technology, infectious or potentially infectious agents, and/or involve human tissue or body fluids, or animals that may carry zoonotic disease caused by infections that are shared between animals and people.
Staff awards for 2018 were presented at the annual Staff Christmas Luncheon on Monday, December 17. The winners are:
Happy New Year from the Clark Library! As spring semester approaches, now is a great time to schedule instructional sessions before the calendar fills up. The Clark Library offers instruction in two areas: information literacy and multimedia skills.
There will be a brown bag lunch session on Title IX open to all employees on Friday, January 11, from noon to 1 p.m., in the quiet side of Bauccio Commons, according to Meg Farra, human resources. Please come if you have questions or would like to learn more about the University’s efforts to address Title IX requirements.
With the start of 2019, employees are reminded to use the new Allegiance debit cards that should have been received in late December for all 2019 Flexible Spending Account expenditures. Flexible Spending Accounts are set up with Allegiance at this time. You can access your online profile with the following steps:
Join the Pilots in the Chiles Center this Saturday, January 12, at 7 p.m. as our men’s basketball team opens their WCC home schedule versus Pacific. For all Pilot Kids Club members, there will be a free pregame pizza party starting at 6:15. This event will feature free pizza, drinks, inflatables, and a special appearance from Wally Pilot.
The payroll office is in the process of producing W-2 forms, and to ensure accurate information appears on their forms, employees are encouraged to carefully review their information, such as legal names, W-2 mailing addresses, social security numbers, and withholding W-4 allowances. Please submit any changes to the payroll office by January 14, 2019.