The Writing Program
The Stockton Writing Program involves the whole College community from incoming freshmen to faculty. The goal of the program is to enable students to become practiced, proficient writers who can use writing confidently in their academic, professional and personal lives.
The writing program involves faculty from all schools within the College, as well as a core writing faculty located in General Studies. Writing-designated courses are offered under both General Studies and program acronyms; therefore, students can choose from a variety of offerings and fulfill distribution requirements toward graduation while they use writing as a vital part of their education.
Writing-designated courses are classified as W1 or W2. W1 courses focus primarily on writing as a subject and/or upon students’ own writing (e.g., Rhetoric and Composition, Creative Nonfiction Workshop, or Editing and Design). W2 courses focus primarily on disciplinary or interdisciplinary content and use writing as a mode of learning while helping students improve their writing. W1 and W2 courses are identified within the Schedule of Courses each term. More specific information on W1 and W2 courses can be found elsewhere in this Bulletin.
Based on their SAT scores, some freshmen are required to take BASK 1101 College Writing; all others are required to take GEN 1120 Rhetoric and Composition or another 1000- or 2000-level W1 course.
Stockton students write throughout their college careers and are advised to take one or more writing-designated courses each year, depending on their interest and needs.
All students must fulfill the College’s writing requirement in order to graduate. They must earn a C or better in each of four writing-designated courses: one W1 course taken as a freshman, and three other writing-designated courses (W1s or W2s), at least one of which must be a 3000- or 4000-level course.
Writing-designated courses that carry fewer than 4 credits or transfer courses that carry fewer than three credits do not count toward meeting the writing requirements. Transfer students must also fulfill the writing requirement. Up to two transfer courses in composition and writing may be credited as W1 courses. All W2 courses must be taken at Stockton.
Questions about the Writing Program or general graduation requirements should be directed to the Writing Program Coordinator, Heather McGovern, at heather.mcgovern@stockton.edu, Coordinator of Writing, The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey, Pomona, NJ 08240-0195, Phone: (609) 626-5575.
Requirements for a minor
The minor in writing provides students who have an interest and talent in writing with a way to structure and to document their abilities and success.
To earn the minor a student must:
a. complete at least five W1 courses, with at least two courses at the 3000–4000 level and no more than one course (of the five) at the 1000 level;
b. maintain a minimum GPA of 3.2 in the five W1 courses counted towards his/her minor;
c. contact a faculty sponsor (one of the core Writing program faculty) at least a semester before graduation, and preferably earlier, to discuss course selection and assembling the portfolio-in-progress;
d. pass a copy editing test administered by the program no later than the midpoint of the semester in which he/she plans to graduate;
e. submit a final portfolio no later than midpoint of the semester in which he/she plans to graduate. The awarding of a minor is dependent upon approval of the portfolio by program faculty.
Questions about the writing minor should be directed to the Writing Minor Coordinator, Carra Hood, at carra.hood@stockton.edu, The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey, Pomona, NJ 08240-0195, Phone: (609) 626-5580. To declare a minor, use this form. Here is a flyer about the writing minor. Here is a schedule of directions for writing minors and here is the form to submit with your final portfolio for the minor.
The Faculty
Jack Connor
Ph.D. (University of Florida), Professor of Writing: ornithology, composition, natural history, writing about nature, evolution and religion, and the Pine Barrens.
Judy Copeland
M.F.A. (University of Iowa), Assistant Professor of Writing: creative nonfiction, memoir, travel writing, humor writing, composition, freshman seminars.
Pamela Kennedy Cross
M.A. (Georgetown University), Writing Center Coordinator/Developmental Education Specialist: tutor training, composition, freshman seminars, writing for the workplace, learning differences.
Emari DiGiorgio
M.F.A. (New York University), Assistant Professor of Writing: creative writing (poetry and fiction), contemporary world poetry, why poetry matters, composition, women’s studies, social activism.
Penelope A. Dugan
D.A. (State University of New York at Albany) Professor of Writing: personal essay, memoir, African-American literature, autobiography, , composition theory and history of rhetoric.
Carra Leah Hood
Ph.D. (Yale University), Assistant Professor of Writing: writing and rhetoric-particularly as pertains to the genres of nonfiction, documentary and autobiography, pedagogy, interdisciplinary studies opf culture, traditional/new media, race and gender, biomedicine.
G.T. Lenard
Ph.D. (Temple University), Associate Professor of Writing: American studies, Eighteenth Century literature, composition.
Heather McGovern
Ph.D. (Texas Tech University), Assistant Professor of Writing: technical and professional writing, environmental discourse, composition theory, online writing, document design, rhetoric, history of rhetoric, rhetoric of science.
PROFESSORS EMERITI
Stephen Dunn
M.A. (Syracuse University), Emeritus Distinguished Professor of Creative Writing: creative writing (poetry and fiction), contemporary world poetry, 20th century American literature.
Mimi Schwartz
Ed.D. (Rutgers, The State University), Professor Emerita of Writing: creative nonfiction, memoir, literary journalism, literature of the Holocaust.
