SpeakWrite™ Program Certification

When SpeakWrite courses constitute 50% or more of a graduating student's program of study, (typically six SpeakWrite courses among those  required for the major), that program is eligible to be SpeakWrite Certified.

Students completing majors in SpeakWrite Certified Programs automatically fulfill the WVU General Education Foundations (GEF) writing and communication skills requirement. 

SpeakWrite Certified Programs will have a certification statement included on the major page in the catalog and students may also include a SpeakWrite statement on their résumés. 

SpeakWrite™ Program Guidelines

A SpeakWrite™ certified program will include:

• A Program-wide Emphasis. SpeakWrite activities are meaningfully and intentionally embedded into  half or more of the courses and curricula across the unit's major program(s) of study. Students are also familiar with  PACT as a way to analyze purpose, audience, conventions, and trouble spots.
• Explicit Program Learning Outcome(s). The Program Learning Outcome Goals for the major (on which annual assessment activities are based) include at least one communication skills goal.
• A Connection to Assessment. Department-level assessment reports for a SpeakWrite-certified program annually include a measure of effective communication  outcomes for students in the major (e.g., faculty-defined criteria used to assess a sampling of projects; collections of perceived learning based on surveys, focus groups, self-assessments, etc.).

SpeakWrite™ Program Certification Process

1. Prepare Program Application in Word

   • State the program learning outcome goal (or goals) for the major that explicitly references communication skills; this language probably exists in your department's annual assessment report.
   • Illustrate/describe how SpeakWrite approved courses constitute half or more of the courses in the program of study that students pursuing this degree will take before graduation.  To do this step, you might simply copy and paste text from the "Requirements and Catalog Information" box in the Undergraduate Catalog.  Please highlight SpeakWrite certified courses in yellow.
   • Identify at least one assessment measure that will help your program see how students are doing in achieving the program's effective communication goal(s). This is your starting point; your measures evolve from year to year. (e.g., faculty-defined criteria used to assess a sampling of projects; collections of perceived learning based on surveys, focus groups, self-assessments, etc.).

2. Send Application to SpeakWrite@mail.wvu.edu

   • Subject Line: The program name (e.g. History BA Application for SpeakWrite Program Certification)
   • Attachment: Attach the Program Application (DOCX)

3. Advisory Board Review

   Allow two weeks (10 working days) for a response to your submission.

SpeakWrite™ Program Continuity

• Each certified program is responsible for its own year-to-year continuity and assessment. These annual steps are based on the program's initial application. (Please see the steps above.) 
• Every three years, the SpeakWrite Advisory Board will ask programs to demonstrate their ongoing commitment to the SpeakWrite initiative with a short re-certification report.  The report should explain how the major continues to meet the general SpeakWrite goals. In addition to periodic reviews of the program's SpeakWrite-certified course offerings, commitments might include one or more of the following:
• surveying faculty about their SpeakWrite courses; 
• encouraging or providing professional development related to writing or speaking; 
• surveying students about their perceived learning; 
• using faculty-defined criteria to assess a sampling of projects; 
• organizing focus groups; 
• gathering self-assessments; etc.