Communications Competencies
Reading, Speaking, and Writing
A Report to the Departments of English of the North Carolina Community College System, August 11, 1995
Prepared by the Competencies Task Force of CEI—The North Carolina Conference of English Instructors
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THIS document is a synthesis of ideas generated by 115 North Carolina Community College communications faculty with regard to competencies in reading, speaking, and writing which should be expected of community college graduates. Included with these competencies are acquisition and assessment strategies to guide teachers in helping students develop skills and in assessing the quality of that development.
The work of these educators took place during the "Transforming the English Curriculum Institute," held at Atlantic Beach, NC, from March 27 to March 31, 1995, organized and coordinated by The Piedmont Community College Staff Development Consortium and funded by the State Office of the North Carolina Community College System. At the end of the English Institute, dozens of pages of text of several hundred competencies and acquisition and assessment strategies were developed by nine writing teams and sent to the chief academic officer at each community college. The final report of the English Institute was submitted to CEI, the North Carolina Conference of English Instructors, along with a list of volunteers from the Institute who had agreed to review the competencies and to condense the several hundred competencies and strategies developed during the Institute into a consistent format.
During the early summer, the Board of CEI met, and Chair Jo Ann Buck appointed a task force from these volunteers. Eventually, fourteen teachers from five community colleges agreed to volunteer their time to complete that work for the benefit of communications faculty in the North Carolina Community College System.
MEETING biweekly throughout the summer, with additional work by subcommittees during the interim days, the task force made every effort to be both inclusive and concise. It is our hope that this document can and should serve as the foundation for the State Office's plan to establish a common course library—and a unified yet flexible set of standards for college courses in the reading, speaking, and writing disciplines. Significantly, acquisition and assessment strategies herein reflect the integration of these disciplines—a major theme of the Institute.
While the immediate goal of the task force is now complete, the work of refining and adding to this document is ongoing. Should you wish to make editorial revisions to this document (and we encourage you to do so), please pass along your suggestions to a member of one of the designated writing teams scheduled to meet in October 1995. To obtain a roster of writing teams, contact Sharon Morrissey, North Carolina Community College System (NCCCS) State Office. Our individual and collective input is important as we transform our English curriculum.
THIS document is respectfully submitted to all communications faculty by the members of the Competencies Task Force: Joe Alvarez; Brenda Armentrout; Wendy Bentley; Rita Buhr; Dianne Cates; Perry Cumbie; Ann Fowler; Kay Gregory; Jon Launt; Rick Lewis, editor; Clint McElroy; Harry Phillips, chair; Cynthia Ricketson; and Linda White.
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