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Funding FAQs
Funding for the Junior Year Writing Program comes primarily from the departments themselves, since, ideally, the junior-year writing course also meets a requirement in the major. Supplemental funding is provided through the Writing Program (via the Provost’s office) at a set amount per junior in each major. The number of juniors per major is taken yearly from the Office of Institutional Research (OIR) Fall Admissions and Enrollment report. Funding is distributed based on the previous year’s junior count. During the spring of a given semester, each department is contacted by the Writing Program to confirm the “junior count” and address any questions; funds are distributed at the beginning of each fiscal year.
Why does the junior year count not match course enrollment?
Departments receive funding for a given academic year based on the number of juniors shown in the OIR report for the previous year (e.g., for AY ‘07-08, funding is based on the junior count for ‘06-07). The count does not attempt to project increased numbers of juniors for the next year; those additional majors will be accounted for in the following funding cycle. Similarly, the count does not attempt to track when a student actually enrolls in a junior-year writing course. If a student delays taking the course until his or her senior year, the funding will have already been provided to the department for that student.
Why does my junior count differ from reports I run through the registrar?
The reports generated by the Registrar’s office frequently differ because SPIRE counts juniors by year of graduation (which continually changes). The OIR report counts juniors differently. The OIR report calculates student rank by total credit hours and thus removes the redundancy of potentially counting the same student as a junior in more than one academic year if she/he changes her/his year of graduation.
Why doesn’t the junior-year funding cover the cost of the course?
JYWP funding was never meant to fund junior-year courses entirely. When the requirement was instituted by the Faculty Senate in the early 1980s, the assumption was that the requirement would be met by a course already required in the major. That course would be writing-intensive and emphasize instruction in discipline- and profession-specific writing. Thus, funding for the course is meant to be a supplement, not a means of covering the entire expense. The understanding is that part of the funding would come from the department/college because the course would also be part of the major and be taught by faculty. Ideally, in other words, the junior-year writing course not only meets a general education requirement; it’s also an integral part of the student’s major course of study.
Updated September 3, 2008
