In an effort to improve the learning of undergraduate students, the College of Engineering at Mountain State University implemented a new writing and speaking emphasis for appropriate courses throughout the curriculum. After much discussion, the college selected a suite of lower- and upper-division courses for the writing and speaking emphasis. For majors, the new curriculum would end with a reworked version of the senior capstone course, which was designed to prepare students for the transition to the workplace.

Bob Graham, an associate professor who had been at Mountain State for almost a decade, usually taught a section each year of the senior capstone course. Although Bob had years of experience as an engineering professor and as a professional in his field, he was a bit skeptical about the prospect of increasing attention to writing and speaking in his classroom. Each year his course needed to cover more material, and he found himself constantly worrying about time. Yet he was also eager to help his students to be better learners, thinkers, and communicators. With a mixture of renewed energy for improving his course and a concern that he was being compelled to do what should have been done better in the high schools or the freshman English program, he pulled out the campus directory and began to flip through the pages in search of help. As he scanned the endless administrative entries in the phone book, he wondered where to turn for some guidance.

Bob's experience is not unusual. Many faculty want to enhance student learning or to help students to improve their writing and speaking abilities, especially because these abilities are often assumed to reflect students' knowledge of content or their ability to work within a discipline. Yet without adequate preparation and resources, it may be difficult to spent time in class on writing and speaking. For years split off from their necessary place in every course and department, writing and speaking sometimes seem to be the exclusive domain of "skills" courses taught by people with special expertise in these fields. But language drives the creation and mediation of knowledge in every discipline and all classrooms where such disciplines are learned, from psychology to plant genetics to cultural anthropology. As teachers, we are-all of us-already well prepared to use writing and speaking as tools for learning and not just conveying the subject matter of our fields.

Even in the face of roadblocks similar to those arising from Bob's situation, the need for cross-curricular writing and speaking instruction continues to grow. Some disciplines are facing clear challenges from industry to prepare students for the specific kinds of writing and speaking tasks they will face in the work place-tasks that more generic writing and speaking courses can't always anticipate. Business leaders and social critics alike are recognizing the need for students to be able to present themselves effectively both orally and in writing, and to use strong communication skills in small-group settings and less formal contexts for writing. Rapid enhancements in technology are also bringing otherwise disparate communication and interpretive processes together. Workers now must be able to adjust--sometimes very rapidly--the content, persona, level of formality, style, and format of their writing or speaking to meet the needs of a wide range of clients or colleagues. Furthermore, the demands of new multimedia technology now require the effective use of text and voice in the same contexts and on the same tasks.

These concerns are not particular to business and industry. Critiques within higher education and from the general public continue raise questions about students' classroom experiences. Among its sweeping recommendations, the 1998 Boyer report identifies "linking communication skills in course work" as a key for improving undergraduate education. A recent article in the Chronicle of Higher Education advocates "taking aim at student incoherence" through the use of writing and speaking activities in coursework. Public reportage, such as the LA Times' article "Colleges, Like, Focus on Speech" and the Boston Globe's commentary "Talk is, Like, You Know, Cheapened," have documented the increased concern on many campuses that poor communication skills suggest a lack of attention to the relationship between speaking and learning in the classroom. Clearly, the call for more attention to writing and speaking in undergraduate education is at the forefront of public and academic conversations.

Both writing and speaking have been shown to improve students' learning and to make them more incisive, critical thinkers. We know, for example, that when students talk about their writing in progress, their final drafts are better than if they are left to their own struggles. We also know that when students write about their learning before an important oral presentation--whether to chart it out on paper or simply explore what they know--their presentations are more effective. Just as certain kinds of informal writing help students to participate more fully and intelligently in class discussions, speaking about their knowledge helps them to prepare for drafting and revising formal, high-stakes college papers. And just as writing experiences may range from informal, journal-like reflections or one-minute summaries at the end of a lecture to long, complex, highly polished documents, speaking experiences may range from interpersonal activities such as interviewing, small-group brainstorming, or conflict management to important formal presentations that may be rehearsed a dozen or more times.

Why writing and speaking? Why here?

The benefits of integrating writing and speaking experiences into coursework are clear--on a campus-wide and disciplinary level. NC State's newly instituted Campus Writing and Speaking Program is not only a response to national trends, but also a major step in the University's commitment to improve its graduates' writing and speaking abilities and to incorporate writing and speaking into the classroom as powerful tools for teaching and learning. The Program was established to provide leadership for the campus as it implements its General Education Requirements in Writing and Speaking and to offer guidance to faculty members in their efforts to use writing and speaking in their classes. At the center of the Program's many goals and services is support for engaging students as active participants in learning their subject matter, the ways of thinking that define their discipline, and the conventions of discourse that will define them as professionals in their fields.

While many institutions have either writing- or communicating-across-the-curriculum programs, very few have integrated these into a single program that combines both college-specific and campus-wide goals. The program we are developing at NC State will be the first of its kind at a research-oriented university. With the encouragement and support of the faculty and administration, we will be strengthening and extending the excellent groundwork already established by our colleagues over the past two years. Our goals are ambitious, but when realized, they promise to bring national attention to North Carolina State University and provide a model for other institutions to follow.

The Campus Writing and Speaking Program is innovative in three ways. First, it is grounded in a commitment to work closely with faculty on a collegiate and departmental basis to construct, implement, and assess writing and speaking outcomes; to facilitate curricular integration; and to provide support for instructional improvement. These context-specific goals are also supported by a broader initiative to bring faculty together, through outreach programs, for cross-curricular discussions and workshops. Large- and small-group sessions for faculty and graduate teaching assistants will cover a variety of topics related to writing and speaking. A robust program of research will also continue to work on the outcome-based assessment of undergraduate communication objectives and programmatic effectiveness.

Throughout the coming year, we invite your participation and feedback as we strive to realize these goals and become a resourceful presence on campus. If you are in a department that has encouraged the integration of writing and speaking into coursework or if you are interested in exploring such a possibility in your own courses, we hope you well turn to us for help. In turn, as it benefits from your own wisdom and expertise, we hope that the program becomes a truly interdisciplinary clearinghouse for new ideas, strategies, and research.