RATER INFORMATION

Apply Now to Be a WAC Assessment Rater!

Being a WAC rater presents an opportunity to participate in engaging conversations about what we value in student writing, add a service component to curriculum vitae, and supplement summer income. 

Requirements:    You must have exerience teaching or supporting a WAC-designated course and must be actively employed by the university.

If you are interested, complete the application even if you are waiting for summer teaching assignment confirmation. 

Direct any questions to  Julianna Cohen  or  Sipai Klein.

2023 WAC RATER APPLICATION

Deadline: Friday, April 7th


General Information

WHO?
25-30 evaluators who teach WAC courses and regularly assign and comment on student writing in their classes. Tenure-line faculty, instructors, Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs), and adjuncts are welcome to participate provided they meet this criteria.

WHAT? 
Raters will use an online interface to read and rate papers, based on our    11-trait WAC rubric. There is an extensive norming process during the first two days and periodically throughout the week that opens interesting discussions about what we value in writing and why and ensures that inter-rater reliability is high. More background information on the WAC Assessment is below.

WHEN?
Wednesday, May 10th – Wednesday, May 17th (weekend excluded), 9:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m. (with one hour lunch break). We estimate that the rating process will take 5-6 days. Full attendance in the primary rubric norming session on Wednesday, May 10th and Thursday, May 11th is required. These required norming session days will not impact raters that are teaching/taking classes during summer terms 1 or 2 as they occur before the summer terms begin. Evaluators with the most availability are preferred. 

WHERE?
Virtual via Zoom, Canvas, and the WAC Assessment website.

WHY?
The WAC assessment seeks to determine the improvements in student writing across a wide range of WAC courses as well as areas of concern. Raters often find norming conversations engaging and revealing about their own values in student writing. Also, it is a chance to earn extra money in the summer and gain valuable assessment experience. 

HOW MUCH?
The compensation for your time and energy will be $15 an hour.

WAC Assessment background
Each term since Spring of 2008, WAC, in conjunction with the office of Institutional Effectiveness and Analysis (IEA), has compiled a stratified random sampling of approximately 15-20 WAC-designated courses across the university and requested that each student in those sections submit material for the annual program assessment. Each student in the identified sections submits a first and final draft of a substantial, end-of-term thesis-driven writing assignment that uses multiple sources (a research paper, literature review, analysis paper, etc.), in addition to completing a short survey regarding their writing.