The program will expand incrementally to include courses outside of the general education curriculum. The program will expand gradually as faculty develop/enhance courses to include CREW outcomes. Table 4 details the expected expansion of CREW courses. The program will officially begin in fall 2019. In subsequent years, more courses will be offered. Some courses may be offered each semester while others may be offered once per academic years depending on faculty and department availability. The program expansion timeline is provided in Table 4.
Table 4. Program Expansion Timeline
| Year |
Number of Courses |
Number of Students |
| Pilot 2018-19 |
Offer 4 CREW courses |
150 |
| Year One: 2019-20 |
Offer 6 CREW courses |
1,000 |
| Year Two: 2020-21 |
Offer 9 CREW courses |
1,500 |
| Year Three: 2021-22 |
Offer 12 CREW courses |
2,000 |
| Year Four: 2022-23 |
Offer 15 CREW courses |
2,500 |
| Year Five: 2023-24 |
Offer 18 CREW courses |
3,000 |
The Pilot process consisted of two phases: pilot project design and pilot project implementation.
Pilot project design activities were conducted in spring 2018. In February 2018, the University’s QEP Team hosted a close reading workshop supported by the Black History Month Committee and led by the Dean of the Robert C. Nusbaum Honors College, on the classic Letter from Birmingham Jail by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Faculty from Biology, English, History, Interdisciplinary Studies, Business, Social Work, Education and Nursing engaged in the close reading process, including providing constructive feedback. The ETS HEIghten written communication and critical thinking assessments were administered to students in ENG 101 and SEM 101, respectively, to establish a baseline of incoming, students’ abilities.
In May 2018, an external education consultant led a series of workshops over three-days on close reading, teaching, engagement and implementation techniques and strategies for faculty and staff. Approximately100 participants took advantage of at least one day of this opportunity. In May 2018, a committee of faculty, staff and students selected The Black Panther (2016), a graphic novel by Ta-Nehisi Coates as the Common Reader for the Class of 2022.
In summer 2018 and fall 2018, the pilot project implementation phase began. While preparing to incorporate close reading intentionally within specifically identified courses and sections of courses (namely, ENG 101, HIS 100, and SOC 101), faculty met during the summer to train, plan and prepare. The English CREW, History CREW and Sociology CREW faculty identified one to two readings to introduce and instruct students on the close reading process using discipline-specific content. The Student Affairs CREW committed to provide campus-wide programming, (e.g., discussion forums, brown bag lunch programs) and other CREW identified activities including a focus on the Common Reader, The Black Panther.
The Dr. Patricia Lynch Stith Student Success Center partnered with the Department of English to ensure that SPARC Summer Bridge Program participants taking English 101 for credit were introduced to CREW elements. This provided an opportunity for course instructors to employ or enhance CREW techniques with a small group of incoming freshmen before partial pilot deployment in fall 2018.
Throughout the summer of 2018, the University’s Office of Communications and Marketing, Office of the Provost and select QEP Committee members crafted a slogan and marketing campaign featuring CREW. The campaign was designed to raise the salience of the new QEP initiatives and encourage cross-campus participation and input. Further, the marketing campaign will also inspire CREW participation from all areas. The campaign was presented during the fall opening conference in August 2018. Fall 2018 activities included the following:
- Workshops aimed at helping faculty engage in discipline-specific close reading activities
- A University roundtable discussion on CREW
- Creation and regular dissemination of a QEP newsletter and podcast, with QEP director as lead editor and author and feature guest editors, writers and podcast contributors from across campus
- Further consideration of (pre and post) assessment instruments, including the HEIghten assessment
- Review of additional Student and Academic Affairs programs to incorporate and support CREW outcomes.
A detailed timeline of CREW development and implementation activities is provided in Table 5.
Table 5. QEP Development and Implementation Timeline
| Milestones |
Target Data |
| QEP Working Committees Created and Charged |
June 2017 |
| Committee Approved QEP Theme: Close Reading for Effective Writing (CREW) |
September 2017 |
| Stakeholders Forum #1—Community at-large and Prospective Employers |
October 2017 |
| Implementation Plan and Budget Presented to English and Foreign Languages Department (ENFL) |
November 2017 |
| QEP Update Presented to Full Faculty at Opening Session (Spring 2018) |
January 2018 |
| Presentation to Full QEP Review Committee |
February 2018 |
| Stakeholders Forum #2 – NSU Campus Community (students, faculty & staff) |
February 2018 |
| Close Reading Presentation to Cross-disciplinary Faculty |
February 2018 |
| CREW Showcase of Faculty Best Practices |
August 2018 |
| CREW Seminar on Rachel Carson's Silent Spring |
August 2018 |
| CREW Faculty and Staff Seminar Series |
September 2018 |
| CREW Faculty and Staff Seminar Series |
October 2018 |
| CREW Faculty and Staff Seminar Series |
November 2018 |
| QEP Proposal Submitted to SACSCOC |
January 2019 |
| Piloted Classes for CREW Strategies |
January 2019 |
| Piloted Classes for CREW Strategies |
February 2019 |
| Piloted Classes for CREW Strategies |
March 2019 |
| On-site Presentation of QEP to SACSOC Visiting Team |
March 2019 |
| Piloted Classes for CREW Strategies |
April 2019 |
| Piloted Classes for CREW Strategies |
May 2019 |
| QEP FULL Implementation Begins |
July 1, 2019 |
| First CREW-Mates Trained and Certified |
September 2019 |
| QEP 1st Annual Report |
May 2019 |
| QEP 2nd Annual Report |
May 2020 |
| QEP 3rd Annual Report |
May 2021 |
| QEP 4th Annual Report |
May 2022 |
| QEP 5 Year Impact Report |
May 2023 |