Carnegie Foundation Grant and Director of The Writing Program
In 1972-73 school year Shaughnessy was awarded a Carnegie Foundation grant to research and create “a report on the writing problems of disadvantaged students” (122). The duties of the directorship of the SEEK program went to another for a year as she did “more work,” and worked “better and faster than most humans” (136). This sabbatical was eventually extended for another year. Throughout this time she continued meeting with the SEEK faculty and collaborating with them to put together a report of her findings. Her persistence and hard work paid off when she was promoted to Assistant Professor after much resistance, as well as praise and support, from other faculty. She became director of City College’s Writing Program in 1973.
In her reports on her findings during this time, Shaughnessy worked hard against some stereotypes of basic writing students, revealing that low-income white students make up about two-thirds of the Open Admissions freshmen with below-80 high school averages. She placed much of the responsibility for this lack in skills and education of these basic writers on the teachers and school systems, emphasizing the need for the humility of teachers to learn from their students and create pedagogy that responds to their needs.
Shaughnessy also chaired many panels, conducted an Open Admissions seminar at the Conference on College Composition and Communication, and led many other activities to promote basic writing, including creating a bibliography of articles addressing basic writing.
Returning to teaching and continuing to work on a book she would later publish, Errors and Expectations, left her with little time to spend outside of the basic writing field. She did have some family concerns which needed her attention, however. Her father’s arthritis worsened and her mother suffered several angina attacks and died in 1974. A close friend also died during this period.
Read more about this topic: Mina P. Shaughnessy
Famous quotes containing the words carnegie, foundation, grant, writing and/or program:
“I would as soon leave my son a curse as the almighty dollar.”
—Andrew Carnegie (1835–1919)
“Beautiful credit! The foundation of modern society. Who shall say that this is not the golden age of mutual trust, of unlimited reliance upon human promises? That is a peculiar condition of society which enables a whole nation to instantly recognize point and meaning in the familiar newspaper anecdote, which puts into the mouth of a distinguished speculator in lands and mines this remark:M”I wasn’t worth a cent two years ago, and now I owe two millions of dollars.””
—Mark Twain [Samuel Langhorne Clemens] (1835–1910)
“At your request
My father will grant precious things as trifles.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“That of all the several ways of beginning a book which are now in practice throughout the known world, I am confident my own way of doing it is the best—I’m sure it is the most religious—for I begin with writing the first sentence—and trusting to Almighty God for the second.”
—Laurence Sterne (1713–1768)
“Called on one occasion to a homestead cabin whose occupant had been found frozen to death, Coroner Harvey opened the door, glanced in, and instantly pronounced his verdict, “Deader ‘n hell!””
—For the State of Nebraska, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)