Program in Rhetoric and Composition

Mission Statement

The Program in Rhetoric and Composition primarily develops and manages first-year writing courses that help students master the conventions of academic discourse. The courses under the purview of the Program emphasize the development of sophisticated reading, writing, and thinking skills necessary for student success in the academy and beyond.

The Program boasts the largest teaching staff at the University of Arkansas, regularly employing over 100 teachers at the various ranks of Instructor, Graduate Assistant, and Lecturer, to meet the staffing demand of courses ranging from developmental writing to upper division technical writing, as well as first-year World Literature.

In addition to the supervision of all Program teaching personnel, the Program is responsible for the scheduling of all Composition and World Literature I & II courses, the evaluation of Transfer Credit Petitions for Composition courses, the approval of credit by examination petitions, the managing of the Jessie O’Kelly freshman essay annual award, the periodic assessment of Composition I & II courses, and the regular updating of the curricula for the ten courses under its purview.