Academic Literacy: A Statement of Competencies Expected of Students Entering California's Public Colleges and Universities

Publication Information

This document is published by the Intersegmental Committee of the Academic Senates (ICAS), with assistance from a grant awarded by the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges.

© Intersegmental Committee of the Academic Senates (ICAS)
2000

ICAS
c/o Academic Senate for California Community Colleges
428 J Street, Suite 430
Sacramento, CA 95814
Fax: (916) 322-9867
E-mail: academicsenate@ix.netcom.com

Additional copies of this publication are available by contacting ICAS at the address above. It is also available at the ICAS Website at http://www.asccc.org/icas.html

Acknowledgements
We gratefully acknowledge the contributions and support of the following:

Intersegmental Committee of the Academic Senates
The Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges
Academic Senate for California Community Colleges
University of California, Irvine
Meredith Lee, Dean of Undergraduate Studies
Robert Daly, Analytical Studies
The Chancellor's Office of the California State University
Lori Roth, Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Programs
Jerry Rudmann, Dean of Research, Coastline Community College
Brenda Borron, Professor of English, Irvine Valley College

Members of the Task Force

Kate Clark, Chair, Professor of English, Irvine Valley College
Betty Bamberg, Professor of English/Writing Program Coordinator, CSU, Los Angeles
Kim Flachmann, Professor of English/Writing Program Coordinator, CSU Bakersfield
Jan Frodesen, Lecturer SOE, Director of English as a Second Language Program, Department of Linguistics, UC Santa Barbara
Mary Kay Harrington, Director of Writing Skills Program, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo; Faculty English Consultant to the CSU Chancellor’s Office
Lisa Phares Marchand, Professor of English as a Second Language, Cosumnes River College
Don Rothman, Senior Lecturer in Writing, UC Santa Cruz; Director Central California Writing Project,
Alison Warriner, Professor of English/Writing Program Coordinator, CSU Hayward
Consulting MembersJames Given, Professor of History, UC Irvine (1999-2000)Carolyn Porter, Professor of English, UC Berkeley
California Department of Education RepresentativesDiane Levine, California Department of EducationMarilyn Whirry, Mira Costa High School

From ICAS Chairs

Dear Colleague:

This document on Academic Literacies is an update of the original 1982 Statement on Competencies in English Expected of Entering College Freshmen. Incorporating findings from a web-based survey submitted to faculty across the disciplines at the University of California, the California State Universities and the California Community Colleges, this document provides a clear statement of expectations faculty have for the critical reading, writing, and thinking abilities of their entering students. Its attention to the comments of many faculty outside of traditional departments of English or rhetoric makes this document truly groundbreaking in its approach and far-reaching in its authority.
This statement arises from collaborative efforts of secondary and postsecondary faculty who contributed to, read, and commented on drafts of this document. The findings have also been presented to teachers and faculty at professional conferences and workshops in California and across the nation. Their review and critiques furthered the Task Force’s work.
The Intersegmental Committee of Academic Senates representing the academic senates of the three segments of California’s higher education sponsored the efforts that produced this document. The Academic Senates of the University of California, the California State Universities and the California Community Colleges have all adopted this document and offer it as their official recommendations to the K-12 sector, to students and their parents, to teachers and administrators, and to public policy makers.

Finally, we underscore the invitation extended by the authors of this document to use it in prompting discussions about the wide range of academic literacies expected of students entering California’s postsecondary institutions.

Jackie Kegley, Chair California State University Academic Senate
Hoke Simpson, President, Academic Senate for California Community Colleges
Chand Viswanathan, Chair, University of California Academic Council