Hendrix Receives Mellon Grant for Writing Across the Curriculum

Hendrix College recently received a $250,000 grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to fund a two-year Writing Across the Curriculum project.

The grant supports a faculty committee charged with reviewing writing instruction and outcomes at Hendrix and elsewhere. The committee will make recommendations at the conclusion of the grant period.

Longtime English professor Dr. Alice Hines, who developed and currently manages the Writing Across the Curriculum program at Hendrix, recently completed a sabbatical to study writing programs at other institutions.

Hines’ sabbatical research will be critical to the faculty committee’s work, says Dr. Alex Vernon, the chair of the Humanities area.

The Mellon-funded project will also include a pilot course on essay writing developed by Dr. Pat Hoy, who recently retired as director of New York University’s expository writing program.

Under Hoy’s tutelage, five Hendrix faculty members will offer seven sections of the pilot essay writing course. The faculty members include Dr. Vernon, Dr. Toni Jaudon, and Dr. Tyrone Jaeger from the English department, as well as Dr. Allison Shutt (history), and Dr. Rod Miller (art).

“We believe that forming practiced writers should be a signature feature and outcome of any liberal arts education,” said W. Ellis Arnold III, Acting President of Hendrix. “The assistance of the Andrew Mellon Foundation in developing a new writing program will have a significant impact upon the College’s ability to produce graduates with writing skills that will serve them for a lifetime in a wide range of professional and personal endeavors.”