Program Learning Outcomes

Spanish - BA Student Learning Outcomes

• Students will show an Advanced Low or higher level of proficiency in speaking, understanding, reading, and writing Spanish. 
• Students will display understanding of grammatical structures and will apply this knowledge in oral and written practice. 
• Students will demonstrate ability to understand cultural and literary  texts. 
• Students will demonstrate an understanding of the socio-political and historical contexts of texts and cultural production. 
• Students will exhibit ability to seek out information, examine assumptions and premises, and write meaningful conclusions based upon objective facts. 

Asian Studies – BA Student Learning Outcomes 

• Demonstrate the ability to read and converse minimally at a second-year level of proficiency in an Asian language, depending on Track.
• Show general familiarity with the histories, societies, cultures, literatures, and geography of Asia in general and of a specific geographic and cultural sub-region of Asia, either East Asia (including China, Japan, and Korea) or South Asia (including India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka).
• Demonstrate awareness and familiarity with different disciplinary approaches to the study of Asia, such as historical, political, cultural, geographic, social, and or linguistic perspectives on the region.
• Critically analyze Asia's role in relation to the U.S. and the world.

The Bilingual - ESL Grad Program Mission Statement

The mission of the Bilingual/ESL Graduate Program is to prepare educators to teach linguistically diverse learners through courses that balance current theory and practical experience, and to foster the development of knowledge and skills needed to support these learners in their development of proficiency and literacy in both their home language(s) and English.

Program Strengths:

• Online learning model designed for busy NJ classroom teachers.
• A direct pathway to additional credentials in ESL and/or Bilingual Education through certification or a master’s degree.  
• TESOL and CAEP National Accreditation.
• Individualized advisement and mentoring that facilitates completing the program at students’ preferred pace. 
• Annual Bilingual/ESL Conference with a wide range of workshops for additional PD hours.

English Undergraduate Mission Statement 

Our mission is to empower students in their pursuit of interests in such areas as creative writing, literature, professional writing, rhetoric, literacy, and linguistics as they prepare for their lives as informed citizens, ethical leaders, effective writers, and analytical thinkers for a world of diversity and innovation. 

English - UG Goals 

1. Students will learn to engage in critical thinking, to articulate supported arguments, to synthesize information, and to express complex ideas 
2. Students will understand and appreciate the creative and aesthetic aspects of literature, language, and writing in print, digital, and visual texts 
3. Students will understand literary, creative, and rhetorical concepts and principles and be able to connect them to complex historical and cultural issues 
4. Students will make connections between the knowledge and practices developed in their studies and its relevance to cultural, social, ethical, and professional opportunities and issues. 

English - UG Student Learning Outcomes

1. Students will know how to conduct inquiry and articulate cohesive written and verbal analysis, using source material to support arguments and organizing and presenting information in various forms. 
2. Students will demonstrate proficiency in written analysis and critical thinking. 
3. Students will articulate analysis and appreciation of aesthetics, linguistics, and rhetorics in producing texts in various forms. 
4. Students will evaluate and explain complex issues relevant to literary, creative, or rhetorical principles and their historical and cultural significance. 
5. Students will articulate knowledge of diverse issues relevant to the humanities in society and communicate insights and problem-solving applications to address such issues.  

Writing Center Mission Statement  

The Writing Center serves all students across the university, both in-person and online, at all levels of academic study in any discipline. Our mission is to help students improve as writers through tutoring and coaching designed to fit each individual client’s needs. 

 Writing Center Student Learning Outcomes

1. Students will be able to understand and communicate that writing is a collaborative process engaging various resources and approaches. 
2. Students/tutors will be able to understand and communicate the writing center to be a space of open and just learning and collaboration. 
3. Increase access for students seeking to improve writing knowledge and practices. 
4. Demonstrate increased proficiency in tutoring using both face-to-face and digital approaches in supporting individual students across the university.

GRADUATE PROGRAMS

Creative & Professional Writing - MFA Mission Statement  

The M.F.A. in Creative and Professional Writing is a studio/research program of 41 credits designed to provide graduate students with the practical skills necessary to develop their own writing, evaluate and edit the writing of others, gain experience with methodologies of learning and teaching writing, and extend their knowledge of literature from various periods, genres, and major authors. Offering concentrations in four genres—poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, and professional nonfiction—the program will help students attune their work to contemporary literary publishing standards, encourage them to explore both the process and the product of the writing craft, and foster their facility with a broad range of techniques relevant to the art of creative writing, to careers in editing and publishing, and to the competitive marketplace standards of professional prose.  

Creative & Professional Writing - MFA Goals 

1. Students will learn to employ a wide variety of effective writing strategies and techniques, both in the production of work and in the revision of the project. 
2. Students will situate and promote their writing in the contemporary milieu 
3. Students will evaluate and edit their own work, as well as the work of others, for aesthetic and commercial purposes 
4. Students will learn to employ a variety of effective teaching methods in writing and literature 

 Creative & Professional Writing - MFA Student Learning Outcomes

1. Demonstrate effective writing strategies and techniques for drafting, developing and producing creative written work. 
2. Accurately evaluate and independently develop writing in at least one major genre (poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, professional nonfiction) 
3. Develop strategies for marketing their writing in the publishing industry and related fields 
4. Demonstrate knowledge of expectations for and the ability to evaluate and edit their own work and the work of others for aesthetic and commercial purposes 
5. Develop strategies and techniques for classroom teaching in writing and literature courses and apply theories and practices of effective teaching methods in writing and literature. 

English - MA

The English MA program is currently on hiatus. Plans in progress.