Page 176 - Composition in Convergence The Impact of the New Media on Writing Assessment

ACCESS BEFORE ASSESSMENT 143

Sciences sent a letter arguing that humanities education does pre-
pare students beyond "technological proficiency" (Press &
Washburn, 2000, p. 51). Although the GMU response is probably an
accurate reflection of how those of us in the humanities think,
Merten's rejoinder summarizes the turn administrative and legisla-
tive bodies have made toward higher education.
President Merten's defense of his slashing programs reflects the
corporate mindset infused in the language of higher education and
the "market-model university" (Engell & Dangerfield, 1998):

There was a time when universities weren't held accountable for
much— people just threw money at them .... People with money are
more likely to give you money if you have restructured and reposi-
tioned yourself, got rid of stuff that you don't need to have. They take a
very dim view of giving you money to run an inefficient organization ....
We have a commitment to produce people who are employable in to-
day's technology work force. (Press & Washburn, 2000, p. 51)

It seems unimaginable to anyone in Composition to think that
writing, reading, and thinking would make people less employable
in the Information Age. If anything, writing, reading, and thinking
should make students more employable. However, compositionists
can see with increasing regularity that state universities, especially
smaller state universities vying for budget dollars with larger re-
search universities, clearly follow principles similar to George Ma-
son University's. Each year, more state governments are slashing
funding for higher education, and with these cuts comes the reduc-
tion of departmental support for humanities programs. To offset
these cuts, state governments offer money to their universities to
create curricula or programs that "sell." In the market-model uni-
versity, courses or programs that generate money, develop venture
money, or lure money in for the University have priority over all
others (Engell & Dangerfield, 1998). These courses are the ones
students have access to.
Composition, as it is currently configured at most institutions,
does not generate money, develop venture money, or lure money in
for the university. Composition mostly prepares large numbers of
incoming and transfer students for work in other majors across
campus. In retail terms, Composition is a "loss leader" for universi-
ties. Writing specialists only have to look at how literacy, especially
information literacy, is assessed in the market-model university to