AWC English faculty receives national recognition for book chapter

Professors were awarded for their work during the council's annual conference

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) - Three Arizona Western College (AWC) English professors received national recognition from the Council of Writing Program Administrators for co-authoring a chapter in a book that earned the "Best Book Award for 2022."

Here are the three professors that were awarded for their work:

• Dr. Sarah Snyder, Professor of English/Administrator of Writing Program and Writing Intensive Curriculum 
• Dr. Sara Amani, Professor of Multilingual Composition/Specialist 
• Kevin Kato, Professor of English 

The three professors collectively shared, “We are truly honored to have received the Council of Writing Program Administrators’ national award for the 'Best Book' of the year, which included our chapter outlining innovations in placement for students at AWC."

The book titled, Community College Online Directed Self-Placement During the COVID-19 Pandemic, discusses AWC's work to reform writing placement assessment.

AWC said the faculty members shared about an online-directed self-placement tool implemented by staff and the effect it had on the placement of students.

The chapter included in the book, Writing Placement in Two-Year Colleges: The Pursuit of Equity in Postsecondary Education, which brings together two-year college teacher-scholar-activists from across the U.S. to share stories, strategies, and data about local efforts at reforming writing placement assessment to advance educational access and equity, said AWC.

“At the beginning of the pandemic, a common writing placement tool became unavailable, which allowed AWC to create an alternative method for writing placement. Our book chapter celebrates the collaborative and innovative efforts of AWC faculty, administration, and staff to develop a tool that helps students navigate choosing the writing class that they are most likely to succeed in. We have seen some promising results for students with the new placement tool,” the group said.