The faculty and graduate students who work in the Composition Program at University Park are responsible for supplying two general education courses in writing to every student on the University Park campus. The first-year course (English 15 or English 30), an introductory university course in rhetoric which emphasizes general principles and public discourses, focuses on writing as argument, on invention, and on the rhetorical situation. The more advanced upper-division course (English 202A: Writing in the Social Sciences; English 202B: Writing in the Humanities; English 202C: Technical Writing; English 202D: Business Writing; or 202H: Literacy) focuses on writing in the disciplines.

Also, new in the spring of 2010 is LA 101H, a four-credit honors course which meets the six-credit communication requirement (CAS100A and English 15/30).  This interdisciplinary class is taught by instructors from both English and Communication Arts and Sciences.

The Composition Program takes a leadership role at Penn State, working with other faculty in English across the Penn State system to create curricula, procedures, assessment strategies, and textbook selections appropriate to the required courses (and others). The program also produces a common textbook, PennStatements, that is used in all English 15 and English 30 courses on the University Park campus.

The Composition Program, in addition, oversees several other English courses. English 04 is a course in basic writing for students who need more writing practice before entering English 15. English 05 provides instruction in the form of weekly individual tutoring to support students in English 4 and English 15. We work closely with Penn State Learning, which oversees writing across the curriculum at University Park and which provides peer tutors to the University Park Writing Center. The Composition Program also offers two elective courses (English 418 and English 421) for students who desire additional, advanced coursework in writing.

Most composition courses are available in distance format via the World Campus. We staff these courses and are responsible for keeping them current. The distance format was chiefly devised to accommodate students pursuing Penn State degree programs via the World Campus, but it also offers a good option for resident students who have scheduling constraints or who are studying abroad.

To support all of its courses, the Composition Program runs an extensive teacher-training program. New teachers, especially new graduate students, take a two-semester practicum that focuses on the practice and theory of first-year composition; a number of graduate students also elect to enroll in one or more graduate courses related to composition pedagogy. (The Composition Program maintains a close relationship with faculty who develop PhDs in the rhetoric area of the English graduate program.) Experienced teachers interested in teaching English 202 take a one-semester practicum for each course that they are assigned to teach (English 202A, English 202B, English 202C, and English 202D). All new teachers are also assigned a mentor, an experienced teacher who makes classroom visits and helps beginners with all aspects of teacher development. In addition, we provide support for the Teaching with Technology Certificate: all graduate students are eligible to earn this certificate, which recognizes expertise in computers and composition.