When students at SUNY Fredonia work on writing projects for their courses, they can turn to a new resource: a locally produced book that offers practical advice about college writing.
Two features distinguish this 138-page publication from the many handbooks available through trade and academic presses.
Written by students
First, it was written primarily by three advanced students at SUNY Fredonia—Jetta Regina Fosberg, April J. Murphy, and Kristen Irja Niemi—in collaboration with faculty and professional staff from across campus. Second, as it shows how to organize essays or cite sources correctly, this book includes photographs and examples from the 182-year history of the campus.
As interns in Academic Affairs in Spring 2008, the students worked with faculty liaison Angela Rosebrough to organize and write the 14 chapters of Beyond Normal: Making Your Writing Devilishly Good.
Fosberg, Murphy, and Niemi relied not only on their own knowledge of writing but the advice of more than 80 faculty who participated in a survey about student writing on campus. Faculty and professional staff also wrote introductions to the chapters, using examples from their own fields of study as they illustrate various aspects of writing.
To prepare this book, the student interns also spent considerable time engaged in archival research. Jeremy Linden, Head of Archives and Special Collections in Reed Library, taught them about using archival photographs and documents and assisted them in gathering and understanding materials. As a result, readers of this book can learn about the campus origins as Fredonia Academy, its history as Fredonia Normal School, and its development into a state university with an enrollment of 5,600 students in more than 100 degree programs.
Dr. Virginia Horvath, Vice President for Academic Affairs, sponsored this project and served as the supervisor for the internship. She was eager for students and faculty to have a reference for writing that was available, inexpensively, for use in all courses. “I’m proud of what these students have accomplished, and I hope Beyond Normal will be useful to students and faculty. It was an ambitious project to write and publish a book in a six-month period!”
She praises the work of Ms. Bonny Chruscicki, Campus Designer, who worked with graphic design student David Raymond to design the cover and all inside pages of the book. Because of their efforts, the text is professional and attractive.
This book was given to all first-year students, so that new students could learn about their campus and understand the expectations for college-level writing at SUNY Fredonia. An electronic file of this book is also featured on the website for every course across campus, giving students and instructors a free resource as they develop student writing.
