First-Year Writing Program

As one of the earliest courses of study for most Huskies, UN 1015 Composition bridges students' reading, writing, and research skills developed prior to entering the university with those necessary for long-term success both in academia and beyond. This course provides students with skills and knowledge that will help prepare them to develop academic literacy skills and aims to provide students with a rigorous introduction to the kinds of tasks they will do as a college student, to familiarize them with campus resources related to research and writing, and to help them develop portable critical reading, research, and writing processes that they will continue to develop in subsequent courses.

In UN 1015, students learn to analyze and produce communicative texts for a variety of audiences, contexts, and purposes. As they examine the communicative practices at work all around them, students learn to employ those strategies appropriately in their own projects. In the process, they develop a beginning familiarity with rhetoric, genre, critical reading and writing, research, assessing information, using sources, and collaboration.

While the written word remains the primary mode of communication for most academic work, UN 1015 recognizes multimodal composing—that is, communicating information not just through writing but also through visual, audio, and other modes of communication that are increasingly common in our digital and face-to-face environments.

Holly Hassel

• Professor of Writing Studies
• Director, First-Year Writing Program

• hjhassel@mtu.edu
• Walker 310

Jordan Dagenais

• PhD Student
• Graduate Teaching Instructor
• Assistant Director of Composition

• jpdagena@mtu.edu
• Walker 314

Upon the completion of UN 1015, students will be able to:

• Rhetorical & Genre Awareness:
  
  • Compose and organize rhetorical content in multiple genres, demonstrating strategic decision making.
  • Choose appropriate conventions (tone, style, and design) across a range of genres.
• Critical Reading and Research:
  
  • Select and integrate sources effectively, using strategies appropriate for the writing task.
  • Make source use visible through a recognized and appropriate citation style.
• Writing and Research Process Knowledge:
  • Use and explain writing strategies throughout a recursive writing process.
  • Use and explain research strategies throughout a process of academic inquiry.

While individual sections throughout Michigan Tech’s composition program represent diverse teaching styles, all students must complete four writing projects.  There is some variation in how each section approaches these projects, but the basic requirements and learning objectives are standard for all sections. As such, in all sections of UN 1015, students complete a topic survey report; a worknet and synthesis essay; a research-based journal article; and a multimodal project. In addition, students demonstrate their writing and research processes through assessment using a portfolio system at midterm and the end-of-the semester.

MonsterComp

MonsterComp is an unofficial name for a selection of uniquely designed and facilitated sections of UN 1015 Composition. In addition to introducing students to college writing, MonsterComp is designed to support the new Humanities Department’s Graduate Teaching Assistants. MonsterComp provides an environment where experienced and novice instructors, as well as the Director of First-Year Writing, collaboratively deliver course content.

Students in MonsterComp complete the same writing projects as students in other sections of UN 1015, but the instruction setting and structure differ. Early each week, MonsterComp meets in a lecture hall to explore concepts in college writing. Then, later in the week, each section meets independently with their section instructors to practice those concepts in a more traditional setting.

In MonsterComp, both students and teachers have the opportunity to learn from a wide range of writing and teaching styles.

Paw Prints: The Michigan Tech Journal of First-Year Writing

Students in UN 1015: Composition have the opportunity to submit their major core assignment—the research journal article—for publication in our online and print academic journal, Paw Prints. Initially launched in Spring 2025 by students in HU 3606: Editing, the journal serves as an opportunity to highlight excellence in researched academic writing. The journal publishes two issues per year and is available online.