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About

The official logo of the First-Year Composition program at the University of Oklahoma. The words "University of Oklahoma" appear in black on a white background over an OU crimson rectangle. The rectangle has a square white border framing the letters FYC, with the F and C in white and the Y and rest of the surface area in OU crimson. Beneath the rectangle are the words "First-Year Composition" in black on a white background.

We owe the success of our FYC program to the thoughtful design of the curriculum and the instructors who teach it. 

This section shares the guiding philosophy and structure of our first-year composition program. In Philosophy, you will find a detailed description of how our award-winning curriculum approaches the teaching of writing through rhetorical education and with an emphasis on contributing to civil discourse. In Course Arc, we share the intentional design within and across English 1113 and English 1213 that allows our students to practice slow argumentation, using the skills that they develop for each project to inform the next, culminating in student arguments that are based in listening and understanding. In People, we introduce the incredible folks who bring our exciting curriculum to life for our students. On this page, you will find information about our official role at the university as well as our administrative structure.

The First-Year Composition Program at the University of Oklahoma is a proud recipient of the National Council of Teachers of English Conference on College Composition and Communication's prestigious 2017 Writing Program Certificate of Excellence Award

Our Role

The Office of First-Year Composition serves its students, its instructors, and the OU academic community in the following ways:

  • Preparing instructors to successfully teach course and unit objectives
  • Designing policies to support instructors and students
  • Mediating disputes between instructors and FYC students
  • Supporting students and instructors during any grade appeals for FYC unit projects
  • Providing a safe environment for you to share concerns about your FYC classes or instructors
  • Answering questions about FYC policies or procedures
  • Having an optimistic view of students and instructors
  • Checking fyc@ou.edu regularly and keeping office hours from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. 

2017-2018 Writing Program Certificate of Excellence

The University of Oklahoma's First-Year Composition Program wins the 2017-2018 CCCC Writing Program Certificate of Excellence. The photo, taken at the Conference on College Composition and Communication in Kansas City in 2018, shows from left to right: Melissa Antonucci, Lecturer; Jennifer Chancellor, Lecturer; Amanda Klinger, Lecturer & Associate Director; Chris Edison, former Assistant Director; Roxanne Mountford, Professor and Director; Cassandra Woody, Lecturer and former Assistant Director; Jason Opheim, Assistant Director; Matthew Jacobson, senior Assistant Director; Kalyn Prince, incoming Assistant Director.

The University of Oklahoma’s First-Year Composition Program was selected to receive the Conference on College Composition and Communication’s 2017-2018 Writing Program Certificate of Excellence. Dr. Roxanne Mountford, Director of the FYC Program, and her team of past and present assistant directors, associate director, and two lecturers received the award in a ceremony in Kansas City, Missouri on March 16, 2018.

The selection committee, chaired by Scott Wible, noted, “OU’s FYC Program innovatively addresses the criteria associated with the award. The program exhibits dedication to excellent and responsive professional development and commitment to equity for various stakeholders; indeed, the committee found this program’s labor practices to be exemplary. The composition course outcomes and methods of instruction/assignment design exhibit best practices. Especially innovative is the way the program promotes ‘rhetorical education’ through ‘civic empathy.’ Assessment practices demonstrate comprehensive reflection in response to both quantitative and qualitative data.”

The award honors the significant investments in sustainable, high-quality instruction made by the College of Arts and Sciences at the request of the English Department, as well as the work of Mountford and her team. The changes to the program have been popular with both students and instructors. In FYC’s assessment of the curriculum, 94% of FYC students reported that they valued their learning experience, and 97% agreed that they were free to choose topics that interested them. Students also claimed that their course assignments prepared them to “respectfully engage in public discussions,” one of the core goals of the curriculum.

Our full application for the Writing Program Certificate of Excellence is available for those interested in more information about our program.