First Year Writing Initiatives

At any given time, we have several major and minor initiatives underway. In the past few years, some of our minor initiatives have included critical AI literacy, teaching writing with podcasts, practicing lateral reading, and recognizing mis/disinformation. Below are some of the major initiatives we’ve undertaken that have had far-reaching and ongoing effects in the program and beyond it.Edit the content.

Digital Literacy (2024-ongoing)

The First-Year Writing Program has been involved in “digital literacy” initiatives since 2015. For us, “digital literacy” comprises a series of reading and composing skills, habits, and knowledges, and relationships that are at the heart of first-year writing. These include critical modes of consumption and production, such as critical media literacy, multimodal composing [pdf], and digital writing and rhetoric. In short, we ask students to read and compose lots of digital and non-digital texts, often simultaneously, and we try to understand what different kinds of texts do in the world.

In Spring 2024, FYW launched a new Digital Literacy Initiative with strong support from Adobe Systems and the SJSU Provost’s Office. The central element of our new initiative is the SJSU FYW Digital Literacy Showcase, which spotlights students’ digital works-in-progress at an even each semester.

We’ve also partnered with SJSU’s Career Center and Writing Center to introduce the “Jumpstarting Digital Literacy” event in the fall. Our inaugural event in Fall 2025 reached nearly 3000 students over the course of two days, and we’re planning to repeat the event every fall.

Stretch English (2014-ongoing)

In 2014, we first piloted Stretch English, a yearlong first-year writing course at San Jose State University. Our Stretch was program was based on a national model for teaching students who want more time and support to develop as writers in their first year of college. Both nationally and locally, Stretch has been highly effective in students’ persistence, retention, and ongoing success at SJSU. It has proven especially effective for supporting multilingual and first-generational students, students from minoritized communities, and Pell Grant recipients. SJSU’s Stretch model continues to evolve, but it has become a model for other institutions looking to introduce Stretch into their writing programs.

Equitable Teaching and Learning (2023-2025)

In connection with the CSU’s “Graduation Initiative 2025” and SJSU’s “Transformation 2030” strategic plan, FYW designed a series of teaching seminars, technology workshops, student sessions dedicated to equitable pedagogy, which means teaching from asset-based, growth-oriented, process-focused perspectives. The Equitable Teaching and Learning Initiative was primarily designed for faculty development, but the principles, activities, and materials we developed are evident throughout syllabi and classroom experiences that directly impact student success.