Mission and Principles

Our Mission 

Our mission is to ensure that Miami supports its students in developing as effective writers in college, fully preparing graduates to excel as clear, concise, and persuasive writers in their careers, communities, and personal lives. To do this, the HCWE strives to:

  • Provide the most innovative, research-based writing instruction in the country
  • Measurably impact writing-related research, practice, and policy at Miami, in Ohio, in the region, and in the nation.

Our Principles

We follow these research-supported principles of writing and rhetoric: 

Writing mediates activity and helps us get things done through recognizeable and recurring forms. Writing is social and rhetorical; writers benefit from talking and sharing drafts with other writers. Writing is not natural; rather it is something we all work to learn. Being a competent writer is something that can be developed across time and with practice. Writing is informed by prior experience, including experience with writing, reading, and cultural experiences and norms. Writing is embodied cognition; it is emotional as well as cognitive and social. How writers feel about writing impacts how they write and what they are able to accomplish as writers. Writing enacts values, conventions, and identities, including those of disciplines and professions.

 All writers have more to learn and can benefit from practice, feedback, and revision. All writers benefit from monitoring their own learning, progress, and struggles. Thus, receiving formative assessment and then reflecting and self-assessing are important parts of improving as a writer. All writers and readers are constantly negotiating languages differences. Both writers and readers are always working to construct meaning.

New and unfamiliar writing tasks can impact a writer's performance in areas where they are usually highly competent. This is a normal part of learning. Reflection and metacognition are important parts of improving as a writer. Helping learners improve as writers is a shared responsibility since a great deal of writing is enacted in specialized disciplines and professions. Experts who use writing in specialized ways are best positioned to help enculturate learners into that type of writing.