V. Link Communication Skills and Course Work Undergraduate education must enable students to acquire strong communication skills, and thereby create graduates who are proficient in both written and oral communication. The failure of research universities seems most serious in conferring degrees upon inarticulate students. Every university graduate should understand that no idea is fully formed until it can be communicated, and that the organization required for writing and speaking is part of the thought process that enables one to understand material fully. Dissemination of results is an essential and integral part of the research process, which means that training in research cannot be considered complete without training in effective communication. Skills of analysis, clear explanation of complicated materials, brevity, and lucidity should be the hallmarks of communication in every course. At present, most writing in universities is addressed to professors who know more about the subject matter than the writers, but all students should be taught to write for audiences less informed on the topic than the writer. After college there will be little need to write "up" to a professor; it will be more important to write "down" to an audience that needs information and/or opinions, even if that audience happens to be the employer or higher authority. The abilities to explain, to convey new information, and to condense materials for easy absorption will be essential for any profession. Unfortunately, today’s students too often think of composition as a boring English requirement rather than a life skill; moreover, hardly any are exposed to courses or class requirements in oral communication. Faculty too often think of composition as a task the English or composition department does badly, rather than understanding that an essential component of all faculty members' responsibility is making sure that their students have ample practice in both writing and speaking. In evaluating examinations and papers, faculty members are often willing to forgive grammatical and stylistic blunders, thinking such matters the responsibility of composition teachers, as long as they believe they can grasp the essence of the student’s text; that behavior reinforces the assumption on the part of students that clear communication is not important. Communication in Every Course From the freshman seminar to the senior capstone course, communication skills should be integrated with the subject matter. Freshman composition must be cast in a new form intimately related to a student’s other courses. Instructors throughout the curriculum need to build opportunities for written and oral presentations into their course outlines, so that experience and confidence can grow continuously. Faculty members need to assign papers as part of normal course expectations and to create examinations that require demonstration of writing and analytical skills. Communications must be similarly emphasized in the education of graduate students (see Section VIII below, Educate Graduate Students as Apprentice Teachers). Recommendations: All student grades should reflect both mastery of content and ability to convey content. Both expectations should be made clear to students. The freshman composition course should relate to other classes taken simultaneously and be given serious intellectual content, or it should be abolished in favor of an integrated writing program in all courses. The course should emphasize explanation, analysis, and persuasion, and should develop the skills of brevity and clarity. Writing courses need to emphasize writing "down" to an audience who needs information, to prepare students directly for professional work. Courses throughout the curriculum should reinforce communication skills by routinely asking for written and oral exercises. An emphasis on writing and speaking in graduate courses will prepare teaching assistants for research, teaching, and professional roles.

SIGNS OF CHANGE University Case Study Little Red Schoolhouse University University of Chicago The "Little Red Schoolhouse" program at the University of Chicago is a one-quarter writing course taken each year by about 200 undergraduates. It is faculty taught, with assistance from doctoral-student writing interns. The interns are competitively selected and take a quarter-long training program themselves which teaches the "Schoolhouse" analysis of writing and techniques for adapting that analysis to the needs of individual students. In the Schoolhouse the students learn how to adapt their writing to evoke the responses they want and how to work effectively with other writers on revisions.