Gail Shuck, a professor of English, was profiled in the most recent issue of Composition Forum. Each issue includes a profile of an innovative program or a writing studies scholar who has shaped the direction of the field.
The interviewer was Emily Simnitt, former lecturer in First-Year Writing at Boise State. Shuck was selected for this profile for her work in institution-wide support for second-language writers, particularly for students from refugee backgrounds. Her colleague Bruce Ballenger, Professor Emeritus, was the subject of a Composition Forum profile in spring 2019.
Here is an excerpt from the profile:
Emily: The rise of international students in the past decade has led to an increase in attention to multilingual writing instruction. But Combating Monolingualism: A Novice Administrator’s Challenge still feels so relevant and necessary. In that article, written 14 years ago, you profile Boise State University and the field of Second Language Writing. What has changed for you since then? What is still relevant to how you encounter attitudes about multilingualism in your context?
Gail: For one thing, I am more aware of refugee students. Period. Back then, I knew that the CAMP program existed to provide support for the children of migrant workers, and the TRIO program to serve first-generation and low-income students. I had connected with them already. I knew there was support for international students. There has always been an infrastructure to support international students. There have always been study abroad programs and partnerships between Boise State and other universities in other countries to support recruiting more international students. We have an Intensive English program. There are English proficiency requirements. All of these resources were designed with international multilingual students in mind.