Prospective
Students & Families 
Faculty & Staff Protocols for Establishing Learning Community Links with English Composition Courses
Departments from across the university have developed successful Learning Communities (LCs) by linking their introductory courses with sections of First-Year Composition (FYC) in the Department of English. These links are especially valuable because they encourage students to strengthen their communication skills early in their university careers and because students are supported in this effort by their Learning Community team.
To ensure that your department will get the most out of these LC links, the Department of English has outlined a few things you should know about LC collaborations with FYC courses. We hope these ideas are helpful, and we would be pleased to respond to any questions you may have. Please call or write Julie Minkler-Tsivakou, Department of English LC Coordinator (4-5815, jminkler@iastate.edu).
Learning Community Course Request Form.* The Office of the Registrar typically issues a request for LC courses the year preceding the offering of a course. On the form for this year you will see a section for LCs that plan links with English. Along with filling out this part of the form, you will also be asked to send official notification to the English LC Coordinator to indicate your interest in linking with an FYC course. Through early contact, we can work together to develop the links between courses and the collaborative relations required to make your LC succeed. The Learning Community Course Request Forms can be found online.
Start the Conversation Early. Once you have notified the English LC Coordinator of your intention to link with an FYC course, we also ask that you plan on collaborating in the planning of this link. Typically, this planning begins at the LC Institute in May, but the sooner the better. If you are interested in the kinds of contact and collaboration a link with English would entail, please see our "Guidelines for Learning Community Links with English" at www.engl.iastate.edu/main/lcprotocol2.htm.
The Learning Community Team. Each section of English 104 and 105 enrolls 26 students, and LC teams that make up the entire section are preferable. Sometimes, however, a LC teams in a special section of FYC may include less than a full cohort of 26 students. In such cases, the link is most successful when the non-LC students in the class have interests or majors related to the LC team. Coordinating this mix of students can be a complex matter and will require the participation of your department, English, and the Registrar. For these smaller LC teams to succeed, it is important that all those involved begin to discuss enrollment options as soon as possible.
LC Course Promotion. Promoting your LC is an extremely important part of the LC process. Without successful promotion, LCs may end up with too few students to make a viable team. Fortunately, there is expert advice available. If you are uncertain about how to promote a LC option with incoming students, please contact Jennifer Leptien, Program Assistant (4-1948, jenl@iastate.edu), to discuss a variety of promotion and recruitment strategies.
For additional information about LC links with English, please contact Ms. Minkler-Tsivakou.