Mina Shaughnessy (née Pendo; March 13, 1924 – November 16, 1978), [1][2] was a teacher and innovator in the field of basic writing at the City University of New York (CUNY).
[3] Mina's mother, Ruby Alma (Johnson) Pendo, had attained a far higher level of education, receiving both a high school diploma and a two-year teaching certificate.
Ruby Johnson taught school for two years in Alaska before her family moved to South Dakota, whereupon she met and married Albert Pendo.
Shaughnessy found her passion for teaching Open Admissions students in part due to the experiences of her father, who was often labelled as unable to excel in reading and writing.
Two teachers from the local elementary school lived with the family for years during Mina's childhood, Amelia Perman and Edith Johnson.
[citation needed] Although the United States entered World War II just before Shaughnessy graduated high school, she was not deterred from further pursuing her academic work.
She overcame her Midwestern accent and further developed the air of sophistication and confidence that was her trademark during her tutelage in the art and skill of public speaking (a knack that would serve her well later in her career) and acting.
[4] Much of Shaughnessy's education and work experience was vital to her future success with open admissions at City College of New York.
When she graduated from Northwestern University in 1946, she and Priscilla Weaver Brandt headed for New York City to pursue their acting degrees.
After receiving her MA, Shaughnessy landed a position as a research assistant with Raymond Fosdick, a prominent attorney who handled much of the Rockefeller Foundation.
With Don living abroad for multiple years at a time, Shaughnessy was able to plunge herself into her studies, teaching, and directing the writing program at City College.
[citation needed] In 1961, Shaughnessy resigned from McGraw Hill and enlisted to teach night courses in composition and literature at Hunter College.
The program offered counseling, stipends, and remedial classes to help these students gain the skills they would need to succeed in college.
One way Shaughnessy worked to elevate the status of the SEEK program was to treat basic writing as a field of academic scholarship.
Mina was known to students, faculty, and friends as someone who continually carried exam blue books, went to work early and came home late.
She worked to develop faculty camaraderie through holding frequent staff meetings where the teachers could become acquainted and share their experiences.
As City College began the Open Admissions program in 1970, the number of SEEK students requiring the services overseen by Shaughnessy grew to 3,500.
[3] In 1972-73 school year Shaughnessy was awarded a Carnegie Foundation grant to research and create "a report on the writing problems of disadvantaged students" (122).
Returning to teaching and continuing to work on a book she would later publish, Errors and Expectations, left her with little time to spend outside of the basic writing field.
Starting in 1975, she was appointed director of the Instructional Resource Center (IRC) and associate dean of City University of New York.
She was a founding editor of the Journal of Basic Writing (JBW), which supports multidisciplinary research on the study and teaching of underprepared writers.
[citation needed] In 1976, CUNY experienced severe budget cuts which caused them to let go of most of the staff that Shaughnessy had worked so closely and persistently with.
These budget cuts also eliminated free tuition and raised the admissions standards, which changed the dynamics of those admitted to City College back to more traditional students.
[citation needed] Shaughnessy published a book titled Errors and Expectations: A Guide for the Teacher of Basic Writing with the Oxford University Press in 1977.
[3] The Mina P. Shaughnessy Prize is named in her memory and is awarded for an "outstanding scholarly book in the fields of language, culture, literacy, or literature with strong application to the teaching of English."
Many current and important scholars of basic writing, including David Bartholomae and Patricia Bizzell, acknowledge Shaughnessy as a guiding influence on their work.
Using the skills and theory provided in Shaughnessy's Errors and Expectations, the movement has continued to exist in higher education today.
Both Rouse and Lu's articles sparked many responses, and the debate over how dominant a role that issues of correct usage should play in teaching basic writing continues to this day.