Remember your audience. And their audience. 

In less than 30 years, The University of Central Florida, in Orlando, has experienced unprecedented growth and now has more students enrolled on campus than any other U.S. college or university. With over 68,000 students enrolled in the fall of 2018, the school also broke records for diversity: 47% of students are minorities, of which 26% are Hispanic. Additionally, the school has a large number of international students.

Imagine, then, the challenges facing the committee to find a text suitable for their required Composition I & II courses while also meeting the needs of their audience. A new chair assumed leadership and, wisely, revised the curriculum to reflect their diverse and multilingual student population. Even with this change, it was clear a standard text would not work and assistance from a reputable publisher with a deep list of the highest quality was needed. Indeed, the text being used, published by a small publisher purporting to meet the needs of students and professors, was riddled with mistakes. This publisher did not have the list depth that Macmillan Publishers does, nor the custom capabilities that Macmillan Learning Curriculum Solutions has.

Thanks to a long-standing and supportive relationship with Lara Thomas of Macmillan Publishers and Bob Schaller of Macmillan Learning Curriculum Solutions, the groups worked diligently to brainstorm ideas, explore materials UCF had and wanted to include, and review the numerous options available from Macmillan. After multiple meetings, the appropriate materials were chosen and production began.

The custom edition included:

• An introduction with original material from UCF.
• Essays from prior 1101 and 1102 students.
• Two forewords from Macmillan Learning Curriculum Solutions.
• The complete text, EasyWriter, 6e by Andrea Lunsford.
• A section entitled “Researching Writing and Literacy at UCF” from UCF.

A royalty was included that helps the department support underfunded programs. Because of a superior solution and consistent support from Macmillan, the decision to move to the new edition of EasyWriter was seamless, and work on the new custom edition is underway.

By working together with all departments of Macmillan and establishing a mutually respectful relationship with UCF, Macmillan Learning Curriculum Solutions continues to deliver a high-quality text that meets the needs of the students and the instructors.