The home mission of the University English department is the teaching of reading and writing, and its foreign mission is the "converting" to a higher literacy of those outside the English department, especially those who teach English in the high schools and other subjects at the college level. Potential high school English teachers' training in writing must be extensive, and should begin with Freshman composition courses, which should be small in size to allow teachers more time to work with students on their writing problems and to conduct research. Sophomore English courses, which often demand little writing, should be revised to go beyond literary texts and convey the importance of writing skills. As for "converting" members of other academic departments to a higher literacy, programs such as the National Writing Project, in which teachers from all educational levels work together to define and resolve problems across the compositional spectrum are proving to be very valuable. Another successful program is the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University's faculty writing workshop, which encourages teachers from all campus disciplines to incorporate writing in their assignments. When the university English department completes its home mission properly by engaging fellow departments, it will also accomplish its foreign mission. (HTH)