Cyndi Miecznikowski
Associate Professor and Director of First-Year Composition
About
A first-generation college student, Dr. Miecznikowski joined the UNCP faculty in 2005. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree at Rusell Sage College majoring in both English and Economics-Management. A brief career in advertising and public relations in Albany and NYC led her back to academe to pursue a Master of Arts in English at Binghamton University and a PhD in English literature with a minor in Literary Theory, Criticism, and Aesthetics, and specialization in Rhetoric and Composition at Penn State University. She has published on topics in literature, writing, and rhetorical theory and history in academic journals including College English and Across the Disciplines. With Dr. Polina Chemishanova, she co-authored a book chapter for Reclaiming Accountability: Using the Work of Re/Accreditation to Improve Writing Programs, which won the Council of Writing Program Administrators (CWPA) Best Book Award in 2018. Dr. Miecznikowski’s current teaching and research interests include information literacy, student persistence, and the cultivation of voice in writing. She teaches Composition II, Advanced Composition for Social Work majors, Freshman Seminar for nontraditional students, History of Rhetoric for Professional Writing students, and Literacy in Context for English graduate students. Her son Brenden Sheard graduated from UNCP in 2024 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music with Music Industry emphasis and a minor in voice.