The idea that student writing has declined in quality over time has been repeated so many times that few people question it, despite the fact that serious analytical research on this topic is difficult to come by. The main problem is a lack of understanding as to what the actual audience for student writing considers to be features of good or poor writing, as well as how this audience perceives the writing of current and recent students. This study attempts to address this deficiency by analyzing the typical audience for student writing, faculty members, at one regional state public university. By surveying faculty members to determine their perceptions of student writing, the claim that student writing at this university is generally poor can begin to be evaluated in a more systematic way. When asked about the overall quality of student writing, most faculty members did report that student writing is generally poor, and that the quality has decreased over time. At the same time, when asked to report writing abilities based on a series of traits, faculty reported that students' skills were about average across the board. This seeming contradiction suggests that faculty members' perceptions are far more nuanced than a simple rating scale. Additionally, the survey showed that the vast majority of faculty members do believe that a major goal of First-Year Composition is to prepare students to write for other courses; to that end, several suggestions for tailoring the program to better meet the needs of faculty can be offered. Finally, as this type of research has not been common, it is hoped that this study will serve as the beginning of a renewed conversation on the importance of audience in student writing.