WRITING-ENHANCED COURSES
In writing enhanced (WE) courses professors will incorporate writing that helps students learn course content
while improving written communication skills. Professors will have the opportunity to work with the Writing
Program Director (and/or Writing Across the Curriculum Committee) and to attend workshops to help develop
effective assignments, implement writing pedagogy, and learn new strategies and best practices.
WE courses are designed for sophomores and juniors, and are thus offered at the 200-400 level. Students are
encouraged to fulfill the WE requirement in their major, and all majors should identify WE courses, excluding
senior seminar/capstone courses. The ratio of students-to-instructor in WE courses should not exceed 25:1.
WE courses must include the following statement in the syllabus: WE courses require a substantial amount
of writing as a way to help students learn course content, as well as to support the development of each
student’s writing ability. Course grading will include assessments based on the demonstration of writing
elements, such as a clear thesis, good organization, support or evidence for claims, proper grammar, and
proofreading. Professors of WE courses commit to setting out clear expectations for all written assignments
and to providing opportunity for feedback and revision on at least one formal writing assignment before it is
submitted as a final product. Student Learning Outcomes for WE courses: 1) Students will demonstrate an
understanding of the writing process 2) Students will demonstrate improvement in the quality of at least one
writing assignment throughout the course of the semester.
WRITING-ENHANCED COURSE PROPOSAL
Course number: __________ Title: _______________________ Semester ____
Course Designer/Contact Person: _________________________________ Expected Enrollment: ____
GenEd requirement (Y/N)____
Requirement for Major? (Y/N)__________
Interested in working with a Student Writing Mentor? (Y/N)
Please attach your responses to the following questions, your syllabus, and any supporting
documents.
1) WE courses require a minimum of 16 pages (or 4,000 words) of student writing in total, including
informal and formal assignments; at least 10 pages (or 2,500 words) must be formal (graded) writing.
Examples of formal assignments include traditional research paper, essays, lab reports, lesson plans, or
press releases, while informal assignments might include journaling, blogging, or reflection papers.
Please explain the types of assignments you will assign and the approximate length of each.
2) WE courses are designed to promote the development of information literacy skills. Examples of
activities or assignments that help develop those skills include librarian-led workshops, purposeful
demonstrations on databases or search results, instructor-led discussion on how to find and use quality
sources in a particular discipline, development of bibliographies, or individualized feedback about how
students use sources in their papers.
Please explain what activities or assignments you will use to help students find, evaluate, and use relevant
sources to help them develop these information literacy skills.
December 2014
3) WE courses must provide clear guidelines on assignment completion, ample and constructive feedback
on at least one written assignment, and clarity in grading expectations.
If you have any course materials related to writing (e.g., assignments, sample papers, or critiqued writing),
please enclose copies.
4) WE courses must incorporate intentional pedagogy on the writing process. This can take many forms
including: exploring ideas through free writing, discussing writing in the discipline, using drafting,
revising, editing or other writing processes to to improve a formal written product, engaging in peerfeedback, or using instructor-student conferences.
Please explain how you plan to incorporate writing pedagogy in your course.
5) In order to emphasize the process of writing, professors need to provide feedback on at least one written
assignment before it receives a recorded grade. Options for giving such feedback include responding to
drafts in written form or in meetings with students or through class discussion.
Please detail how you plan to provide feedback to students on their draft work. If you have rubrics or other
grading guidelines for finished work, it is also helpful to include that in this proposal.