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SALEM STATE UNIVERSITY
TRACKING #
version 1516.1 - effective 9/2015-8/2016
REQUEST FOR CERTIFYING COURSE FOR GENERAL EDUCATION CATEGORY
WRITTEN COMMUNICATION - LEVEL II (W-II)
Note: this form can be used ONLY for certifying a course in the indicated general education category.
The course description can be changed via this form only if the change is directly related to certifying the course in the indicated general
education category.
All other aspects of a course change must be dealt with via a CHANGE IN COURSE form.
Written Communication Level II Category Description: Students complete a mid-level course (typically a 200- or 300-level course)
in their major, minor, general education courses or free electives that has been identified as including an intensive writing experience
with the following goals:
1. Students build on knowledge gained in the first-year writing course, specifically in terms of writing processes, writing
conventions and an understanding of what writing is and does.
2. Students use writing as a tool for learning and thinking in content areas.
3. Students experience writing as a process.
4. Students learn to write effectively for various purposes and audiences.
A COMPLETED WRITTEN COMMUNICATION - LEVEL II COURSE INFORMATION DOCUMENT (CID) IS INCLUDED ( NOTE THAT A
COURSE INFORMATION DOCUMENT IS NOT THE SAME AS A COURSE SYLLABUS.) THE CID MUST EXPLICITLY DOCUMENT HOW EACH OF
THE FOLLOWING CRITERIA ARE ADDRESSED.
CRITERIA FOR GENERAL EDUCATION CATEGORY
W-II: WRITTEN COMMUNICATION - LEVEL II
Details and supplementary information regarding this General
Education Category and its criteria can be found at
http://www.salemstate.edu/26049.php. Note that ALL criteria
must be addressed.
CRITERION 1: INSTRUCTORS REQUIRE A RANGE OF INFORMAL AND FORMAL WRITING ASSIGNMENTS, EITHER GRADED OR
UNGRADED, TO HELP ACHIEVE COURSE LEARNING GOALS AND OBJECTIVES.
CRITERION 2: AT LEAST 40% OF THE COURSE GRADE IS BASED ON WRITING IN ITS VARIOUS FORMS (INCLUDING PRINT OR DIGITAL),
AS DETERMINED BY THE INSTRUCTOR.
CRITERION 3: WRITING ASSIGNMENTS CLEARLY IDENTIFY REQUIREMENTS, EXPECTATIONS, LEARNING GOALS AND ASSESSMENT
CRITERION.
CRITERION 4: SOME CLASS TIME IS DEVOTED TO DISCUSSIONS ABOUT COURSE WRITING ASSIGNMENTS, CONVENTIONS OF WRITING
RELEVANT TO THOSE ASSIGNMENTS, EFFECTIVE WRITING STRATEGIES AND EFFECTIVE WRITING PROCESSES.
CRITERION 5: STUDENTS RECEIVE AND RESPOND TO FEEDBACK FROM PEERS AND INSTRUCTOR DURING THE DRAFTING AND/OR
REVISION STAGES OF THE WRITING PROCESS.
CRITERION 6: INSTRUCTORS PROVIDE OPPORTUNITIES FOR STUDENTS TO REFLECT ON THEIR WRITING, THEIR WRITING PROCESSES,
AND RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN WRITING AND LEARNING.
DEPARTMENT:
SEMESTER/YEAR IN WHICH CERTIFICATION WILL TAKE EFFECT:
select semester select year
COURSE PREFIX AND NUMBER:
OTHER CERTIFICATIONS FOR THIS COURSE:
FULL TITLE:
CREDITS:
(FYS|QR|OC|PGR|CEA|WC|HP|CS|SR|W-I|W-II|W-III)
cr.
COURSE DESCRIPTION (FOR AN EXISTING COURSE, DESCRIPTION EXACTLY AS IT CURRENTLY APPEARS IN THE SSU CATALOG; FOR A NEW COURSE,
DESCRIPTION EXACTLY AS PROPOSED ON THE NEW COURSE CURRICULUM FORM).
SAMPLE: This course introduces discipline X. It will provide foundational material and allow for future study in this discipline. Three
lecture hours per week. Excessive work outside of class will be required.
REVISED COURSE DESCRIPTION EXACTLY AS IT IS TO APPEAR IN THE SSU CATALOG
NOTES (NOT FOR INCLUSION IN CATALOG):
SUBMITTED BY:
Department
(name of department chairperson)
(name of sponsor / contact person only if other than department chairperson )
department name Department
department website URL
Written Communication - Level II Course Information Document
PREFIX nnn Course Title
n cr. W-II
Catalog description:
Course description. Focus on the course goals in developing the description; do not incorporate implementation details unless
they are directly related to course goals. [n lecture hours [and m hours of scheduled laboratory per week] [plus work outside of class].]
Prerequisites: list all prerequisites (delete this line if there are no prerequisites); must include "W-I course" as a prerequisite.
Course Narrative:
Provide a reasonable (two to four paragraph) narrative that goes beyond the course description in articulating the pedagogical and
disciplinary mission and scope of the course. Think of this narrative as a means of connecting the dots between the course description
and course goals and outcomes.
Your narrative must include a separate description of how the criteria for certifying the course for the Written Communication Level II general education category are addressed.
Course Goals:
(The wording of course goals may be phrased to meet disciplinary standards.)
This course will {introduce | explain | examine | …}:
G1:
G2:
G3:
general goal (not necessarily directly measureable);
general goal;
general goal; (insert additional goals as needed; try for no more than 3-5 goals)
Course Outcomes (Objectives):
(The wording of course outcomes may be phrased to meet disciplinary standards but outcomes must be assessable / measurable.)
Upon successful completion of the course, a student will be able to {demonstrate | explain | demonstrate | identify | …}:
O1:
O2:
O3:
specific (measurable!) objective (stated as something that the student did during the course);
specific (measurable!) objective;
specific (measurable!) objective; (insert additional objectives as needed; try for no more than 4-8 objectives)
Topics:
(Note: for special topics courses, provide appropriate separate topic outlines for two different special topics.)


topic one
 sub-topic

sub-sub-topic
topic two
 sub-topic

sub-sub-topic
Student Experiences: Describe the various type(s) of student experiences that will be used to assess student learning vis-à-vis stated
course objectives, e.g. presentations, tests, lab reports, writing projects, discussions, performances, etc. For each type, briefly describe
what the activity entails and provide an example or two of a typical assignment. Note that these examples are not meant to be prescriptive.
Student Experiences by Course Outcome (Objective) matrix:
(Eliminate or add columns and/or rows as necessary; each row represents a student experience (similar experiences should be grouped
if appropriate - this is NOT meant to be a list of every student experience); each column relates a student experience type to the relevant
course outcomes (objectives). Insert a check mark () in any cell where a given course objective is assessed via a specific student
experience.)
student outcome / experience
(e.g. presentations, tests, lab reports, writing projects,
discussions, performances, etc.)
O1
O2
O3
O4
O5
O6
WRITTEN COMMUNICATION LEVEL II CRITERIA AND WHERE / HOW THEY ARE ADDRESSED IN THIS COURSE
CRITERIA FOR GENERAL EDUCATION
CATEGORY W-II: WRITTEN COMMUNICATION
- LEVEL II
WRITTEN COMMUNICATION - LEVEL II
CRITERIA
CRITERION 1: INSTRUCTORS REQUIRE A
RANGE OF INFORMAL AND FORMAL WRITING
ASSIGNMENTS, EITHER GRADED OR
UNGRADED, TO HELP ACHIEVE COURSE
LEARNING GOALS AND OBJECTIVES.
CRITERION 2: AT LEAST 40% OF THE COURSE
GRADE IS BASED ON WRITING IN ITS VARIOUS
FORMS (INCLUDING PRINT OR DIGITAL), AS
DETERMINED BY THE INSTRUCTOR.
CRITERION 3: WRITING ASSIGNMENTS
CLEARLY IDENTIFY REQUIREMENTS,
EXPECTATIONS, LEARNING GOALS AND
ASSESSMENT CRITERION.
CRITERION 4: SOME CLASS TIME IS DEVOTED
TO DISCUSSIONS ABOUT COURSE WRITING
ASSIGNMENTS, CONVENTIONS OF WRITING
RELEVANT TO THOSE ASSIGNMENTS,
EFFECTIVE WRITING STRATEGIES AND
EFFECTIVE WRITING PROCESSES.
CRITERION 5: STUDENTS RECEIVE AND
RESPOND TO FEEDBACK FROM PEERS AND
INSTRUCTOR DURING THE DRAFTING AND/OR
REVISION STAGES OF THE WRITING PROCESS.
CRITERION 6: INSTRUCTORS PROVIDE
OPPORTUNITIES FOR STUDENTS TO REFLECT
ON THEIR WRITING, THEIR WRITING
PROCESSES, AND RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN
WRITING AND LEARNING.
DETAILS AND SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION REGARDING THIS GENERAL
EDUCATION CATEGORY AND ITS CRITERIA CAN BE FOUND AT
http://www.salemstate.edu/26049.php. NOTE THAT ALL CRITERIA MUST BE
ADDRESSED.
Course outcome(s)
For each Written Communication - Level II criterion, locate
(objective(s)) that
and identify CID elements aside from course outcomes,
address a criteria
particularly student experiences, which are directly related to
(e.g. O3, O6)
that criterion.
Sample Bibliography: (required for new courses only) (format as appropriate for your discipline; representative resources, not required
to be exhaustive)
(Note: for special topics courses, provide representative sample bibliographies for two different special topics.)
(examples)
Booch, Grady; Rumbaugh, James; Jacobson, Ivar. The Unified Modeling Language User Guide. Second Edition. AddisonWesley, 2005.
Gamma, Erich; Helm, Richard; Johnson, Ralph; Vlissides, John. Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented
Software. Addison-Wesley, 1995.
Hwang, K.; Fox, G.; Dongarra, J. Distributed and Cloud Computing: From Parallel Processing to the Internet of Things.
Morgan Kaufmann, 2012.
(General Notes: anything in red must be deleted or replaced (and changed to black). Anything in red and in parentheses (like this note)
is an advisory comment and must be deleted. Note that while additional components may be inserted if appropriate, listed components
must be included. For examples, visit http://www.salemstate.edu/26049.php.)