Section One: Baccalaureate Degree Curriculum – Writing Across the Curriculum

On April 18, 1989, the University Faculty Senate established a Writing Across the Curriculum graduation requirement effective Summer Session 1990 for all students entering the University as baccalaureate degree candidates and Summer 1992 for all associate degree candidates. Students are required to complete at least 3 credits of writing-intensive courses selected from a selection of courses approved with the writing suffix/ attribute offered within a major or college of enrollment. (Senate Agenda Appendix E, 3/19/91)

Pending Senate approval, courses may be offered as writing-intensive on a permanent or one-semester basis. Writing-intensive courses are reviewed by the University Writing Subcommittee which makes a recommendation to the Senate Committee on Curricular Affairs. (SR:4/18/89)

1. Each course proposal must include the following supporting materials:

1. A statement of the expected course enrollment and the number of sections offered per semester.
2. A concise explanation (in about one page) of how the proposed course will fulfill each of the following criteria:
   1. Writing Assignment Design
      Both informal and formal writing assignments should relate clearly to the course objectives and should serve as effective instruments for learning the subject matter of the course. Instructors should communicate to students the requirements of formal, graded writing assignments in writing, not just orally. In writing-intensive courses, writing assignments are characteristically designed to help students investigate the course subject matter, gain experience in interpreting data or the results of research, shape writing to a particular audience, or practice the type of writing associated with a given profession or discipline. Much of the writing may be informal and ungraded, yet meaningful, so students are encouraged to think and discover through a process in which mistakes are a natural part of learning. Examples of such writing include one-minute papers at the beginning, middle, or end of class; reactions to lectures, labs, and readings; journals, logs, and notebooks of observations, readings, and other experiential activities; letters to classmates; weekly digests; e-mail dialogues; records of peer group discussions; and stories of one’s thinking on a problem.
   2. Treatment of Writing as a Developmental Process
      Students will be afforded opportunities to practice writing throughout the semester, with emphasis given to writing as a process that develops through several iterations. Typically, writing-intensive courses require multiple writing assignments, a sequence of preparatory writings (outline, formulation of thesis, first draft) leading to a final product, or informal writing assignments (e.g., regular journal entries, field notes, short in-class papers, revision of first draft) that aid students in developing other written documents. Experimentation with assignments is encouraged.
   3. Written Feedback from the Instructor
      Opportunities for students to receive written feedback from the instructor and to apply the instructor’s feedback to their future writing will be built into the course. The instructor will clearly identify and explain the type of writing required in the course and will provide guidance as needed. A writing-intensive course may also include peer review of written work, tutorial assistance, instructor conferences, group writing projects, the use of writing or learning centers, teaching assistant feedback, and classroom discussions of assigned readings about writing. The use of diverse feedback mechanisms is encouraged, but none of these mechanisms should substitute for the instructor as the principal source of written feedback to the student.
   4. Evaluation of Writing
      Writing will be evaluated by the instructor, and writing quality will be a factor in determining each student’s final grade. Before students begin writing, instructors will communicate to students the criteria by which their writing will be evaluated. Sound criteria for assessing writing quality include, but are not limited to, the writer’s ability to direct the material to an intended audience, the employment of organizational strategies, the development of both content and reasoning, adherence to conventions of a particular discipline, accuracy of the information presented, citation and integration of sources, grammar, diction and syntax, and spelling. Writing assignments should be worth at least 25 percent of each student’s final grade.
3. A copy of the course syllabus, which should include a statement of course objectives, a definition of writing-intensive teaching that helps students see how this “W” course is different from other courses that assign writing, a sequence of class activities, references to writing assignments, and weight of writing assignments in relation to the final course grade.
4. One or two examples of the actual writing assignment sheets the instructor plans to use in the course.

2. Procedures for Submitting Writing-Intensive Course Proposals

Faculty may request SCCA approval for either a one-semester Writing Course offering or permanent Writing Course. The documentation for both a permanent and a one-semester W-course offering is the same. The procedures for submitting permanent and one-semester course proposals are slightly different and are listed below.

Permanent Proposals

Proposals are submitted to the University Curriculum Coordinator at the Senate Office following the standard Curricular Affairs procedures. Proposals must be completed through curriculum.psu.edu. The University Curriculum Coordinator transmits the proposals to the University Writing Subcommittee. The University Writing Subcommittee reviews the proposals and makes a recommendation to SCCA before they are published in the Senate Curriculum Report.

One-Semester Proposals

See information for One-Semester Course Proposals at Section One: Baccalaureate Degree Curriculum – Courses. 

One-semester course proposals are prepared in the departments using the One-Semester Course form. All proposals must include the instructor’s name, course number, and semester and year.

If the department requests a one-semester Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) course, the following additional information is required: a justification for writing across the curriculum designation, writing assignment design, treatment of writing as a development process, written feedback, how the writing will be evaluated, what percentage of the grade will come from writing, what the maximum class size will be and examples of one or more assignments.