General Education Writing Intensive (WI) Course Guidelines

Writing Intensive courses are a critical part of General Education. All students, from Business to Biology, take three writing courses in their first two years of GE (Foundation Writing I and II and Discovery Writing) in which they build a foundation for successful writing in a variety of forms for different audiences in different disciplines. In their Writing Intensive courses, students focus on learning how to write for their particular field of study.

In order for a course to qualify as Writing Intensive, it must meet the following criteria:

1. Writing assignments must be an integral, ongoing part of the course, and the writing assignments must constitute a substantial (minimum 40%) part of the final course grade.
2. The course must instruct students in the kinds of writing that are practiced by and valued by members of the discipline.
3. Some class time must be devoted to preparing students to complete writing assignments and instructors must provide feedback on students’ writing assignments.
4. There must be at least four distinct writing assignments spread throughout the semester, not including in-class essay exams.
5. Student formal and informal writing for the course should total approximately 5000 words (equivalent to roughly 20 typed, double-spaced pages).

Download the the Writing Intensive Course Guidelines.