Writing Across the Curriculum

THE WRITING-INTENSIVE (W) REQUIREMENT

     All students must successfully complete at least one Writing-intensive course, designated by W.  Some, but not all, W courses carry another letter designation and hence simultaneously satisfy two Core Curriculum requirements.  To satisfy the writing-intensive requirement, the course must be approved by the Core Curriculum Committee and carry the "W" notation. These courses meet the following criteria (approved by the Core Council, January 19, 2000  and the Faculty Senate, April 7, 2000 ):

1.      The course takes improvement in student writing as one of its central goals and communicates this focus to students in the syllabus.

2.       The course is conspicuously writing-intensive.  It may use a variety of types of writing (e.g.  journals, class writing, reaction papers, etc., in addition to or in place of more conventional formal papers).  The course should use these writing tasks in a variety of roles in the course and writing should be a frequent mode of interaction between students as well as between students and faculty.

3.      The course curriculum includes explicit discussion of writing issues, whether this relates to matters of form and style or matters of grammar, sentence structure, and punctuation.

4.      The course effectively promotes the habit of revision, as well as the skills needed to make this effort productive.

5.      The course acquaints students with the writing-related resources that are available to them at USM.

POLICY ON TRANSFER AND WAIVER OF THE CORE WRITING-INTENSIVE (W) REQUIREMENT:

Effective immediately for students matriculating as of Fall 2004, courses accepted in transfer as "Introduction to Literature" and "Topics in Literature" will fulfill the Core humanities-literature (H) requirement, but not the W (writing-intensive) requirement.  These courses will be designated ENG 12X H and ENG 15X H on the transcript and for degree-audit purposes. 

Students who believe they have taken a course at another institution which meets USM's writing-intensive (W) requirement are encouraged to apply for a waiver.  Applications for waiver during Spring 2007 should be addressed to Susan McWilliams, Assistant Provost of Undergraduate Education at the address below.

In the application a student must identify how the course meets the objectives of USM’s writing-intensive courses (listed below) and provide appropriate documentation.  Applications for waiver are reviewed as received.  The Associate Provost of Undergraduate Education is responsible for making the final determination about waiver.

At USM, writing-intensive courses have English Composition as a prerequisite (and are thus distinct from the English Composition course) and are designed to do the following:

Waiver process:

1.  Student believes a transferred course met “writing intensive” criteria.
2.  Student consults with Coordinator of Writing-across-the-Curriculum, as necessary to get additional information or to seek clarification.
3.  Student submits application for waiver (letter specifying how the course meets the criteria above) along with supporting documentation (course syllabus, course writing assignments,    samples of student’s written work from the course) to Coordinator of Writing-across-the-Curriculum.
4.  Coordinator reviews application and supporting materials, requests additional information or documentation (as necessary) and makes recommendation to Associate Provost.
5.  Associate Provost approves or denies application for waiver.  If approved, notation in student course at USM.

During Spring 2007, Applications for Waiver should be addressed to:

Susan McWilliams
Assistant Provost of Undergraduate Education
45 Exeter Street
Portland, ME 04104-9300
smcwilms@usm.maine.edu