All students on the new core are required to take one Writing Across the Curriculum (W) course prior to graduation. This page describes what W courses are, how faculty can become certified to teach them, and what the general requirements are for these classes.

What are W courses?

A W course is a class taught by a faculty member in his or her own discipline in which writing is considered a central mode of learning and evaluating student performance. The types of writing assigned in these courses can vary significantly—from lab reports to journals to blogs to formal research essays. The goal for these courses is that instructors will spend time helping students learn about the discourse conventions that are valued in the faculty member’s discipline—through explicit instruction about writing and feedback on students’ writing assignments. While faculty are asked to talk to students about how writers write in the faculty member’s field, W courses are also about using writing as a tool for learning, and much of the certification process for faculty focuses on strategies and resources they can use to help students become better writers—without taking much time away from valuable course content.

The “W” is typically a designation added to a pre-existing class. There may be multiple sections of the same class being offered—some with the W designation and others without. Both W and non-W courses are 3 credits, as the W is not about requiring students to do more work. The goal is, instead, to use writing to help students understand course content and disciplinary writing conventions. 

What are the requirements for W courses?

A course designated with a W must meet the following requirements:

• Maximum student enrollment is 20.
• The instructor must provide instruction on writing, including strategies for developing ideas, organization, style, and mastering discipline-specific formats.
• The instructor must provide feedback on writing assignments, including comments related to thesis or argument development, structure, organization, and mechanics.
• The instructor must emphasize revision as part of the writing process.
• The instructor must use writing to enable and extend learning of the subject matter (i.e., writing is not done solely for the purposes of evaluation. Students learn through writing.)
• Writing should be a significant part (at least 25%) of the student’s grade in the course.
• Each student must submit a minimum of 4500 words of revised (polished) written work.* (Approx. 18 pages of text that is double-spaced in Times New Roman, 12-point font). This page requirement can be spread throughout the span of the class.
 

Other notes:
• “W” courses do not have to be in Tier II, nor do they need to be core curriculum courses. The ideal class is a junior-level course in the major. Note that students are advised to take first-year writing (ENGL 1112 or ENGL 113 for International Students) before taking a W course.
• A class must be a 3-credit course in order to receive the W designation.
• Not every section of a class that’s offered needs to be a W section.
• To receive W credit for the course, the student must receive the grade of a C or higher on the written components of the course.

Benefits of W courses

• Faculty have the opportunity to take advantage of professional development workshops regarding new strategies and ideas for helping students improve their writing. You’ll enhance the culture of writing on our campus and get ideas from faculty across the disciplines.
• Research shows that students learn and internalize course concepts through writing. Writing is a valuable tool for critical thinking in the disciplines. The professional development workshops offer many strategies for using writing as a critical thinking tool in classes across disciplines.

How can instructors become certified to teach W courses?

The model adopted by UNH is to certify an individual instructor to teach an individual course. Participation in the WAC Orientation Workshop and completion of a course proposal form will certify you to teach an identified course as writing-intensive.

A major focus of the workshop is how to integrate writing without losing important course content. This is a collaborative workshop where faculty share teaching resources and ideas. We examine the Student Learning Outcomes for W courses and discuss how courses can be adapted, if needed, to meet the requirements. Other topics covered include research-based best practices for responding to student writing, how to manage your time when grading writing (new technologies, etc.), developing effective grading rubrics for writing assignments, and so forth.
 

Steps for Certification

To qualify a course as writing-intensive, instructors should complete the following steps:

1. Identify a course you are scheduled to teach and review the requirements for W courses to ensure your class can meet the requirements. *You will be asked to get approval by your chair before participating.*

2. Attend the WAC Orientation Workshop. New W instructors will complete our online, self-paced course in Canvas (expect to spend 6-7 hours completing the course) and attend a one-hour recap session to review key points and answer any questions.
         • Scheduling: Contact writingprograms@newhaven.edu for the latest timing.

3. Complete and submit the W course proposal form (due 2-3 weeks after the workshop recap meeting so the W designation can be added to courses prior to registration). The proposal form can be found here: http://forms.newhaven.edu/view.php?id=192798. A Writing Across the Curriculum Committee, with representation from each college, reviews and approves proposals.

4. Attend one one-hour WAC professional development workshop during the semester you are teaching the W course. There will be a few options each semester, designed around instructors’ interests or concerns. This is an opportunity for W teachers to stay up-to-date about current practices in the field and any new policies at the university related to W courses.

Notes: Instructors only participate in the Orientation Workshop once. If the same instructor wishes to teach the same course as writing-intensive again, the instructor simply needs to indicate to the WAC Director (a Google form will be sent) that he or she intends to teach the course again and to provide information about any significant changes to the course, if applicable. If the same instructor wishes to teach a different course as writing-intensive, he or she will only need to fill out a new, full proposal form.Resources for Instructors

Multilingual & Multidialectal Learners – Suggestions for student-centered English language support

Creating Writing Rubrics & Invovling Students in Rubric Development – an interactive presetation by Professor Lori Gresham

Writing Across the Campus: A WAC Newsletter – Each semester the WAC Program circulates a newsletter highlighting “Classroom Happenings” from across our campus, as well as resources to support “Common Concerns” from our instructors. See below for the newsletter for each semester.

Fall 2018 – Spring 2019 – Fall 2019 – Spring 2020

Visit our Blackboard Community for even more resources. All instructors should have access under Community > My Organizations. Please e-mail writingprograms@newhaven.edu if access has not been granted. 

Tips for advising students

• The W course does not have to be in the student’s major, although students should be encouraged to take a W course in their major if one is available.

• As noted, the “W” element of a course is not credit-bearing; in other words, a W section and a non-W section of the same course would both be three credits.

• A W class is not necessarily more work for students than a non-W section of the same class. For example, an instructor could easily decide to reduce the amount of writing he or she typically requires students to complete so that students have more time to revise, thus putting more emphasis on process. The W simply signifies that the teacher is committed to talking to students about the writing conventions of the discipline, giving students feedback on their writing, and so forth. 

• Students who do not need the W can still take W courses and will likely benefit from them. Advisors are encouraged to talk to students, whether they need a W or not, about the benefits of these classes. Students have the opportunity for more individualized feedback on their writing, and they learn about how writers write in a particular field. The course may also be capped at a smaller amount of students than other sections, which helps with faculty-student interaction.

• Student responsibilities: Students are required to receive a grade of a C or higher on the written components of the course to receive the W. If the student does not pass the W component, the student does not have to take the same course again. He or she may select another W course.

• Students will be asked to complete an end-of-semester survey about their experience in the W class in order to receive the W credit. The survey is not a test for students; instead, it is an assessment measure for the university to learn about the writing happening in the course. However, students must upload a sample of writing from the class to the questionnaire in order to receive the W credit on the Degree Augit. 

• The best time to take a W course is in the junior year. This allows students to delve into their major and develop their writing skills specific to their field of study, or at least specific to a particular discipline. It also allows a buffer in case the student doesn’t succeed in the W class and needs to take one during a later semester or in case a W class that the student wants to take is unavailable.

• Students should take ENGL 1112 (first-year writing) before they take a W. However, students who have taken first-year writing but who do not need a W can still take as many W sections of courses as they want. 

Tiffany Martinez
Administrative Specialist, Provost’s Office
WAC Administrative Support

203-932-7368

Diane Russo

Submit a proposal for a new W course!

Click here for the student survey if you are a current instructor.

View a list of the W courses currently running.

Interested in teaching a writing-intensive course? Email Devon at writingprograms@newhaven.edu to sign up for a virtual, self-paced orientation workshop.