Writing-Intensive Course Configurations:

WI courses can be configured in a manner most appropriate for each department’s majors and students. For example, here are a few possibilities for how the WI courses might “look” in different majors. (The “CLAS” designation is only used as an example.)

SCENARIO ONE: Writing-Intensive Course as the “Gateway” to the Major

1. General Education coursework
2. CLAS 300 WI: “Writing in <this discipline>”—taken after students have completed most of their General Education Program
3. Major and minor coursework

In this scenario, a department would develop a “gateway” course for their major or majors which would serve to introduce their majors to the academic writing conventions of their particular discipline. This gateway course could be a required prerequisite to other, more advanced coursework; that way, faculty teaching later courses could build on the strategies, concepts, and outcomes of the WI gateway course.

SCENARIO TWO: Scaffolding Writing Instruction in the Major

1. General Education coursework
2. CLAS 300 WI “Introduction to Writing in <this discipline>”
3. CLAS 350 WI “Special Topics in <this discipline>”
4. Major and minor coursework
5. CLAS 400 WI “Capstone Senior Writing Project”

In response to accreditation and/or student needs, departments might decide to build a sequence of WI courses beyond the one required. In this scenario, each major might include an introductory course which meets the WI outcomes and then subsequent courses that extend and deepen students’ experiences with those outcomes. Since the WI requirement ideally sets only a minimal amount of writing instruction in the major, a more explicit and cohesive WI structure within a major can strengthen students’ communication expertise.

SCENARIO THREE: A Menu of WI Courses

1. General Education coursework
2. Major and minor coursework, WI course or courses—in major coursework, some 300- and 400-level course or courses meet the WI outcomes and have been vetted in this way.

For some majors, it may be appropriate to designate several upper-level courses as WI so that all students are ensured of taking at least one WI course in their degree work.