The Writing Intensive Program at CSUSB is available to work with departments in developing a writing-enriched curriculum (WEC), a writing plan individualized at the department level. The department-developed writing plan would complement the new Writing Intensive (WI) requirement being implemented starting Fall 2020.
As you know, writing is not one-size-fits all. On the contrary, writing expectations can vary significantly from discipline to discipline. Students often have difficulty navigating these varying expectations, frequently seeing each class as its own island, with little to no transferability from one context to the next.
Modelled on a similar program developed at the University of Minnesota, the WEC opportunity offers a faculty-driven approach to supporting effective and relevant writing and writing instruction within an undergraduate curriculum. The model is founded on the following principles:
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Writing today draws on a number of different modes or forms, including both graphic-heavy and nonvisual modes.
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Writing ability is continually developed rather than mastered.
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Because writing is instrumental to learning, teaching writing is a shared responsibility among content experts in all academic disciplines.
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The incorporation of writing into content instruction can be most meaningfully achieved when those who teach are provided multiple opportunities to articulate, interrogate, and communicate their assumptions and expectations.
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Those who infuse writing instruction into their teaching require support.
The Writing Intensive Program is looking for departments who wish to create an individualized department writing plan to help students learn to write in their major. This opportunity engages departments in developing, implementing, and assessing a writing plan with support from the Writing Intensive Program.
This faculty-driven process is meant to support the development of writers in your department, according to the needs of your department. Plans can range from developing a “toolkit” of writing assignments available for instructors to use, to curriculum mapping, to convening writing-oriented discussions between undergraduate students and panels of field professionals.
The process begins by submitting a letter of intent, which provides some information about your department and your interest in developing a WEC in your department. Please email Thomas Girshin (tgirshin@csusb.edu), Writing Intensive Program Coordinator, with any questions. Thank you for your interest.