Writing Requirements
Writing requirements for undergraduates
at Northwestern are determined by the individual undergraduate
schools.
The WCAS writing requirement is administered
by the Writing Program.
A. Overview of the WCAS writing requirement
The WCAS writing proficiency requirement is designed
to be completed in the freshman or sophomore year and
to help ensure that students are prepared to write effectively
in their upper level classes. To demonstrate their proficiency,
students must write satisfactorily in two courses at
Northwestern, typically during their first year, in
freshman seminars. As part of their teaching responsibilities,
freshman seminar instructors are asked to evaluate the
writing of their students. These evaluations reflect
the instructors' assessments of students' writing skills
only and do not necessarily correspond to the grades
students earn in the seminar courses. These assessments
are then forwarded to the Writing Program. Students
who receive unsatisfactory evaluations in one or both
courses will be contacted by The Writing Program. A
Writing Program adviser will work with the student to
develop an alternate approach to fulfilling this requirement,
which may include enrollment in an expository writing
course such as English 105 or English 205.
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B. Entering freshmen
All freshmen are told that they will need to complete
the requirement and will be evaluated in their freshman
seminars. (There are two exceptions, for special program
students. HPME and MMSS students, who are required to
take only one freshman seminar, have only a one-course
writing requirement).
Students who have not completed the requirement by the
end of freshman year will be asked to come to the Writing
Program and meet with an adviser to map out a plan for
achieving and demonstrating writing proficiency. This
plan may include taking an expository writing course
(English 105 or English 205) or preparing a portfolio
of writing produced in courses beyond the freshman seminars
(see the section on transfers for details about the
portfolio).
Students who are unsure about whether they have completed
the writing requirement can check their electronic degree
audit information on the Registrar's Office website
at the beginning of sophomore year to see if they completed
the WCAS writing requirement during freshman year. Any
student who has questions about the writing requirement
can call or write Robert Gundlach, Director of the Writing
Program at 847- 491-7414; r-gundlach@northwestern.edu
or Jacquelyn Bailey, Program Assistant for the
Writing Program at 847-491-7414; ja-bailey@northwestern.edu.
Transfer students can also check with a WCAS College
Adviser.
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C. Transfer students
Students who transfer into the College
as freshmen are expected to take one or two freshman
seminars, depending on their date of transfer, and thus
should plan to meet the writing proficiency requirement
as specified above.
Students who transfer into the College
after freshman year are not expected to take freshman
seminars, and so may fulfill the writing requirement
in a number of different ways:
-
completing an equivalent writing requirement
in another division of Northwestern (or in unusual
cases at another college or university). Such students
should be referred to the director of the Writing
Program.
-
taking English 205-0, Intermediate
Composition
-
demonstrating an ability to write
satisfactorily in courses taken at Northwestern
by submitting a portfolio of written work for review
Transfer students should plan to meet
with their WCAS College Adviser in their first quarter
in WCAS to develop a plan for meeting the requirement.
Depending on the extent of their writing experience,
and their own sense of the strengths and weaknesses
in their writing, one or another of these options may
be more suitable. In some cases it may be appropriate
for students to delay making a decision on the best
course for fulfilling the requirement if they expect
to have writing opportunities in their first quarter
at Northwestern.
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D. Portfolio preparation and submission
The portfolio should include three writing samples.
At least two should be from courses taken at Northwestern,
and at least two should be analytic writing. Students
should bring print copies of their samples, along with
a brief cover letter describing their writing background
in college, to their WCAS College Adviser. These will
be forwarded to a committee in the Writing Program,
and the students will be contacted after their writing
portfolios have been reviewed. The committee meets several
times each quarter.
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E. Resources for students to improve their writing
Students should understand that completing the requirement
represents a minimum level of writing proficiency. The
Writing Program offers many resources to help students
not only complete the writing requirement but also continue
to improve as writers throughout their undergraduate
careers:
-
Writing
Program courses: All students are welcome
to enroll in an expository writing course at any
time if they wish to increase their skill and confidence
in writing, and prepare themselves better for more
challenging writing projects in their majors. The
Writing Program offers three levels of expository
writing: English 105, 205, and 305. The Writing
Program also offers a number of special-focus courses,
such as Writing Women's Lives, which is cross listed
with Gender Studies, and Practical Rhetoric (English
304), which is designed to prepare students to tutor
in the Writing Place.
-
Peer tutoring: The
Writing Place is a peer tutoring center, located
in the Core Library area of the Main University
Library. The Writing Place specializes in helping
Northwestern students work on their writing. Writing
Place consultants are talented undergraduates who
are very good writers and who have been specially
trained to help their peers at all stages of the
writing process without writing the papers for them.
Northwestern students are welcome to come to the
Writing Place as often as they like, to work on
specific papers or to address broader writing issues.
Even very proficient writers benefit from talking
through their ideas with a helpful listener or having
a careful reader go over a draft.
- NuWrite is a website for students and faculty that provides resources, advice, and conversation about (a) core skills in writing, (b) writing in specific disciplines, and (c) teaching writing in a variety of courses. Part of the site is organized around writing communities, which may be a course, a program, or an interest group. Each has a home page that describes its purpose and how to contact its volunteer leader.
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