Academic Affairs

Writing Across the Curriculum at Wright State

Goals of the WAC Program


The Writing Across the Curriculum program at Wright State University has three goals:
  • To help students grow as writers,
  • To encourage students to use writing as a tool to discover and communicate ideas, and
  • To introduce students to discipline-specific ways of writing.

Learning Outcomes of the WAC Program


Wright State students will be able to produce writing that
  • Demonstrates their understanding of course content,
  • Is appropriate for the audience and purpose of a particular writing task,
  • Demonstrates the degree of mastery of disciplinary writing conventions appropriate to the course (including documentation conventions), and
  • Shows competency in standard edited American English.

Requirements Integrated Writing Courses


Courses that are approved for the Integrated Writing (IW) designation must meet the following requirements:
  • The course syllabus identifies the course as an IW course.
  • The IW learning outcomes are listed on the syllabus.
  • A significant amount of writing is required: a minimum total of 2,000 words in IW Wright State Core courses and a minimum total of 5,000 words in IW courses in the major.
  • Students will receive response to their writing and have opportunities to use that response to improve their writing.
  • Writing assignments are integrated into the course design. Students should not be able to pass the course without completing the writing assignments.
  • Criteria for evaluating writing are clearly articulated and provided to students.

Grades in Integrated Writing Courses


Beginning Fall 2012, there will no longer be a separate pass/fail grade for a “writing component” in any WAC course. Courses submitted and approved for the IW designation integrate writing into the course, and student performance in writing is reflected in the course grade. Students who pass a designated IW course in the Core or in the major will use that course to meet the WAC graduation requirement.

WAC Requirements for Graduation


In addition to completing ENG 1100 and ENG 2100, all undergraduate students admitted to WSU for the fall quarter of 2012 and thereafter must complete a minimum of four designated Integrated Writing (IW) courses—two designated IW courses in the Wright State Core and two designated IW courses in the major.

For students making the transition from quarters to semesters, the previous requirement of four Writing Intensive (WI) courses for General Education has been reduced to three courses in the Wright State Core. Students may use either WI (quarter) or IW (semester) courses to meet this requirement. For students transferring to Wright State in fall quarter or 2012 or thereafter, the number of IW courses required for the Core depends upon the number of transfer hours applied to the Core in the term that they matriculate. A full statement of the policy is available at http://www.wright.edu/academics/wac/. Students with questions should be referred to their advisors.

All students must complete the two-course IW requirement in the major.

Academic Affairs

Location: 
280 University Hall