Changes to the University Writing Requirement

A Note to Students and Parents

UK has recently revised the University Writing Requirement, a key component of the University Studies Program required of students for graduation. The changes proposed have since been approved by the University Senate and will take effect fall 2004. Here are major elements of the revision:

• Previously, the writing requirement consisted of two courses (ENG 101 and 102) of three credit hours each, taken back-to-back during the first year. No further course featuring substantial writing instruction was required through the remainder of a student's college career.
• As of Fall 2004, the writing requirement will consist of courses at two levels:
• A single first-year course (ENG 104) of four credit hours, taken during either the Fall or Spring semester of a student's first year;
• A second-tier requirement fulfilled by a writing-intensive course in English (three credit hours, at the 200-level) taken sometime after achieving sophomore status.

Honors students with a score of 29 or better on the English component of the ACT may satisfy both the University Writing Requirement and the Humanities requirement by passing three colloquia. Those with less than 29 on the English component of the ACT may satisfy both requirements by passing four colloquia. Honors students who complete all four colloquia also satisfy the six-hour USP elective requirement.

We anticipate a number of benefits from this change, including these:

• Long-term Effectiveness: The writing requirement is no longer confined to the first year but is spread to the second year or beyond. Research establishes the advantages of this in counteracting the tendency for writing skills to decline through disuse during the years following first-year composition.
• Streamlined Curriculum: In replacing a two-course sequence with a single, more intensive course, we cut overlap and repetition from the first-year curriculum.
• Improved Instruction: The revised first-year course will take seriously the charge of the influential Boyer Commission Report on undergraduate education at research universities, to offer "an integrated, interdisciplinary, inquiry-based experience" to incoming students, stressing intellectual content, collaborative endeavors, and research-based learning.
• Increased Attention to Students: This change enables us to reduce class size in first-year writing, to 22 students per class-essential in a class demanding sustained student-teacher contact. The added hour of instruction will enable yet further attention to students.

A further aspect of the revised writing requirement is that criteria for exemptions from the first-year course have been established. These are summarized on the Writing Requirement Exemption/Placement page.

We at the UK Writing Program welcome this revision to the University Writing Requirement-the outcome of long deliberation and hard work by a great number of individuals. We stand ready to address your questions and concerns as we implement these changes and develop a new first-year course blending instructional flexibility with sound, assessable outcomes in student writing abilities.

Dr. Randall Roorda
Associate Professor of English
Director, UK Writing Program