WAC LIAISONS - Campus Writing Requirements

General Education Writing Requirements

UPS 411.201

The GE Writing Requirement is described in the fifth paragraph of UPS 411.201.

General Education courses shall include student writing appropriate to the course. Writing in General Education courses shall involve the organization and expression of complex data or ideas. Instructors shall provide careful and timely evaluations of writing so that deficiencies are identified and suggestions are offered for improvement on subsequent writing in the course. Evaluations of the student's writing competence shall be used in determining the final course grade. When a student is enrolled in a combined lecture and laboratory course, the laboratory portion of the course may be used to satisfy the General Education writing requirement.

General Education WAC LIAISONS Workshop - GE Goals and Writing Pedagogy

Are you proposing or updating a General Education (GE) course for your department? After reviewing CSUF’s GE Writing Goals and some basic writing pedagogy, this workshop will introduce an effective process for incorporating writing into your GE courses. Participants will leave with a few writing activities with which to gauge student competence in their course’s student learning outcomes. Please bring a syllabus. 

This workshop is available by appointment with Dr. Leslie Bruce at departmental meetings or retreats.

Upper-Division Writing Requirements

Overview

According to UPS 320.020, courses used to fulfill or partially fulfill undergraduate students’ Upper-Division Writing Requirement (UDWR) must be reviewed and certified by the University Committee on Writing Proficiency as writing intensive, writing complementary, or thesis courses. In addition, courses shall be submitted for UDWR recertification every eight years. The review and approval process is facilitated by the online curriculum system (i.e., Curriculog).

Students should consult with their major advisors to see what course or courses fulfill the UDWR in their major; a course approved for the UDWR in one major may not be approved for another major.

Policy/Procedure Documents

• UPS 320.020: University Writing Requirements
• UPS 411.100: Curriculum Guidelines & Procedures (courses)
• CSU Chancellor's Executive Order (EO) 665: Determination of Competence in English and Mathematics
• Upper-Division Writing Requirement Petition (under "Additional Petitions")

Certification Information

• Recertification Schedule/Timeline
• University Writing Proficiency Committee Memo re: UPS 320.020 (Sample)
• List of Certified Courses 

Course-Building Resources

• Models of Best Practices
• Writing Intensive Course Best Practices
• Curriculog Checklist

Create a Proposal In Curriculog

To initiate a proposal, access Curriculog through your CSUF portal.

1. In the top-right corner, click Login.
2. In the bottom-right corner, click Need Help?.
3. In the search box that opens, type "new proposal".
4. Select Proposal-Create New Proposal for step-by-step instructions and follow the prompts.

Graduate Writing Requirements

The CSU's Graduation Writing Assessment Requirement has been suspended since 2020. You can read about this suspension on the CSU's Policy Stat pages.