Information About the Advanced College Writing Requirement

**NOTE:  Advanced College Writing Courses focus on the student's major area of study and are developed based on the conventions for research, analysis, and writing in the specific discipline.

• What writing courses must a student take in order to graduate?

  • This information can be found in 2 locations:

• • • General Education Requirements

• • • Writing Course Guidelines

• Where can I find the Advanced College Writing Course approval/renewal form?

• What are the writing-related requirements for an Advanced College Writing Course?

  • Please refer to the Writing Guidelines for the requirements for an Advanced College Writing Course (section B).

• Do Advanced College Writing Course requirements have to be fulfilled by a formal course?

  • The Advanced College Writing Course requirements do not have to be fulfilled by a formal course, but the learning outcomes must still be met.  Please refer to the Writing Guidelines (Section B.3. Requirements for Advanced College Writing Course expectations not fulfilled by a Course).

• What percent of the grade in an Advanced College Writing Course has to be from writing assignments?

  • A significant portion (at least 50% of a 3-credit course or equivalent hours) of the course grade must be based on student performance on written assignments.

• What is a formal writing assignment?

  • Description of formal writing assignments (FAQ #3) can be found on the Writing Course Criteria FAQ page.

• What is an informal writing assignment?  How are informal writing assignments evaluated?

  • Description of informal writing assignments (FAQ #4) can be found on the Writing Course Criteria FAQ page.

• What is the page requirement for Advanced College Writing Course?  Does the requirement mean that a 20-page paper should be assigned?

  • For Advanced College Writing Course, students must individually compose at least 20 pages of writing for assessment over the course of the semester.  This does not mean that the course must include a 20-page paper.  Please refer to the Writing Course Criteria FAQ page (FAQ #5 & #6) for more information.

• Can group assignments be used to meet the writing assignment requirement?

  • Please refer to the Writing Course Criteria FAQ page (FAQ #7) to determine if group assignments can be used to meet the Advanced College Writing Course requirements.

• Is there a limit to the number of students that can enroll in an Advanced College Writing Course?

  • Enrollment in Advanced College Writing Courses should be limited to 25 students per instructor or grader.  Please refer to the Writing Course Criteria FAQ page (FAQ #8) for more information on the enrollment limit.

• Does the Advanced College Writing Course requirement have to be met with a single course?  Can multiple courses be used to fulfill the Advanced College Writing Course requirement for a department?

  • Multiple courses can be used to fulfill the Advanced College Writing Course requirement for a department.  If multiple courses are used to fulfill the Advanced College Writing Course requirement, the learning outcomes must be met by the courses, enrollment must still be limited as noted above, and the students must still individually compose at least 20 pages of writing for assessment across the multiple courses.  Please refer to the Writing Guidelines for more information.

• Can one course be used by a student to satisfy both the Intermediate College Writing Course requirement AND the Advanced College Writing Course requirement?

  • No.  The Intermediate College Writing Course and the Advanced College Writing Course requirements cannot be satisfied with the same course.  Please refer to the Writing Course Criteria FAQ page (FAQ #10) for more information.

• What is information literacy?

  • Information literacy is the set of skills needed to find, retrieve, analyze, and use information (American Library Association).  For details on information literacy, including a framework and rubric for information literacy at The University of Montana, please refer to the Mansfield Library's Information Literacy Curriculum page.

• Where can I get face-to-face help designing a writing course or assignment?

  • Schedule a consultation with a Writing Center representative to discuss ideas for designing informal and formal writing assignments that meet the needs of your course. 

• Where can I get help with Embedding Writing in Any Course?

• Where can I get help with Designing Writing Assignments?

  • This includes

    • tips for using writing in large classes

    • ideas for using writing activities that are easy to grade

    • Tips for how to use writing as a tool for learning in any class

• Where can I get help with Evaluating Student Writing and Providing Meaningful Feedback/Responding to Student Writing?