(effective Fall 2009)

UWP Curriculum Committee | Revised May 2006, February 2008, January 2009

Introduction

The University Writing Program proposes to offer an expository writing minor that would provide students with advanced instruction in writing, guided reflection on writing processes, and opportunities to gain practical experience in writing.  Participants would choose from a variety of writing classes addressing the specific conventions of academic disciplines and the practices of writing in the professional workplace. The minor would consist of twenty units of course work, twelve of which must be chosen from UWP courses. Because these UWP courses are already offered, the minor could be implemented immediately, and no additional resources would be needed. An application process based on quality of writing will be used to control enrollment.

By offering rigorous instruction and sustained practice in writing for varied audiences and in non-academic contexts, the minor would serve those students who wish to both study and practice writing: those who are planning careers as professional writers or editors (journalists, fund-raisers, technical writers), as well as those whose academic and professional careers will demand advanced writing skills. Courses in the minor would teach students about the various forms of writing they are likely to encounter, provide opportunities to experiment with their writing processes, and teach techniques for modifying their writing styles for different audiences and formats.  Finally, the writing minor would provide a structure and coherence for their study of writing as well as an actual credential for their efforts.

Benefits of the Minor

The writing minor will offer four tangible benefits:

1. Extended writing expertise and knowledge
   
   With a structured program offering a coherent set of courses, the minor would allow students to develop advanced competencies in writing in their academic disciplines; in planning, drafting, revising, and document design; and in using specialized terminology and techniques not available in other courses.
   

2. Pre-professional training in writing
   

   For students who wish to be professional writers, the benefits are obvious—specific instruction in a range of writing styles and situations, more opportunity to put this instruction into practice, coaching from professional writing instructors throughout the writing process, and a writing-intensive internship providing practice in real world writing (UWP 192).  Such training can lead to a career in a number of fields, including journalism, public relations, marketing, technical writing and editing, and public policy analysis. For students entering other professions, the writing minor could be equally beneficial, as suggested by a survey of UCD graduates conducted by Student Affairs Research & Information (SARI) in 2001, in which many reported that writing was crucial in their careers. The minor would give these students the opportunity for writing-focused professional development, enhance their critical thinking abilities, enable them to communicate more effectively in varied rhetorical situations, and help them to compete on the job market by providing documented evidence of their expertise.

3. Preparation for graduate or professional school
   

   Students going to graduate programs that emphasize writing and critical reading will benefit particularly from a writing minor, as will students entering other academic postgraduate or professional programs. The minor will directly prepare students for the growing number of writing-based graduate degree programs in fields such as technical and professional writing, journalism, and rhetoric and composition. It will also benefit students pursuing graduate degrees in writing-intensive fields like education, linguistics, advertising, public relations, marketing, media studies, communication studies, and public policy. Moreover, with the increasing demand for grant writing and research publication, writing proficiency for graduate students in all disciplines has never been more important, and a writing minor will make UCD students more competitive as applicants and more successful as graduate students.
   

4. Certification of writing expertise
   

   A writing minor listed on a student’s transcript certifies for potential employers and graduate programs that the student has achieved an advanced level of expertise in writing. The distinction of completing a systematic and intensive course of study in writing also establishes the student’s credentials for pursuing writing-intensive jobs in publishing, journalism, non-profit organizations, business, and other fields.

Curriculum

The proposed writing minor curriculum includes courses of study in four areas.The first two are the core writing curriculum, and as such, the minor requires students to take at least one course from each.

Group A, Writing in Academic Settings, consists of two kinds of courses: (a) those that focus on the particular conventions and forms important within specific disciplines, and (b) those that emphasize interdisciplinary activities: writing across the curriculum. Most of the courses in Group A are offered at least once a year.

Group B, Writing in the Professions, consists of courses emphasizing the forms and conventions of discourse in the professional, industrial, or corporate world.   Most of these courses are offered every quarter with multiple sections.
Group C consists of two kinds of courses: those that focus on the structures of communication that underlie writing and those that focus on theoretical or historical approaches to communication.

Group D is a Writing Internship, an opportunity for students to gain practical writing experience outside of the classroom. Students in internships as part of the Writing Minor would be required to write an evaluation of the experience, separate from the writing done for the internship itself.

Past internships have included students working as journalists (most often writing articles but also editing) for campus or local publications —e.g., The Aggie and UC Davis Magazine. Other students have worked for businesses in their fields of interest and written manuals, brochures, proposals, feasibility reports, press kits, etc. Often, interns in the above categories submitted portfolios of their work at the end. One on-going internship program administered through the UWP places students in local K-12 classrooms to teach reading and writing and keep journals of their experiences. Some graduates have obtained writing positions (e.g. as a newspaper reporter and a writer of an e-fashion newsletter), partly on the strength of their internship experiences, the letters of recommendation from internship and UWP supervisors, and the portfolios they produced.

The Writing Minor consists of twenty units of course work.  Twelve of these must be UWP courses.  Students would be required to complete four units each in Groups A, B, C, and D, accounting for sixteen units.  The remaining four units could be chosen from courses in Groups A, B, or C.

GROUP A:  Writing In Academic Settings  (one course required)

• ENL 100NF: Creative Writing, Nonfiction
• NEM 150: Revising Scientific Prose
• UWP 101: Advanced Composition
• UWP 102A: Writing in the Disciplines: Special Topics
• UWP 102B: Writing in the Disciplines: Biology
• UWP 102C: Writing in the Disciplines: History
• UWP 102D: Writing in the Disciplines: International Relations
• UWP 102E: Writing in the Disciplines: Engineering
• UWP 102F: Writing in the Disciplines: Food Science

GROUP B: Writing in the Professions (one course required)

• SOC 189: Social Sciences Writing
• UWP 104A: Writing in the Professions: Business Reports and Technical Communication
• UWP 104B: Writing in the Professions: Law
• UWP 104C: Writing in the Professions: Journalism
• UWP 104D: Writing in the Professions: Elementary and Secondary Education
• UWP 104E: Writing in the Professions: Science
• UWP 104F: Writing in the Professions: Health Sciences
• UWP 104I: Writing in the Professions: Internships

GROUP C:  Theory, History, and Design (one course required)

• ENL/LIN 106: English Grammar
• ANT 119: World Writing Systems
• CLA 110: Origins of Rhetoric
• CMN 105: Semantic and Pragmatic Functions of Language
• CMN 152: Theories of Persuasion
• ENL 105: History of the English Language
• HIS 101: Introduction to Historical Thought and Writing
• PHI 137: Philosophy of Language
• TCS 191: Writing Across Media

GROUP D: Writing Internship (4 units required; no more than 4 units will count toward the minor)

• UWP 192 (or equivalent)