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University Writing Program
On this page:
- About the University Writing Program
- First-Year Writing Course Requirement
- Core First-Year Writing Courses
- Placement into First-Year Writing Courses
- Course Descriptions
About the University Writing Program
At Wright State University, our first-year writing courses are designed to help students learn and practice the skills required to become successful college writers. Every instructor who teaches in the University Writing Program is a dedicated professional who is committed to supporting student success.
Each incoming student is required to take a first-year writing course, unless they have already received credit for ENG 1100 through CCP. have transfer credit from an accredited institution for a course equivalent to ENG 1100 with a grade C or higher, or have AP credit for ENG 1100. Official transcripts and AP scores should be sent to Wright State from your previous institution.
First-Year Writing Course Requirement
We strongly recommend that students complete their first-year writing course during their first semester. Research indicates that students who complete their first-year writing course in the first year of college are more successful—across the board, not just in that English course. Our writing courses are crafted to help prepare students for the college writing needed in all their classes.
Core First-Year Writing Courses
We offer four versions of our first-year writing course, giving students a range of options. All four courses are credit bearing and all four courses have the same learning outcomes. The key differences are the levels of supplemental support and instruction provided to students.
- ENG 1100 is our 3-hour first-year writing course.
- ENG 1100 ESL is our 3-hour first-year writing course for ESL students.
- ENG 1140 is our 4-hour first-year writing course.
- ALP is our 6-hour first-year writing course.
We strongly recommend that students complete their first-year writing course during their first semester. Research indicates that students who complete their first-year writing course in the first year of college are more successful—across the board, not just in that English course. Our writing courses are crafted to help prepare students for the college writing needed in all their classes.
ENG 1100, ENG 1100 ESL, ENG 1140, and ENG1100+DEV0100 each fulfill your first-year writing requirement. The classes vary in the level of support offered to help you succeed, and passing any of these four classes means you are ready for ENG2100.
Placement into First-Year Writing Courses
The placement process we use in the University Writing Program guides students to the best course for college-level writing success. We use a multiple measures approach to ensure you are in the best writing class for your needs. The assessment is free and online.
Multiple measures assessment means that we place you according to the highest of your scores from these categories:
- Your high school GPA as reflected in your admissions record
- Standardized test scores
- Wright State University writing placement assessment
If you do not have a high school GPA or test scores, you should take the placement assessment.
If you feel your HS record or standardized test scores do not reflect your writing ability, you are encouraged to take the writing assessment.
Visit the Core Writing Placement Process: Multiple Measures webpage to find process, levels, and policy information.
Course Descriptions
All three versions of our first-year writing courses introduce students to principles of effective written communication and critical reading at the college level. Students are introduced to writing for different contexts with an emphasis on the differences between informal writing and formal, revised, research-based academic writing. Students learn how to apply the writing process to plan a longer writing project, conduct college-level research, organize drafts, incorporate sources into their writing, give feedback to peer writers, receive feedback from peer writers, and refine their writing style for different audiences and purposes.
ENG 1100 Academic Writing & Reading (3 credit hours)—Assignments require students to conduct reading, writing, and revising at the college level with moderate-to-high levels of independence. Instructor help and additional support through the University Writing Center are readily available, but the expectation is that students in this course are working independently.
ENG 1100 ESL Academic Writing & Reading—This is the same course as ENG 1100 with support for non-native speakers of English. It appears on transcripts as ENG 1100.
ENG 1140 Intensive Academic Writing & Reading (4 credit hours)—The assignments are the same as ENG 1100, but students who take ENG 1140 have one hour of supplemental support and instruction from the course instructor to help them complete their work successfully.
ENG 0100+DEV 0100 (ALP) Academic Writing & Reading + Foundations of College Writing (3 credit hours +3 non-credit bearing hours of supplemental instruction). Dayton Campus only. ALP is a corequisite program that allows students to take ENG 1100 alongside DEV 0100 to help them develop foundational reading and writing skills while building new abilities in critical reading, analysis, and evaluation skills as well as essential elements of academic writing. ALP allows students who need extra help to complete their first-year writing requirement in their first semester. ENG 1100 applies to WSU Core requirements and credit hours earned; the DEV 0100 corequisite does not apply to the Core or credit hours earned, but DEV 0100 does count toward full-time registration status for the term.
DEV 0920 Foundations of College Writing (3 hours)—Lake Campus only. Intensive instruction in reading, writing, and critical thinking. Emphasizes reflection, revision, collaboration, and self-assessment to prepare students for collegiate success. Pass/fail class. DEV 0920 hours do not apply to the Core or credit hours earned but do count toward full-time registration status for the term. DEV 0920 prepares students to take ENG 1100.
We also offer ENG 1030 English/Second Language: Advanced Writing. Written communication with an emphasis on grammatical structures, sentence structure and essay organization, and topic development. For non-native speakers of English only. This course prepares students to succeed in ENG 1100 ESL. Does not apply toward Wright State Core requirements for graduation.
