Eastern Oregon University
University Writing Requirement (UWR)

Faculty and Advisor Information


[About]--[Course Approval]--[Advising]
UWR Graduation Checksheet
Cover Sheet for Syllabi

About the UWR

First-year students entering EOU in Fall 2004 must complete the University Writing Requirement. After Fall 2004, most students will be able to complete the UWR as part of their major requirements.

The UWR replaces the Writing Proficiency Examination (WPE). Because the UWR ensures that students receive plenty of attention to writing in their majors where writing is meaningful and faculty can provide immediate assistance, faculty believe the UWR has the potential to graduate better writers than the WPE, which occurs in an artificial environment without much opportunity for revision or assistance. The UWR should also save time because classroom writing is valued as a measure of students' writing ability rather than an examination taken in addition to coursework.

The WPE will still be available for students entering EOU as first-year students before Fall 2004 and for transfer students with demonstrated need, as determined by their program advisors.

UWR Course Approval

EPCC approval is required to add or delete courses from the UWR list.


Advising

Students enrolling at EOU prior to Fall 2004 may substitute the UWR for the WPE. However, only courses approved as UWR writing-intensive courses in Fall 2004 or later or courses participating in the 2003-2004 UWR Pilot will satisfy the UWR. Courses cannot count retroactively because there is no efficient way to determine whether they met UWR outcomes prior to EPCC approval. Please see the list of courses. To make this substitution, students or their advisors must submit the UWR Graduation Checksheet, signed by Writing Coordinator Nancy Knowles, with their graduation applications.

Transfer students must work with their advisors, in consultation with the Writing Coordinator, to determine whether incoming coursework meets the UWR and to identify potential EOU substitutions where needed. Only courses approved by the program and substitutions approved the students' program advisors count toward the UWR. It is the student's responsibility to demonstrate that transfer courses meet all UWR outcomes. Below are some articulation and substitution guidelines:

WR 121
Writing courses equivalent to or higher than WR 121 may be substituted. Any course in the Oregon WR 121-123 sequence is fine. Other courses should be college-level, transferable composition courses.
BA 225
Any courses that currently substitute for BA 225 are acceptable substitutes for BA 225 within the UWR, such as WR 227 from other Oregon institutions.
Lower-division
Unless otherwise specified by the degree program, WR 122 or WR 123 or AAOT may be used. Upper-division UWR courses beyond the two required may apply towards lower-division.
Other substitutions
Transfer or other courses must be approved by the student's major advisor and, through syllabi or other documents, be demonstrated to meet the UWR outcomes in terms of paper length, discipline-specific writing, writing from sources, and revision. Please see outcomes on the UWR main page.
WPE
The WPE may be substituted for the UWR in rare situations where transfer students have taken major courses elsewhere that cannot be demonstrated to meet UWR outcomes, where changes in UWR courses designated by the major disadvantage the student, or where a Liberal Studies student's combination of minors does not include UWR courses and the student has significant trouble taking UWR courses in his or her other coursework.


Return to UWR main page.