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.

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. 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.