Graduation Writing Requirement Appeals Process
In order to graduate with a Bachelor’s degree, students must fulfill the requirements of the Graduation Writing Requirement (GWR). The students are made aware of the GWR process during their first composition class, ENG1020 English Composition or ENG1024 Honors Composition: Writing in the Academy, and are further prepared during ENG1021 Advanced Composition and Communication or ENG1027 Honors Advanced Composition and Communications: Civic Discourse. During week 8 of ENG1021 Advanced Composition and Communication/ENG1027 Honors Advanced Composition and Communications: Civic Discourse, students take the GWR assessment. The assessment asks students to write an essay based on 1 of 3 writing prompts, which are developed by English faculty. The students are given the full class period to take the assessment.
With the use of the GWR rubric, the essays are graded by 2 English faculty (3 English faculty, if needed). ENG1021 Advanced Composition and Communication/ENG1027 Honors Advanced Composition and Communications: Civic Discourse faculty receive the grades by the end of the term. A grade of Satisfactory or Unsatisfactory is issued under the course name ENG0100 Writing Assessment. If a student is absent for the assessment, they are issued an Unsatisfactory. If a student has dropped ENG1021 Advanced Composition and Communication/ENG1027 Honors Advanced Composition and Communications: Civic Discourse, a withdrawal grade of W will be issued. The same grade of W is issued for ENG0100 Writing Assessment.
Students who receive an Unsatisfactory will have to enroll in ENG0001 Writing Workshop to have the chance to work on their writing weaknesses and earn a Satisfactory grade. The workshop can be taken during any term and is a free, non-credit course that meets once a week for 2 hours. Assessment opportunities are provided in weeks 1, 5 and 10. If a student earns a Satisfactory on any of these assessments, they have satisfied the requirement and no longer attends the class.
Students with documented disabilities that may affect their performance on Criteria 6 of the Graduation Writing Requirement, which assesses proficiency of English grammar, are encouraged to work with the Center for Academic Support to determine reasonable ADA/504 accommodations. Accommodations exclude the use of grammar check or other electronic tools or programs to identify grammar errors since the use of technology or programs of this type fundamentally alter the nature of the assessment and therefore are not reasonable accommodations for the Graduation Writing Requirement.
Appeals Process
Any student who has completed ENG0001 Writing Workshop twice and has received a grade of Unsatisfactory may file an appeal with the chair of the English department. The appeal will involve the following:
- The student will write a letter to the chair of the English department, explaining their wish to appeal the Unsatisfactory grade. The letter must be submitted no later than 2 weeks after the posting of grades.
- The chair will meet with the student. At such time, the student may present information to support the appeal, including any mitigating circumstances affecting the failure to complete the Graduation Writing Requirement.
- The chair will meet with the faculty member from the student’s ENG0001 Writing Workshop section to discuss the student’s writing and performance in class in order to have a fuller understanding of the student’s performance, which will be presented to the appeals committee.
- An appeals committee that consists of the Chief Academic Officer of the campus or their designee, the English department chair, and 2 other faculty, selected by the chair, will make a holistic final assessment of the student based on:
- The decision of the appeals committee is final with one exception. Students with documented disabilities that may affect performance on the assessment and who did not receive requested accommodations pursuant to the ADA/ Section 504 and JWU procedures may request reconsideration by the Center for Academic Support and/or appeal that denial. The process for review of accommodation decisions is in the Student Handbook.