Academic Programs

Implementing GWAR

The most recent version of the GWAR policy can be found here. There you'll find more detailed information about what qualifies as a GWAR course as well as an outline of the review and assessment processes for GWAR-certified courses.

What qualifies as a GWAR course?

Distilled into a table, GWAR courses must meet the following standards or apply for an exception from the University Writing Committee (UWC). 

Table of GWAR Course Certification Standards

Standard

Description

Upper Division

Course must be a 3000 or 4000 level, prerequisite Junior Standing.

Min. 3-units

Can be a single course, corequisite courses, or complementary courses in sequence.

Enrollment Cap

28 for a single course, 28 in writing-intensive component of a corequisite, or 40 for complementary courses. Exceptions can be made in consultation.

Pedagogy: Amount of Writing

4000 individually-written words, including drafts.

Pedagogy: Writing Instruction

Meaningful time is devoted to instruction in writing through instructor feedback and other strategies (e.g., reviewing assignment expectations, drafting, peer review, analyzing audience needs and expectations, discussing disciplinary conventions and style, embedded tutoring).

Assessment: Learning Outcomes

Writing assignments in GWAR courses must be assessable using the University rubric or aligned, certified instrument.

Assessment: Grading

Grades assigned to a student’s written communication skills (defined by the rubric, which includes but is not limited to grammatical fluency) should constitute a substantial component of the course grade.

 

What is the process for certifying a GWAR course?

To be certified for GWAR, a course must be approved by the UWC, a senate-appointed committee with representatives from every college and the Library, as well as a Writing in the Disciplines (WID) Coordinator, the First-Year Composition Coordinator, and representatives from OAP and the OAPR. The WID Coordinator and the UWC are empowered to collaborate with departments to identify needs and brainstorm solutions to find GWAR courses within the major.

As we work to certify courses before F25 implementation, the process will be modified to moderate faculty workload. Details will be forthcoming in S24, once the UWC is seated. But departments should expect to revise at least one Extended Course Outline (ECO) for UWC review. The OAP will provide a small stipend to compensate faculty for this work. 

Table of implementation tasks by term.
Fall 2023
 Senate Vote on GWAR Policy
Office of Academic programs (OAP) posts call for Writing in the Disciplines (WID) Coordinator role
Senate posts call for college representatives for University Writing Committee (UWC)
OAP distributes preliminary survey to department chairs to identify necessary resources.
Spring 2024
 Appoint WID Coordinator
Seat Senate UWC representatives and convene committee.
OAP and UWC facilitate discussions for service/cross-listed GWAR courses.
Faculty Professional Development Programming opportunities
Summer 2024
 Faculty Professional Development Programming opportunities
OAP hosts GWAR curricular revision workshops
Fall 2024
 Departments submit ECOs for GWAR certification in Curriculog.
Working with faculty over the last year to design and revise the GWAR proposal, a few questions consistently popped up about how departments would be able to satisfy GWAR. If the FAQ doesn't address your question, don't hesitate to reach out to the Office of Academic Programs (amderosa@cpp.edu) or the University Writing Committee.

Frequently Asked Questions

The Graduate Writing Assessment Requirement (GWAR) has been a graduation requirement at the CSU since 1977. Formerly, CPP satisfied GWAR through the Graduate Writing Test (GWT), a timed exam that students paid for. Most CSUs had already abandoned such exams when the Chancellor’s Office suspended in-person exams under COVID, and required GWAR be satisfied via coursework.

An Academic Senate ad hoc committee was formed in 2020 and developed a proposal to create a “Writing in the Disciplines” program. Adopted by nearly half of all CSUs, WID programs recognize written communication not as a generic skill, but as a contextual one where conventions and audience expectations vary by field. By promoting the integration of writing into disciplinary courses, WID programs:

  • Empower departments to determine what qualifies as written communication competency in their major;
  • advance students’ career readiness by preparing them to communicate in their chosen fields;
  • and promote CPP’s “learn by doing” mission by grounding writing instruction in field-specific work (e.g., reports, memos, business models, grant proposals, etc.).

The proposal was brought to the Academic Senate in Spring 22, and members of the ad hoc committee were invited to speak with Academic Affairs to discuss the proposal. Two Town Halls were held to publicize the policy and given its first reading in S23. In Summer and Fall of 2023, the Office of Academic Programs continued working with representatives from the ad hoc committee, Academic Affairs, the Executive Committee, college curriculum committees, and advisors to revise the policy in alignment with faculty feedback. A final Town Hall was convened and the second reading for the policy was held on September 20, 2023. The Senate voted in favor of the policy.

Departments are required to identify how students in their majors will satisfy GWAR within the curriculum. The Office of Academic Programs and the University Writing Committee will support departments as they work to identify courses within the major curriculum that meet the GWAR course standards. If a course can’t be identified within the major, the next step is to identify other departments that might be interested in designating a service course. Departments are encourage to reach out to partners, but OAP is also williing to help facilitate these conversations.

The policy is written to allow a great deal of latitude for departments to find space in their curriculum for GWAR coursework. Speaking with faculty while writing the GWAR proposal, we found that, more often than not, a viable solution exists within the major. Talking to someone with WID experience is particularly helpful in this regard, and the OAP and UWC are committed to meeting with departments one-on-one as necessary. Please reach out to Aaron DeRosa, Interim Faculty Director of Undergraduate Studies and General Education, at amderosa@cpp.edu.

Identifying a disciplinary GWAR course isn’t just about advising students on a graduation requirement; learning disciplinary writing conventions helps students succeed in their major courses and in their professional lives. Programs having agency over the kinds of writing practices students learn will improve overall student success. The investment is worth the long-term payoff.

GE courses should only be considered after all other options have been explored. Placing GWAR in upper division GE synthesis courses creates bottlenecks for transfer students, pressure on advisors and students to navigate an additional graduation requirement, and financial and organizational burdens for other departments/colleges.

The GWAR policy is something of a culture change insofar as it asks departments to share this responsibility, but it also affords tremendous flexibility for departments to meet the standards.

Not all classes that teach writing are necessarily GWAR courses. Programs should consider multiple courses and decide on which is most valuable to students. Some standards are required by the Chancellor’s Office and cannot be amended. Others are local, arising out of a year-long dialogue between faculty, administration, and writing studies experts. As appropriate, exceptions can be made to the policy in consultation with the Faculty Director of Undergraduate Studies and GE, the Writing in the Disciplines coordinator, and the UWC.

Of particular concern for some are the course enrollment caps. The cap is there to protect faculty labor and student learning. While programs can apply for exceptions, departments should consider options for shifting the burden of enrollment cap changes elsewhere in their curriculum, particularly if the gap is small (the current cap is 30-35 students). Bigger enrollment gaps can be addressed through course sequencing, corequisite coursework, or other innovative strategies.

Another consistent concern was addressing the requirement that GWAR courses evaluate individual writing (see below), but the most appropriate classes in the major require group projects. There are a bevy of ways to assess individual writing in group projects and can be discussed in consultation with the UWC.

The policy establishes that a faculty member will serve as the Writing in the Disciplines Coordinator to help manage and support the university through this work, and in particular chairing the new senate University Writing Committee, which will have representatives from every college.

Through the implementation period, there will be support for faculty for revising ECOs and filing them in Curriculog. There will also be faculty professional development opportunities around course redesigns, curricular revisions (if necessary), and assignment design. The UWC will be empowered to collect and develop resources that can help spark new ideas, reframe current practices, and offer plug-and-play modules/assignments. You won’t need to start from scratch and you won’t need to work alone.

It is also the hope that there will be additional support and training through the Writing Center, as specific classes allow us to identify student support for specific assignments or departments, including the possibility of embedded tutors.

There are a number of ways to include individual writing assessment in a class whose primary focus is producing a group project. Some ideas include:

Evaluating individual component parts of group projects

  • Project application: If students spend the semester working on a group project, individual group members might be tasked with writing specific disciplinary documents (e.g., an email updating the team’s boss on progress, a grant proposal based on the findings, a Popular Science article, a SCCUR or SRC symposium presentation)
  • Assigned roles: A group project using a “POGIL” (Process-Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning) method assigns roles to individuals: manager, recorder, spokesperson, analyst. Each individual in their role can be assigned unique writing tasks that reflect or advance the project (e.g. a manager produces a timeline, org chart, and clear job tasks; a recorder’s notes, a spokesperson’s presentation; an analyst’s reflection)
  • Assigned portions: A classic strategy, but a single group project might require individual group members identify their specific contributions to the paper.
  • Peer Assessment: Students help design a rubric and then write feedback on other projects in the class; this can be done at multiple points in the project’s development.

Process-oriented individual work:

  • Writing checkpoints: At certain checkpoints during the project, students submit individual assessments of their project’s progress: its strengths and weaknesses, the group’s dynamic, and/or their own contributions.
  • Self-Reflection: Students submit work evaluating their engagement in the project and what they’ve learned.
  • Planning documents: before a group project begins, students write about their anticipated workload, project steps, and what results they anticipate. You can pair this with a self-reflection project to have them consider their progress.