Academics · December 3, 2025
Every Major Will Now Include Two Writing-Intensive Courses
A revised graduation requirement moves writing instruction out of the first year and into the disciplines.
The Faculty Senate has approved a graduation requirement that every undergraduate complete at least two writing-intensive courses within their major, in addition to first-year composition. Departments spent the past year designating which of their existing courses qualify and revising them to include staged drafts, feedback, and revision.
A writing-intensive designation requires that writing count for a substantial share of the grade, that assignments be broken into drafts with response between them, and that the course cap allow the instructor to actually read the drafts. The Writing Center added discipline-specific consultants to support the shift.
“An engineering memo, a nursing care plan, and a design rationale are different kinds of writing, and none of them are the five-paragraph essay. Students should practice the writing their field actually uses, with their field’s faculty.”
— director of writing across the curriculum
The requirement phases in with the fall 2026 catalog. Students already enrolled may opt in but are not required to.
Contact: Office of University Communications, news@uwporterfalls.edu
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