State-Mandated Writing ("W")/E-Series

1. Compose for a specific purpose, occasion, and audience.
2. Convey ideas in clear, coherent prose that utilizes the conventions of a standard language.

CoreFSU State-Mandated Writing/E-Series courses help students become clear, creative, and convincing communicators. The course objectives, course materials, activities, and grading criteria should reflect how students will achieve this outcome.

When preparing the course proposal in Coursedog, note that:

Writing courses must provide students with the following:

1. Two or more substantial* writing assignments or the equivalent.
2. A set of criteria for assessing student performance on writing.
3. Feedback on student writing. (Feedback may be from various reviewers (peer-to-peer, writing center, etc.), but must include instructor and/or teaching assistant response.)
4. Opportunities for revision.

*“Substantial” in requirement 1 should be interpreted as “intellectually substantial as appropriate for the level of the course.” The previous UPC expectation of “[together] totaling approximately 3000 words” may be used as a point of reference.

The definition of “college-level writing” that should guide the design and evaluation of writing assignments, as well as the assessment of the writing competencies, is writing that:

1. presents a clearly defined central idea or thesis;
2. provides adequate support for that idea;
3. is organized clearly and logically;
4. is presented in a format appropriate to the purpose, occasion, and audience; and
5. utilizes standard conventions appropriate for study in English.

The writing process cultivated by the course, the descriptions of the writing assignments as they are presented in the course proposal, and the rubrics or grading criteria for evaluating student writing assignments should all reflect this understanding.

• The objective-assessment table field in Coursedog should illustrate how students will be assessed on their achievement of the State-Mandated Writing (and other requested or approved CoreFSU area) student learning objectives.

Credit hours:

• State-Mandated Writing courses cannot be less than 3 credit hours.
• Variable credit hour courses should have a clear justification (ex: internship, seminar with rotating topics).

Note: Only college-level courses (1000 or higher) are approved for the CoreFSU curriculum.

There are two components of required syllabus language:

1. Statements approved by the Faculty Senate, and
2. Statements for each CoreFSU designation the course is certified for

Faculty Senate required syllabus language:

All syllabi are required to include the syllabus language statements approved by the FSU Faculty Senate, available at https://facsenate.fsu.edu/Curriculum-Resources/syllabus-language.

CoreFSU required syllabus language:

The following statement can either be 1) adapted specifically to the course content, or 2) pasted verbatim into the syllabus. In either case, the meaning of the language should be clearly communicated to students.

This course has been approved to meet FSU’s CoreFSU “W” (State-Mandated Writing) requirement and helps you become a clear, creative, and convincing communicator.

By the end of this course, students will:

1. Compose for a specific purpose, occasion, and audience.
2. Convey ideas in clear, coherent prose that utilizes the conventions of a standard language.

In this course, you will compose as a process, including drafts, revision, and editing. The writing cultivated by this process conforms to FSU’s definition of “college-level writing”, which is writing that:

1. presents a clearly defined central idea or thesis;
2. provides adequate support for that idea;
3. is organized clearly and logically;
4. is presented in a format appropriate to the purpose, occasion, and audience;
5. utilizes standard conventions appropriate for study in English.

As such, this course requires the completion of two or more substantial writing assignments or the equivalent. Instructors will provide criteria for evaluating your performance on writing, feedback on your writing (including instructor and/or teaching assistant response), and opportunities for revision.

To demonstrate college-level writing competency as required by the State of Florida, the student must earn a “C–” or higher in the course, and earn at least a “C–” average on the required writing assignments. If the student does not earn a “C–” average or better on the required writing assignments, the student will not earn an overall grade of “C–” or better in the course, no matter how well the student performs in the remaining portion of the course.

• State-Mandated Writing/E-Series can be combined with any other General Education designation.
• State-Mandated Writing/E-Series can be combined with any of the University Wide Graduation Requirements except for Formative Experience.
  • Note that a course can only fulfill one type of Writing requirement.
    • A course may be E-Series/State-Mandated Writing “W” or Upper-Division Writing.
  • If you are considering a capstone experience for your course proposal, note that a course can carry either the Scholarship in Practice (SIP) or Formative Experience designation, but not both.

• Faculty may contact UGS-CoreFSU@fsu.edu with any questions about CoreFSU course design, as well as questions about using Coursedog to submit proposals for CoreFSU approval.
• You may also browse the FAQ for commonly asked questions and answers.