Excerpt of the GE Policy relevant to Writing Intensive Capstone (F-Writing Intensive)

3.7.3. Capstone General Education courses shall be upper-division. These courses will have as prerequisites the entire Foundation curriculum along with one or more Explorations courses and upper-division standing.

4.2. To ensure that every course in the General Education program contributes to student achievement of the goals of the entire program, all course syllabi for approved General Education courses must include information on the expected GE learning outcomes to be addressed in the course. It is not expected that every GE course will address every outcome; faculty are strongly encouraged to tailor specific course learning outcomes to a subset of the GE learning outcomes and to explain how those will be addressed in the particular course.

4.9. Because General Education is a breadth requirement, students will normally have no prior experience in the discipline beyond an introductory course. Therefore, upper-division courses designed primarily for students majoring in the discipline will not be acceptable for the General Education program, except for Integrative Learning capstones. Any course that has requisites that are not on the General Education Master Course List will need justification as to why such courses must be requisites and why such requisites will not unduly restrict enrollment.

4.10. No course identified in the catalog as available for credit in a graduate program will be permitted for General Education credit. Double-numbered courses (400 and 500 level) may not be used for General Education credit.

7.10.1. Criteria for Capstones: All Capstone courses must demonstrably develop advanced college skills, including synthesis and application of knowledge, analysis, critique, and research. Capstone courses are intended to help students integrate knowledge and skills developed earlier in the curriculum, working at a more advanced level than in Explorations courses. Therefore, Capstone courses must require as prerequisites upper-division standing, completion of the entire Foundation, and one or more courses from the Explorations stage.

7.10.8.1. All students must fulfill three (3) of their nine (9) upper-division GE Capstone unit requirements by taking a three-unit Writing Intensive Capstone (i.e., one course). No Writing Intensive Capstone course shall have more than thirty-five (35) enrolled students.

7.10.8.2. Instructors in all writing intensive courses will integrate into the course a substantial writing component that meets student learning writing outcomes as established by the GEGC. This is usually interpreted to mean at least a total of 5,000 words in the various assignments. The writing component is integrated throughout the courses or may be a cumulative report or project that incorporates regular opportunities for revision, ongoing evaluation, and feedback throughout the semester. [Please see guidelines in Step 4 of the Faculty GE Webpage for suggestions to demonstrate Written Communication in your Standard Course Outline.] The writing assignments may be in whatever form the instructor deems appropriate to the subject matter and methodology of the course, but the assignments must be a substantial factor in evaluating student performance. This is interpreted to mean at least a total of two-thirds of the final grade is based on the student’s writing. [If two-thirds of the final course grade includes a group writing project, students’ writing for the project should be evaluated individually.]

7.10.8.3. Faculty who teach these courses should refer students with serious writing difficulties to seek writing instruction, tutoring, or other appropriate assistance to improve their writing skills as early as possible. For this reason, there must be early (usually week three [3] of the term) feedback on student writing and further feedback throughout the term, including opportunity for revision where appropriate to the assignment.

7.10.8.4. Faculty should obtain guidance in the choice of writing assignments and information on evaluating writing through workshops and other supportive programs sponsored by the Division of Academic Affairs. [The GEGC encourages consultation with the Writing Across the Curriculum Director to employ best practices in writing instruction that might include, for example, completion of prewriting, drafting, and revising of written assignments and participation in peer review and other activities related to the production of the written assignments.]