The University Writing Council invites faculty to design new courses or submit existing courses for the Writing Intensive (WI) designation. Please follow these steps listed below for submission.

  1. Review the WI Criteria.
  2. Consider how your course could incorporate elements of writing.
  3. If necessary, revise the course syllabus or other course materials.
  4. Fill out the WI Course Application.
  5. List the breakdown of assignments and their grade percentages on the application to ensure that at least 50% of the final grade comes from at least 3 writing assignments.
  6. Include the details of at least one writing assignment on the application.
  7. Be sure that the use of writing as a process is clearly documented either on the application or on the syllabus. This means that students clearly have an opportunity to respond to peer and/or instructor feedback before revising their papers.
  8. Attach a course syllabus and an assignment rubric.
  9. Once the application is complete, have the course’s Department Chair sign the last page of the application.
  10. Send the application to the Dean of the submitting college for his/her signature.
  11. Once the Dean has signed, the Dean (or the submitting faculty member) should send the signed application to the University Writing Council Chair (Dr. John Schulze). A paper copy can be sent through campus mail to BW234 or an electronic copy can be emailed to john.schulze@msutexas.edu.
  12. The completed application will be reviewed at the monthly University Writing Council meeting (4th Wed of the month).
  13. After the council approves the course, they will notify the Office of the Registrar so that the course can be coded as WI.
  14. The Council will also notify the Department Chair and Dean of approval.
  15. Finally, the Council will add the course to the WI Course List on the WPR website.