Writing Program
We have several ways to support you in our writing classes and beyond. These programs available to you in your writing classes are meant for you to use for the entire time you are at CSUB in all your classes. Turnitin.com will help you learn when you are using sources in your papers improperly. MyLab Writing and SmarThinking will check your writing skills. The Writing Resource Center (WRC) will help you work through the entire writing process from start to finish on any paper. But you need to actively use these resources. Submit as many papers as you want to these helpful programs, and you will benefit from their feedback for your entire college career.
Pledge to Our Students
The CSUB Writing Program’s mission is to give you the skills and support you need to succeed across the curriculum in all your courses.
We have two lower-division courses that prepare you for the rest of your classes at CSUB:
- English 1000: Critical Thinking and Writing
This course prepares you for the critical thinking and writing assignments you will be required to complete in college. - English 1109: Writing and Research
This course prepares you to complete college-level writing and research assignments that will set you up to succeed in all your classes at CSUB.
We also have two upper-division courses that reinforce your writing skills so you can meet the demands of your upper-division courses:
- English 3109: Modes of Writing
This course is a fully online course that works you through the writing process as it applies to other courses. - English 3119: Advanced Writing
This writing course emphasizes effective writing as it brings your own writing style into focus.
Our singular goal in the Writing Program is to help you succeed at CSUB, and that is our pledge to you when you take any of our courses.
Expectations Across the Curriculum
Just as our instructors pledge their full support and attention to you, we hope you, in turn, will pledge your energy and presence in our classes. That means if your classes are asynchronous that you meet your deadlines and learn from your instructor’s feedback. For synchronous classes on zoom, you need to attend every class, turn on your cameras, and participate in the class. For in-person classes, attending every class is also important, along with participating in class. In all classes, we expect you to stay off your phones. It also means you consult regularly with your instructor during their student office hours.
A Graphic Summary of Our Program
For a Graphic Summary of the CSUB Writing Program, click on the link below:
Your Placement: Where Do You Start in Our Curriculum?
For a Summary of Placement in the Writing Program Curriculum, click on the link below:
Our Curriculum: Lower-Division Courses
Designed to help students, read, think, organize, and write successfully at the college
entry level. This class will assist students in developing and mastering academic
reading, academic writing, and critical thinking skills so they can communicate their
ideas effectively and respond capably to college-level materials.
Practical application of critical reading strategies to college-level reading material.
Students will also write frequently in response to their reading. Corequisite: ENGL
1100. May be repeated for credit up to a maximum of 6 units.
Study of rhetorical patterns as critical thinking strategies to help students develop
effective college-level writing skills. Frequent short papers in a variety of essay
modes assigned, and the fundamentals of grammar, usage, punctuation, and spelling
reviewed as necessary. This is a sequence course that will continue in ENGL 1109.
This course is offered on a credit, no-credit basis. Corequisite: ENGL 950. May be
repeated up to a maximum of 9 units.
Practice in expository writing, focusing on the college research paper. Includes instruction
and assignments in critical reading, writing, and research with a focus on purpose,
audience, occasion, and tone. Prerequisite: Placement in Category 2 or Grade of D-
or higher in ENGL 1100 or equivalent for students in Category 3 or 4. This Foundational
Skills course must be completed with a grade of C- or higher. Satisfies general education
requirement Area A2.
An online writing lab using the My Writing Lab Plus program that generates individualized
plans for each student. This program focuses primarily on writing and grammar/mechanics.
In the first few weeks of the semester, students should log into the program and take
a diagnostic test that will design their MWLP program. By the end of the semester,
students should have completed 20 topics (of their own choice) from their individualized
programs. May be repeated up to a maximum of 6 units.Upper-Division Courses
An online course in effective expository writing. Emphasis on writing as a process.
Prerequisite: Junior standing or higher and completion of GE A2. Satisfies general
education requirement GWAR.
Comprehensive study of the techniques of effective expository writing with emphasis
on the development of prose style. Frequent writing exercises, both in and out of
class. Prerequisite: Junior standing or higher and completion of GE A2. Satisfies
general education requirement JYDR and GWAR.
An online writing lab using the My Writing Lab Plus program that generates individualized
plans for each student. This program focuses primarily on writing and grammar/mechanics.
In the first few weeks of the semester, students should log into the program and take
a diagnostic test that will design their MWLP program. By the end of the semester,
students should have completed 20 topics (of their own choice) from their individualized
programs. May be repeated up to a maximum of 6 units.
Turnitin searches for phrasing that matches anything in its online database (generally
3 or more consecutive words). Sometimes the matches will be poorly paraphrased information
from a source or passages that have been directly copied and pasted. These are examples
of plagiarism. But often the matches will be properly documented quotes or source
references, which are not examples of plagiarism. Therefore, it is important to use
Turnitin as an instructional tool so that students can learn how to properly paraphrase
and summarize their research, as well as how to recognize excessive quoting. It is integrated into Canvas, so instructors can create an assignment that is automatically
submitted to Turnitin when it is submitted to Canvas. Instructors should be encouraged to use Turnitin for their major writing assignments,
especially if they share assignment prompts and guidelines with other professors because
once a student submits an assignment, it becomes part of the database as well. Turnitin will accept submissions in a variety of file types—doc, docx, rtf, pdf, ppt,
pptx—but (at this point) not pages. Instructors can use a variety of features to grade
the assignments. There are options for uploading a grading rubric, dropping in "QuickMarks"
(previously generated comments) on an assignment, or even leaving audio/voice feedback. One of the assignment options is the "PeerMark Assignment," which allows students
to view and comment on their classmates' submissions—a helpful peer review activity. An additional benefit is that Turnitin is a repository, so instructors are able to
login and view their prior courses and student submissions. These submissions can
be informative when revising and updating future assignments and courses, and they
are even helpful when preparing for RTP review. Citation help (MLA, APA, Chicago, etc.) Making an Appointment: In-Person Hours of Operation: Virtual Hours of Operation: Smarthinking is a 24x7 writing review service for students. Within this tool, students
submit their written coursework for review by trained writing tutors at the masters
or doctoral level and receive academic help. Smarthinking’s service does not do the
writing work for students. Rather, the trained tutors apply expert skills and recommendations
to the students’ text, highlighting areas of concern and providing grammar and writing
tips for improvement. Students receive a document with overall feedback and writing
tips to apply recommendations to all their work along with an annotated version of
the writing they submitted. All students have access to Smarthinking via Canvas. Available writing options include a general essay category, a paragraph and thesis
review, and business documentation. Tutor options include first available, as well
as tutors with experience and specialization in English as a Second Language writing,
business documentation, data and reporting, and more. Students select the category
of work and the tutor specialization they want at the time they submit their work.
Regardless of the category of work or tutor specialty, Smartthinking feedback holds
to the 24-hour return window, seven days a week, 24 hours a day. This allows for night
and weekend access by students and access to valuable and vital writing support at
their convenience. Karely (CHEM 3900) – “I love the feedback I received. Joan did a great job providing
me very useful feedback to use on my writing.” Joseph (ENGL 3109) – “Great advice from the tutor. Really appreciate the help to improve
my paper!” Manuel (PPA 4038) – “The process and tutors were incredibly fast, easy, and helpful.
I will be using this service a lot more now.” Taylor (HIST 1228) – “I appreciated the comments my tutor gave and the tips she shared.
Also, I loved how quickly I received a response as it gives me much more time to revise
my essay.”Student Support: Turnitin.com
Writing Resource Center (WRC)
MyLab Writing (MLW)
Rachael (ENGL 3109) – “Smarthinking is a fast and easy service to use; I got my essay
back in less than a day. The tutor gave great feedback to help me improve my writing
skills! Thank you!!”
Assessment: How Are You Evaluated in Our Classes?
We have two grading guidelines that we use in our writing courses. The first is for our lower-division classes (English 1000 and English 1109); the second is for our upper-division classes (English 3109 and 3119). All the instructors use the same grading guidelines so we evaluate you as consistently as possible in any section of our classes that you take.
For a copy of the CSUB Writing Program's Lower-Division Grading Guidelines, click on the link below:
For a copy of the CSUB Writing Program's Upper-Division Grading Guidelines, click on the link below:
The Graduation Writing Assessment Requirement (GWAR)
The Graduate Writing Assessment Requirement (GWAR) was established in May 1976 by
the CSU Board of Trustees for the California State University (CSU) system. It requires
that all students demonstrate writing competence at the upper-division level as part
of their degree programs.
On April 11, 2022, the CSU Chancellor's Office revised the CSU Policy on the Graduation Writing Assessment Requirement (GWAR). This revised policy entails the following changes:
- Effective fall 2023, the GWAR is no longer required for post-baccalaureate students.
- Effective fall 2023, the GWAR must be met through completion of a designated 3-unit upper-division writing course with a grade of C- or higher.
CHEM 3908 (Seminar in Chemical Literature) - Note: Course pre-requisites are 90 units accumulated; completion of GE A2; and a grade of C or better in CHEM 2900, CHEM 3600, and either CHEM 3110, CHEM 3310, or CHEM 4200. This course also satisfies the GE SELF requirement.
CHEM 3948 (Seminar in Biochemical Literature) - Note: Course pre-requisites are 90 units accumulated; completion of GE A2; and a grade of C or better in CHEM 2940, CHEM 3400, and either CHEM 3110, CHEM 3310, or CHEM 3500. This course also satisfies the GE SELF requirement.
COMM 3008 (Technical and Report Writing) - Note: Course pre-requisites are 60 units accumulated and completion of GE A2. ENGL 3109 (Modes of Writing) - Note: Course pre-requisites are 60 units accumulated and completion of GE A2.
ENGL 3119 (Advanced Writing) - Note: Course pre-requisites are 60 units accumulated and completion of GE A2. This course also satisfies the GE JYDR requirement.
ENGL 3128 (Writing Literary Analysis) - Note: Course pre-requisites are 60 units accumulated; completion of GE A2; and a grade of C or better in ENGL 3928.
HIST 3008 (Historical Writing) - Note: Course pre-requisites are 60 units accumulated and completion of GE A2.
NURS 4218 (Healthcare Ethics) - Note: Course pre-requisites are 60 units accumulated; completion of GE A2; and completion of GE A3.
PHIL 3318 (Professional Ethics) - Note: Course pre-requisites are 60 units accumulated and completion of GE A2. This course also satisfies the GE Upper-Division Area C requirement.
PPA 4038 (The Public Policy-Making Process) - Note: Course pre-requisites are 60 units accumulated and completion of GE A2.
CSU campuses are no longer permitted to offer GWAR exams. However, under CSU’s Credit for Prior Learning Policy, undergraduate students may earn academic credit for a course by passing a campus-originated challenge exam. Units earned shall not count as resident units and shall be awarded only on a credit/no credit basis. A maximum of 12 semester units can be earned under this policy.
CSUB’s Testing Center currently offers challenge exams for ENGL 3109 (Modes of Writing). Students who pass this exam will receive 3 units of course credit for ENGL 3109, which fulfils the GWAR requirement. The fee for each exam is $30.00 and is payable on at myCSUB. (Click “My payments”, then click “Miscellaneous Fees.”)
Contact Us
Analía Rodriguez
Phone: (661) 654-2144
Email: arodriguez5@csub.edu
Office: HOB 148
Angela Beardsley
Phone: (661) 654-6194
Email: abeardsley@csub.edu
Office: DDH B100
Dr. Carol Dell'Amico
Phone: (661) 654-6295
Email: cdellamico@csub.edu
Office: HOB 145