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About Dyson

Writing Enhanced Courses (WEC)

The Pace University Writing-Enhanced Course (WEC) Program was founded nearly two decades ago to foster a progressive culture of writing and support effective writing pedagogy across the university. As part of the University Core Curriculum, Pace undergraduates take a minimum of two writing-enhanced (WE) courses in their majors or other fields of interest.

In WE courses, writing and revision are centered as modes of learning and achieving course goals. Students practice their writing through drafting and revising a combination of low-stakes (informal) writing and high-stakes (formal) assignments. Instructors offer feedback on an ungraded draft of at least one high-stakes writing assignment, so that students have the opportunity to rethink their ideas, practice disciplinary norms around writing, and learn how central feedback is to the writing process. These courses also promote transparency and fairness in grading and assessment, through the use of equitable, anti-ableist and -racist assessment practices, clearly articulated outcomes and rubrics, and effective writing pedagogies.

The WEC Program aligns with the Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC) organization’s best practices for writing assessment, the 1974 resolution (reaffirmed in 2020) concerning students’ right to their own language (PDF), the 2020 antiracist demand for Black linguistic justice, and the 2001 statement (revised in 2020) supporting second language writing and multilingual writers. Additionally, the WEC Program reflects the Council of Writing Program Administrators’ best practices for defining, avoiding, and navigating academic honesty in writing classrooms and the International Writing Centers Association’s 2018 statement on gender neutrality and inclusivity in written language.

Approval Process

  1. Contact your campus WEC Director for a training workshop or consultation.
  2. Complete a WEC application approved by your department chair.
  3. Submit WEC materials, including application, syllabus, assignment sheets, and rubrics, to your campus WEC director for support, feedback, and approval.

WEC approval must be granted at least one month prior to the start of the course.

Courses that are not eligible for WE include: independent studies and other one-on-one courses, 100- or 200-level courses with a cap of 8 students or fewer, and courses where a significant amount of writing and revision is inherently expected (like core writing or creative writing courses). Except in extenuating circumstances at the discretion of the dean’s office, WE attributes are not retroactively added.

Documents

Note: Right-click the URLs below and click "Save As..." to download these files.

Contact

New York City
Meaghan Brewer, PhD
Writing Enhanced Director
Email: mbrewer2@pace.edu

Pleasantville
Vyshali Manivannan, PhD
Writing Enhanced Director
Email: vmanivannan@pace.edu