Find out which first-year writing courses you need to take on the
Course Placement page.
First-year writing courses
WRT 102: Basic Writing
Students will work with both a first-year writing instructor and an embedded writing fellow from the university’s Writing Center to develop their writing skills, including idea generation and invention, organizational strategies and conventional usage in expository prose. For students whose ACT English scores are 0-15.
WRT 150: Composition I
Students are introduced to the rhetorical and stylistic demands of college writing through a focus on experiential, analytical, and expressive writing. Students in Composition I learn to generate, organize and develop their ideas and to make choices as writers that are appropriate to the rhetorical situation. For students who have completed WRT 102 or whose ACT English scores are 16-27.
WRT 160: Composition II (Writing Foundations)
Students are exposed to the process of writing in increasingly complex rhetorical situations that will help college writers to focus on developing analytic thinking and problem-solving strategies in writing. Students in Composition II classes are also introduced to the methods of academic research including evaluation and documentation of sources and are expected to create at least one research paper. The successful completion of WRT 160, Composition II with a 2.0 or higher satisfies the university general education requirement in the writing knowledge foundation area. For students who have completed WRT 150, whose ACT English scores are 28 or above, or whose score on the AP Exam in Language and Composition is 3 or higher.
Supplemental courses
WRT 104: Supervised Study
For students who want additional help with their writing in any of our introductory writing courses or in any of the university’s writing-intensive courses. This 1-2 credit course provides students with tutorial instruction from a WRT faculty member based on the areas that the student wishes to work on. Students who take WRT 104 value this course because of the one-on-one time the course provides and the assistance the course instructors offer for writing assignments in a variety of classes. For example, a WRT 104 student from fall 2011 praised his course instructor because she “thoroughly walked through every assignment with me,” and another applauded the instructor’s ability to teach “in different styles until we found the one best fit for my learning.”
WRT 140: College Reading
Students learn to analyze main ideas and organizational patterns used in academic texts, synthesize different passages for their own purposes, and evaluate written and digital materials, focusing on non-fiction prose. Emphasis on developing flexible reading skills for personal and professional use.
Transfer students
As with any other unfulfilled general education course, transferring juniors and seniors who have not completed writing foundations should do so immediately. However, students who complete the writing foundations requirement through transfer credits are encouraged to complete the following tutorials to prepare for writing intensive courses in general education:
University and Department Policies
Online Activities Policy
Online course content is an interactive and engaging part of students’ experiences in all of our introductory writing classes. These activities are listed in the course syllabus and calendar. Also, all courses listed as MW (partially online) will have an interactive assignment (preferably graded) every Friday or weekend. Participation in online activities counts as class attendance.
Occasionally, if an emergency arises and a professor has to cancel a class not listed as online in the course calendar, an online assignment will be substituted for the cancelled class. However, last minute cancellations and substitutions will be kept to a minimum -- ideally, no more than 2 in a semester for MW or TR classes; no more than 1 in an evening course.
Online activities include more than just solitary, non-interactive activities such as reading and reviewing course materials or participating in a reading or grammar quiz. Online activities that replace in-class time will include the following elements:
- Interactions between students and their peers;
- Interactions between students and their instructor;
- Critical thinking, collaborative challenges, and textual productions that go beyond the simple summary or recitation of information.
- Time on task approximately equal to the amount of time the replaced class would take.
Activities include engaging in online written discussions, chats, Voicethread conversations, Skype sessions, or Elluminate sessions; discussing a series of prompts using text in conjunction with visual, aural, or video mediums; completing group tasks entirely through online collaboration; completing peer reviews; or using Googledocs, Googlesites, Delicious, Pearltrees, wikis, or other online sites to compose texts or collect resources.
OU excused absence policy and department attendance policy
All WRT classes adhere to the OU Excused Absence Policy for OU events and activities.
For absences not covered by the university policy, students in writing and rhetoric courses are allowed a certain number of absences without penalty: 3 for MWF classes, 2 for TR classes, or 1 for evening classes. This includes absences due to illness, car trouble, or schedule conflict. Participation in online activities counts as class attendance. For each absence beyond those allowed, the student's final course grade will be lowered by 0.1 points on the 4.0 scale for MWF classes, .15 for TTh classes, or .3 for evening and Saturday classes. Students who miss more than three combined weeks of class are not eligible to receive a grade above 0.0.
Midterm progress reports
Students in all 100-level and 200-level WRT courses are given an indication of their progress sometime around the middle of the term and no later than a week prior to the last day to take an official Withdrawal (W grade), normally the ninth week of the term.
Incompletes
Incompletes can only be given if circumstances beyond the control of the student occur after the official withdrawal date and preclude timely completion of the work for a course. Student and instructor should agree on the terms under which the work will be completed and evaluated and should complete and sign the University Registrar's form available for this purpose. The form is available from the Writing and Rhetoric Department office (378 O'Dowd Hall) and from theOffice of the Registrar.
Adds/Drops
All WRT classes adhere to the university policy on adds, drops, and withdrawals. It is the student’s responsibility to be aware of the University deadline dates for dropping the course.
Students may add or drop WRT classes using SAIL during open enrollment periods. Students are responsible for knowing registration deadlines and understanding the implications of schedule changes on their financial aid. The department is not responsible for a student's loss of financial aid due to schedule changes
Students may not over-enroll into full sections. Twenty-two students (18 for WRT 102) is the maximum number of students allowed in a section. The Conference on College Composition and Communication recommends, “No more than 20 students should be permitted in any writing class. Ideally, classes should be limited to 15. Remedial or developmental sections should be limited to a maximum of 15 students.”
Students may not add into WRT classes after SAIL registration closes. Because of the length of time that SAIL registration is available to students, instructors are advised not to sign add slips. The first two weeks of class cover important material and often include graded assignments. Enrollment after that cutoff would be unfair both to the student and to the rest of the class.
Students are responsible for dropping classes that they decide not to complete. No-shows will be submitted to The Tutoring Center’s Early Alert program.
Academic Conduct Policy
Cheating on examinations, plagiarism, falsifying reports/records, and unauthorized collaboration, access, or modifying of computer programs are considered serious breaches of academic conduct. The Oakland University policy on academic conduct will be strictly followed with no exceptions. See catalog under Academic Policies and Procedures.
If upon reviewing a student project, an instructor suspects that a student has engaged in plagiarism, the instructor will issue an incomplete on the assignment and forward the matter with a letter of explanation and supporting documentation to the Office of the Dean of Students, 114 Oakland Center. The instructor will indicate clearly the passages that are plagiarized and their original source. Once the matter is resolved by the Academic Conduct Committee, the faculty member will issue the appropriate grade on the assignment. If an Incomplete has been issued for the final grade, the instructor will complete a change of grade form as appropriate, and under the reason for change of grade, note, "Final grade due to resolution of academic conduct matter."
As with any other unfulfilled general education course, transferring juniors and seniors who have not completed writing foundations should do so immediately. However, students who complete the writing foundations requirement through transfer credits are encouraged to complete the following tutorials to prepare for writing intensive courses in general education:
Transfer students who feel they should be exempt from Writing Foundations (WRT 160) because of prior coursework may submit an exemption portfolio. 