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Policies and Directives

Writing Intensive (WI) Courses are part of a University of Hawai‘i systemwide movement to incorporate more writing in courses from all disciplines. A WI course is a discipline-specific course in which writing plays a significant role. Students in course sections designated as “WI” learn to understand course content through writing and to write in ways appropriate to that discipline.

English 100 is a prerequisite for all WI courses at WCC. Two WI courses are required for WCC Associate’s degrees. WI courses completed at WCC may also count toward WI requirements at other UHCC campuses. Up to three WI courses earned at Windward may count toward the bachelor’s degree at UH Mānoa; two may count toward the bachelor’s degree at UH Hilo. UH West Oahu degrees require WI designated-courses to be earned in upper-division courses only, so no WCC WI courses will count toward UHWO WI requirements. 

Across the UH system, courses with a foundations designation cannot fulfill focus requirements. Therefore, foundations-designated courses (e.g. ANTH 151/152, ART 175/176, HIST 151/152, REL 150) cannot be dually designated as WI.

The WCC Writing Advisory Board reviews and recertifies all requests that a course be designated as satisfying a Writing Intensive Focus designation. Faculty are encouraged to carefully review the Writing Intensive Hallmarks and Explanatory Notes page when deciding whether to apply for certification as a WI instructor. Faculty might also find helpful the Manoa Writing Program’s resources for teaching writing.

PROCEDURES TO APPLY FOR FIRST WI DESIGNATION:

Note: Courses that have not yet been approved by Curriculum Committee and Faculty Senate (i.e. brand new courses) must first be approved by the chancellor before the Writing Advisory Board will review the proposal for Writing Intensive Focus Designation.

Once a course exists in the catalog,  instructors who wish to earn WI certification should: 

  1. Complete the WCC Writing Across the Curriculum Summer Institute.
  2. Go to the main Writing Intensive Courses at WCC page for general information on WI courses. Contact the Writing Advisory Board chairperson if you have any questions.
  3. Carefully review the hallmarks and the explanatory notes as your application will need to demonstrate clearly how the course meets each hallmark.
  4. Complete the application form.
  5. Include a course syllabus, highlighting (with electronic notation) areas that indicate where the course is meeting the hallmarks. Additionally, the hallmarks themselves must be in the syllabus, including WCC’s requirement for mandatory conferences.
  6. Submit the application to the chair of the Writing Advisory Board. Please note:
    1. If the Writing Advisory Board approves the WI designation for the course, an email will be sent to the department chair and to appropriate administration personnel.
    2. If the Writing Advisory Board finds that the application doesn’t fully meet the hallmarks, the Board chairperson will contact the faculty member to indicate the areas of weakness. The faculty member may then revise and resubmit their application, if desired. 
  7. An instructor must complete the certification process and have their initial course certified as WI before any of the instructor’s courses can be designated as WI on the course schedule.

REAFFIRMATION OF WI DESIGNATION AND CERTIFICATION OF SUBSEQUENT COURSES

  1. Reaffirmation: Following initial approval, the Writing Intensive course designation is reaffirmed on a rolling basis by the board’s process of semesterly course review. 
  2. Certification of subsequent courses: Once faculty have completed the Summer Institute and had an application for their first WI course approved as WI, said faculty may make any course WI, provided they follow the hallmarks for a WI course.  Individual applications for subsequent courses are not needed.  The WAB will certify these subsequent individual courses during the semesterly course review.
  3. If corrections to a syllabus are needed, a revised syllabus must be submitted to and approved by WAB before that course can be listed as WI on a future course schedule.

DIRECTIVES

1. MEMBERSHIP

  1. The Writing Advisory Board shall consist of a faculty representative from the Humanities, Language Arts, Math and Business, Natural Sciences, and Social Sciences departments. .
  2. The department representatives may serve unlimited consecutive 1-year terms. 
  3. When a department representative’s term expires, the department shall select a representative for the next term. 
  4. If a representative goes on sabbatical or takes a short leave, the department shall be asked to provide a substitute.
  5. The chairperson of the Writing Advisory Board shall serve a 3-year term.
  6. The chairperson shall be elected from the existing members of the Writing Advisory Board. 

2. CHAIRPERSON’S DUTIES:

  1. The chairperson shall be responsible for having the Writing Advisory Board web page updated or corrected as needed.
  2. The chairperson shall be responsible for preparing the agenda and conducting the meetings of the Writing Advisory Board.
  3. The chairperson shall attend any system-wide meetings relative to the Writing Intensive Focus and shall represent Windward CC at those meetings.
  4. The chairperson shall prepare and submit an annual report to the Faculty Senate.
  5. The chairperson shall prepare WI course surveys for distribution to faculty and shall aggregate students’ responses for consideration of the board and for inclusion in the annual report.
  6. When the Writing Advisory Board feels that an application doesn’t fully meet the hallmarks, the chairperson shall communicate this information to the appropriate faculty member who submitted the proposal.  
  7. For courses that have been approved by the Writing Advisory Board, the following actions will be taken.
    1. The completed application will be kept on file by the Chairperson.
    2. An email will be sent to the department chair, to the faculty member submitting the application, and to the appropriate divisional dean.
    3. The chairperson will ensure the Writing Advisory Board web page is updated to reflect the approval of the courses for WI designation and faculty members certified by the board to teach them. 

3. RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE BOARD:

  1. After receiving applications for initial certification of an instructor, the chairperson shall distribute copies to the Board members for their careful review. Approval must be based on whether the course meets the hallmarks.
  2. Board members shall participate in semesterly review of WI-designated course syllabi and tabulated course survey responses.
  3. The Board members shall provide a communication link between their department and the Writing Advisory Board.
  4. Board members shall perform accuracy checks of departmental lists of WI-designated courses and of faculty members certified by the board to teach them.

4. QUORUM AND VOTING ACTION:

  1. The Board has five voting members, including the chairperson.
  2. A quorum consists of three voting members.
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