SATISFYING THE ELWR BEFORE STARTING CLASSES AT UCSC

(High school seniors: You will receive detailed information about the Universitywide U.C. Analytical Writing Placement Exam (AWPE) with your admissions materials.)

Before you enroll, you can satisfy the ELWR by scoring:

• 30 or better on the ACT Combined English/Writing test; or
• 680 or better on the College Board SAT-II Writing Test (last administered in 2005); or
• 680 or better on the College Board SAT Reasoning Test, Writing section; or
• 3, 4 or 5 on either Advanced Placement (AP) Examination in English; or
• 5 or above on an International Baccalaureate High Level English A exam; or
• 6 or above on an International Baccalaureate Standard Level English A exam

or by:

• completing with a C or better an acceptable college course in English composition; or
• passing the statewide Analytical Writing Placement Exam, offered in the spring of your senior year in high school at various locations around the state;

or, if you were unable to take the May Universitywide exam:

• passing the September campus Analytical Writing Placement Exam offered during Welcome Week at UCSC (see Announcements for date and time)

If you took the system-wide exam and didn't pass, you may NOT retake the exam.

More information on the UC Analytical Writing Placement Exam and the Entry Level Writing Requirement can be found on our AWPE page and at the system-wide site: http://www.ucop.edu/sas/awpe/index.html

SATISFYING THE ELWR AFTER STARTING CLASSES AT UCSC

Students who have not satisfied the ELWR must enroll in the appropriate writing class every quarter until they have met the requirement. These classes are as follows:

• College 80A, ELWR-required section (1st Quarter)
• WRITING 20 (2nd Quarter)
• WRITING 21 (3rd quarter)
• WRITING 23 (4th quarter)

1ST QUARTER:

If you have not fulfilled the ELWR by the time classes start, you will automatically be placed in a Core Course section with an instructor qualified to help you with your writing, and you will be assigned to a weekly group tutoring session facilitated by a trained peer writing assistant. You receive full credit for the Core course.

At the end of your first quarter, you will re-take the AWPE. If you pass the exam, you have satisfied the ELWR. if you do not pass the exam at the end of your first quarter, but feel your writing is strong, you may appeal the exam results on the basis of your Core papers. A successful appeal means you have satisfied the ELWR.

If you earn a grade of "C" or better in your Core course and satisfy the ELWR by the end of the quarter, you will have satisfied the C1 composition requirement.

*You must both satisfy the ELWR and earn a "C" or better in your Core course to satisfy the C1 composition requirement.*

For more information, contact an academic adviser or the College Writing Coordinator at your College.

Winter Quarter Transfer Students Who Have Not Satisfied the ELWR

If you first enter UCSC in Winter quarter, you may take the Writing Placement exam in January. If you do not pass, plan to enroll in Writing 21 during Spring quarter. If you have not yet satisfied ELWR by your first Fall quarter at UCSC, you must enroll in Writing 23, which is offered to ELWR-required students each Fall.

2ND QUARTER:

If at the end of Fall quarter, you a have not passed the exam, you must enroll Winter quarter in Writing 20 (check the Schedule of Classes for offerings and times/ places). Writing 20 is a regular course that is open to ELWR-required students. Weekly tutoring sessions will be arranged for you with a trained peer writing assistant.

Students who have not fulfilled the ELWR may not enroll in Writing 2, Rhetoric and Inquiry, nor courses that confer a W. You receive full course credit for Writing 20.

If you are enrolled in Writing 20 Winter Quarter, you do not need to re-take the Writing Placement exam at the end of the quarter. In your Writing 20 class you will assemble a portfolio consisting of a timed, in-class, content-based essay, two papers with drafts and instructor's comments, a student-written portfolio cover letter, and an instructor recommendation. A Writing Program committee will evaluate your portfolio to determine if it fulfills ELWR. The portfolio outcome determines only passage of the ELWR, and does not relate to passing or failing the course.

3RD QUARTER:

If you still haven't satisfied the ELWR by your third quarter (and students with less writing experience do take as long as 3 or 4 quarters), you should follow the program as under 2nd Quarter: take Writing 21. Individual weekly tutoring sessions will be arranged for you.

The portfolio procedure for students enrolled in Writing 21 Spring Quarter is the same as for students enrolled in Writing 20 Winter Quarter.

4TH QUARTER:

This is officially your last quarter to fulfill the ELWR requirement. If your fourth quarter is Fall, enroll in Writing 23. If your fourth quarter is another quarter, enroll in the course available for ELWR-unsatisfied students.

Students who have not satisfied the ELWR by spring of their first year at UCSC may opt to take an appropriate course over the summer during UCSC's summer session, or at a community college to accumulate a portfolio of papers to submit for consideration of satisfying the ELWR. (To satisfy the ELWR in this manner, students must also take a campus Analytical Writing Placement Exam to meet the UC requirement that the ELWR be satisfied at the UC campus where the student matriculated.)

Students are strongly encouraged to contact the ELWR Coordinator Sarah-Hope Parmeter (shparmet@ucsc.edu) before summer begins to discuss these procedures.

Almost all of our students who have followed the above prescribed program for writing improvement have been able to fulfill the ELWR by the end of their fourth quarter. Students who have not passed by that time have generally not taken the recommended steps.

5TH QUARTER:

If you have not fulfilled the ELWR requirement by the end of your fourth quarter, you may be barred from enrolling for a fifth quarter. If you are barred for the ELWR, you will not be allowed to re-enroll at UCSC until you are able to pass by UCSC standards, at which time you will go through the standard re-enrollment process. Students in this situation should be in close touch with ELWR Coordinator Sarah-Hope Parmeter, who can be reached by e-mail at shparmet@ucsc.edu, or by phone at (831) 459-4788.

Note: Transfers from other U.C. campuses are subject to the same policies.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

For help planning your program strategy, if you're not sure what you ought to do, or if by the end of your third quarter you still haven't passed, contact your College Writing Instructor, a College Writing Coordinator at your College, or ELWR Coordinator Sarah-Hope Parmeter, who can be reached by e-mail atshparmet@ucsc.edu, or by phone at (831) 459-4788.