FSU Writing Intensive Courses
  • develop critical thinking skills
  • decrease writing anxiety
  • view writing as an important life and learning skill
  • improve retention and understanding of course material
  • connect with course material
  • become familiar with writing conventions of particular career fields

  • Writing Intensive Courses (WIC) at Ferris are non-freshman-level courses that include a substantial amount of writing. These courses partially satisfy the communication competence general education requirement.

General criteria for WIC courses:

  • students write the equivalent of four 3-5 page papers
  • students receive instruction in the role of writing in professional/academic settings, strategies for determining document style, effective writing techniques for different audiences, and organizing papers for various purposes.
  • students may write in a variety of forms, including correspondence, memoranda, proposals, reports, logs, descriptions, observations, creative writing, journals, and many other forms of course-related assignments.

Support for WIC courses includes:

  • The FSU Writing Center  provides assistance for students writing in any course; the Writing Center Web site includes information for faculty on writing, as well as online handbooks and other reference materials.
  • WIC liaisons from the Languages and Literature department.  Each content area has a designated liaison to provide information about writing and writing in content courses.
Reasons to Write in a Content Class Designing Effective Writing Assignments   Sample Assignments
FSU Writing-Intensive-Course Requirements Managing and Evaluating Student Writing Online Writing-Across-the Curriculum information


For more information about having a current course designated as WIC, developing a new WIC course, or integrating writing into any course, please contact a member of the WIC committee, the General Education committee, or the Languages and Literature department.