I. Regulations
Davis Division Regulation 522 sets forth the Baccalaureate Degree Requirements in General Education. Literacy with Words and Images (522.C.1) is a component of Core Literacies and requires 20 units of work in specified categories. A minimum of 6 units of courses that provide writing experience is required; in lieu of an oral skills course, a student may elect to take 3 or more additional units with writing experience.
Regulation 523.C.1 states: “A course providing writing experience promotes the student’s ability to think clearly and communicate effectively about the course material through guided writing assignments completed in stages. Guidance may take the form of class discussions, peer feedback, individual or small group conferences, or written (including online) feedback. Students must be given feedback designed to promote improvement in writing in the course. Feedback may occur in the context of one or more successive, refined submissions of a single assignment, or over a series of multiple assignments. Students receive the current version of the handout on plagiarism from the Office of Student Support and Judicial Affairs. Grading criteria are articulated in advance of the due date. The writing is evaluated for content, clarity, organization, and logic. A 1-unit course requires a minimum of 5 pages of writing; a course of 2 or more units requires a minimum of 10 pages, possibly in a series of staged tasks or shorter assignments. Approval may be sought for shorter assignments that total fewer than 5 or 10 pages when they are appropriate and clearly justified.”
II. Interpretation
The objective of Writing Experience Literacy is to ensure that all students become proficient writers across a range of academic and real-world contexts. Courses that meet the writing literacy must place significant emphasis on developing a complex written work within a given academic discipline. As important as the page quantities specified below is the integration of writing assignments that progressively develop critical thinking and that model effective writing strategies such as transferring feedback on one piece of writing to the next; developing a longer work through a series of shorter pieces; or drafting, getting feedback, and revising. Assignments to be included in the minimum page count must include opportunities for student improvement through the integration of instructor feedback through successive, refined submissions of a single assignment or through a series of multiple assignments. This writing may be completed in part or entirely in class, handwritten or typed, as long as assignments are structured to provide opportunities for feedback and improvement. Most exams do not meet these criteria.
Departments and programs are encouraged to incorporate writing experience units within existing courses and to develop courses that emphasize the department’s or program’s distinctive disciplinary uses of formal writing.
Minimum Elements Checklist
Courses in the Writing Experience Literacy must:
ME1) Train students in the writing conventions of the relevant discipline.
In justifying ME1, briefly describe how the course provides instruction and opportunities for students to practice the writing conventions of the relevant discipline.
ME2) Provide students with and discuss writing samples/examples in the relevant discipline.
In justifying ME2, describe the writing samples or examples that are provided to students and how these are representative of writing conventions in the discipline
ME3) Require 1500 words in a 1-unit course and 3000 words in a 2-or-more-unit course of writing assignments. Revisions are encouraged, but revisions of past submissions do not count toward the minimum page/word count. These minimums may be met in part or in whole by in-class, handwritten or typed, writing assignments.
In justifying ME3, briefly describe the requirements for written assignments by each student in the course, including the total number of assignments and the nature and expected length of each assignment.
ME4) Provide students with explanation of the evaluation criteria.
In justifying ME4, describe the grading criteria or rubric that is provided to students in advance of the due date.
ME5) Incorporate individual feedback from instructors or teaching assistants in a manner designed to promote improvement in writing.
In justifying ME5, briefly describe how students are given feedback designed to promote improvement in writing in the course.
ME6) Provide students with guidance on plagiarism and AI use for assignments.
In justifying ME6, confirm that the current version of the handout on plagiarism from the Office of Student Support and Judicial Affairs and guidance on AI use are provided to students.
ME7) Assess students for competency in the Writing Experience literacy.
In justifying ME7, describe how course assignments allow students to demonstrate competency in the Writing Experience literacy. Provide specific examples of how student competency in the Writing Experience literacy is assessed.
ME8) Ensure that developing the ability to communicate effectively through guided writing assignments completed in stages with feedback are learning objectives throughout the course.
In justifying ME8, describe how students develop Writing Experience Literacy throughout the course and how this literacy is addressed across student learning objectives of the course.
III. ICMS Submission Requirements
The Committee on Courses of Instruction (COCI) evaluates whether the course proposal satisfies the minimum elements checklist above. COCI uses the information provided in the answers to the General Education literacy justification questions and the Expanded Course Description. Departments requesting that a course be approved for this GE literacy must answer the following questions in the Integrated Curriculum Management System (ICMS). Where applicable, the italicized notes below the Minimum Elements above may help guide course proposers in drafting responses in ICMS.
Last revised and approved by Undergraduate Council
June 5, 2026