WR 111/WR 112 Pass/Fail Policy Notes
WR 111 and WR 112 are pass/fail courses, with the expectation that across all sections we will observe the same standards for what counts as passing. Please feel free to send questions directly to the ELL Curriculum Coordinator or the Associate Director of ELL Writing.
Please fill out the form on the bottom of this page if a student drops your section of WR 111 or WR 112 after the add date for WR courses (even if before the W); if they withdraw from your course (with a W); or if they are failing your course. This will help us make sure the student re-enrolls in the same level WR next semester, and we will also be able to reach out to students to offer additional support if needed when they are taking the course for the second time. Please note: your response to this form is confidential and will only go to the Associate Director of ELL.
Passing Requirements for WR 111/WR 112
In order to pass the course, students must fulfill ALL of the assignment and participation criteria outlined below. For specific lists of the major assignments in WR 111 and WR 112, please refer to the current version of the syllabi templates.
- Submission and satisfactory completion of ALL major assignments, including formal written papers and multimodal projects, each with a draft and complete revision. Students must demonstrate sustained effort and engagement on major projects. For papers, this means submitting a first draft that demonstrates a good-faith effort as well as a revision that is substantially different from the first draft and which attempts to respond to substantive feedback. Making minor or surface edits (e.g., fixing punctuation or minor grammar errors without addressing major content issues) does not constitute a substantial revision.
- Completion of required team and/or individual oral presentations. Students should engage actively with their group mates for planning and preparation of the presentation and must be present for their presentations during class time.
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- Regular submission of low-stakes assignments, such as reflections, short homeworks, annotations, and reading journals. While an individual student may occasionally miss a small assignment over the course of the semester, missing more than TWO low-stakes assignments may result in failing the course. In addition, low-stakes assignments may count as missing if the submitted work does not address the prompt or demonstrate a minimal good-faith effort.
- Timely submission of work. In general, all work should be submitted on or before the due date. Except for individual extensions granted by the instructor for extenuating circumstances (e.g., a major illness or emergency), any assignment that is submitted more than one week after the due date is considered missing and cannot be made up.
- Regular class attendance. Students are expected to attend all class meetings, barring illness. In order to pass the course, a student may not miss more than two weeks of classes (i.e., 6 class meetings for MWF sections, or 4 class meetings for TTh sections); these absences do not need to be consecutive. Students should contact their instructor as soon as possible if they need to miss class due to unforeseen circumstances, such as an illness.
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- Active engagement in class. Students are expected to come to class prepared, having completed the assigned readings and homework. They should actively participate in discussions, individual work (such as freewriting or informal presentations), and pair/group activities (including peer review, group writing assignments, etc.) during class time. A clear pattern of being unprepared or unwilling to participate in class activities may result in failing the course.
- Participation in instructor conferences. Students must attend and actively participate in at least two conferences with the instructor during the semester. Missing a conference without advance notice may be treated as a class absence or may result in a revision not counting as complete (for example, if one of the requirements for a major assignment is responding to instructor feedback delivered in the conference).
- Completion of the Writing Program cumulative portfolio (on Digication). PLEASE NOTE: If this is the ONLY element the student has not completed, you should confer with a director before submitting a failing grade for a student.
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Notes for Faculty on Communicating P/F Policy
- Communicate the above expectations to your students early in the semester. You may wish to use a syllabus “quiz,” shared syllabi annotations, and/or AI Q&A on your syllabus to help students understand the details of the course requirements. Throughout the semester, periodically remind students about these expectations through in-class announcements and/or via email.
- Clearly define what constitutes “satisfactory completion” of assignments. For example, you can put together a list of non-negotiable assignment criteria that must be present for the assignment to count as completed, like a Works Cited page or a thesis. It’s also important to define what constitutes substantial revisions for each major assignment.
- Provide early written and oral warnings to students who are not meeting the minimum course criteria and are in danger of failing. It’s important to email students and reiterate the course criteria and your expectations, as well as directly state that the student is on track toward failing the course. It may also be helpful to meet with the student to address their questions or concerns. See the “Student Attendance” section on this page for information on how to contact a student’s advising office.