Writing-Enriched Curriculum
The University of Minnesota’s Writing-Enriched Curriculum (WEC) Project, launched in 2007, pilots a process for meaningfully infusing writing and writing instruction into all undergraduate curricula at the University of Minnesota. After a three-year pilot period (2007-2010) in which the project will engage 22 academic units, the process will be expanded to remaining undergraduate units.
The purpose of the WEC Project is to engage departmental faculty groups in an intensive and dialogic process for creating department-specific Undergraduate Writing Plans, plans that will move the University toward a more intentional and meaningful integration of writing into diverse disciplines, and will clarify for students the roles and characteristics of writing in these disciplines. This project and process are based on our recognition that effective curricular change is impossible without the direct and engaged involvement of those who teach.
The WEC Team is piloting the project with generous support from the Bush Foundation between 2007 and 2010. The University’s ultimate goal is to continue to work with academic units until all undergraduate degrees awarded at this institution can be characterized as “writing-enriched,” and the current Writing-Intensive requirement will become unnecessary.