Writing Program

We have several ways to support you in our writing classes and beyond.  These programs available to you in your writing classes are meant for you to use for the entire time you are at CSUB in all your classes.  Turnitin.com will help you learn when you are using sources in your papers improperly. MyLab Writing and SmarThinking will check your writing skills. The Writing Resource Center (WRC) will help you work through the entire writing process from start to finish on any paper. But you need to actively use these resources.  Submit as many papers as you want to these helpful programs, and you will benefit from their feedback for your entire college career.

 

Pledge to Our Students

The CSUB Writing Program’s mission is to give you the skills and support you need to succeed across the curriculum in all your courses. 

We have two lower-division courses that prepare you for the rest of your classes at CSUB:

  • English 1000: Critical Thinking and Writing
    This course prepares you for the critical thinking and writing assignments you will be required to complete in college.
  • English 1109: Writing and Research
    This course prepares you to complete college-level writing and research assignments that will set you up to succeed in all your classes at CSUB.

We also have two upper-division courses that reinforce your writing skills so you can meet the demands of your upper-division courses:

  • English 3109: Modes of Writing
    This course is a fully online course that works you through the writing process as it applies to other courses.
  • English 3119: Advanced Writing
    This writing course emphasizes effective writing as it brings your own writing style into focus.

Our singular goal in the Writing Program is to help you succeed at CSUB, and that is our pledge to you when you take any of our courses.

Expectations Across the Curriculum

Just as our instructors pledge their full support and attention to you, we hope you, in turn, will pledge your energy and presence in our classes. That means if your classes are asynchronous that you meet your deadlines and learn from your instructor’s feedback. For synchronous classes on zoom, you need to attend every class, turn on your cameras, and participate in the class. For in-person classes, attending every class is also important, along with participating in class. In all classes, we expect you to stay off your phones. It also means you consult regularly with your instructor during their student office hours. 

A Graphic Summary of Our Program

For a Graphic Summary of the CSUB Writing Program, click on the link below:

Your Placement: Where Do You Start in Our Curriculum?

For a Summary of Placement in the Writing Program Curriculum, click on the link below:

Our Curriculum: Lower-Division Courses

ENGL 1000 Reading and Writing for College (2)
Designed to help students, read, think, organize, and write successfully at the college entry  level. This class will assist students in developing and mastering academic reading, academic writing, and critical thinking skills so they can communicate their ideas effectively and respond capably to college-level materials.
ENGL 950 Critical Reading (1)
Practical application of critical reading strategies to college-level reading material. Students will also write frequently in response to their reading. Corequisite: ENGL 1100. May be repeated for credit up to a maximum of 6 units.
ENGL 1100 Critical Reading and Writing (3)
Study of rhetorical patterns as critical thinking strategies to help students develop effective college-level writing skills.  Frequent short papers in a variety of essay modes assigned, and the fundamentals of grammar, usage, punctuation, and spelling reviewed as necessary. This is a sequence course that will continue in ENGL 1109. This course is offered on a credit, no-credit basis. Corequisite: ENGL 950. May be repeated up to a maximum of 9 units.
ENGL 1109 Writing and Research (3)
Practice in expository writing, focusing on the college research paper. Includes instruction and assignments in critical reading, writing, and research with a focus on purpose, audience, occasion, and tone. Prerequisite: Placement in Category 2 or Grade of D- or higher in ENGL 1100 or equivalent for students in Category 3 or 4. This Foundational Skills course must be completed with a grade of C- or higher. Satisfies general education requirement Area A2.
ENGL 2070 Composition Tutorial (1)
An online writing lab using the My Writing Lab Plus program that generates individualized plans for each student. This program focuses primarily on writing and grammar/mechanics. In the first few weeks of the semester, students should log into the program and take a diagnostic test that will design their MWLP program. By the end of the semester, students should have completed 20 topics (of their own choice) from their individualized programs. May be repeated up to a maximum of 6 units.

Upper-Division Courses

ENGL 3109 Modes of Writing (3)
An online course in effective expository writing. Emphasis on writing as a process. Prerequisite: Junior standing or higher and completion of GE A2.  Satisfies general education requirement GWAR.
ENGL 3119 Advanced Writing (3)
Comprehensive study of the techniques of effective expository writing with emphasis on the development of prose style. Frequent writing exercises, both in and out of class. Prerequisite: Junior standing or higher and completion of GE A2. Satisfies general education requirement JYDR and GWAR.
ENGL 4070 Composition Tutorial (1)
An online writing lab using the My Writing Lab Plus program that generates individualized plans for each student. This program focuses primarily on writing and grammar/mechanics. In the first few weeks of the semester, students should log into the program and take a diagnostic test that will design their MWLP program. By the end of the semester, students should have completed 20 topics (of their own choice) from their individualized programs. May be repeated up to a maximum of 6 units.

Student Support: Turnitin.com

Turnitin searches for phrasing that matches anything in its online database (generally 3 or more consecutive words).  Sometimes the matches will be poorly paraphrased information from a source or passages that have been directly copied and pasted.  These are examples of plagiarism.  But often the matches will be properly documented quotes or source references, which are not examples of plagiarism.  Therefore, it is important to use Turnitin as an instructional tool so that students can learn how to properly paraphrase and summarize their research, as well as how to recognize excessive quoting.

It is integrated into Canvas, so instructors can create an assignment that is automatically submitted to Turnitin when it is submitted to Canvas.  

Instructors should be encouraged to use Turnitin for their major writing assignments, especially if they share assignment prompts and guidelines with other professors because once a student submits an assignment, it becomes part of the database as well.

Turnitin will accept submissions in a variety of file types—doc, docx, rtf, pdf, ppt, pptx—but (at this point) not pages. Instructors can use a variety of features to grade the assignments. There are options for uploading a grading rubric, dropping in "QuickMarks" (previously generated comments) on an assignment, or even leaving audio/voice feedback.

One of the assignment options is the "PeerMark Assignment," which allows students to view and comment on their classmates' submissions—a helpful peer review activity.

An additional benefit is that Turnitin is a repository, so instructors are able to login and view their prior courses and student submissions.  These submissions can be informative when revising and updating future assignments and courses, and they are even helpful when preparing for RTP review.

Writing Resource Center (WRC)

  • Need help with an essay assignment? Confused about grammar rules? Or just want to polish your writing skills?
  • FREE tutoring for currently enrolled CSUB Students
  • Writing across ALL subjects
  • At ALL stages of the writing process
    • Planning or Outlining
    • Draft
    • Flow
    • Grammar
    • References

Citation help (MLA, APA, Chicago, etc.)

  • Discuss the assignment or writing task
    • A tutor will discuss the purpose of the writing task you are working on.
  • Establish focus for the session
    • At the beginning of the session, you and a tutor will determine what you want to focus on.
    • It is helpful if you come to your session with a clear agenda for what writing issues you want to work on. The more you put into the session, the more productive it will be.
  • Think, write, and talk about your writing
    • A tutor will primarily ask questions designed to help you to actively reflect on the assignment or your draft, to discuss your ideas about the topic and your writing process, and to help you write  or revise parts of your paper.
  • Work on strategies for effective writing
    • A tutor may also show you how best to write, revise, or edit your paper. At this point, a tutor might recommend options or writing strategies for you to consider. As needed, a tutor might teach you writing concepts or strategies.
  • All sessions are up to 30 minutes. A student can come in as often as they like for support, but we ask for a half hour between sessions to allow you to work on your assignment on your own and to allow other students to receive support.

Making an Appointment:

  • General questions or need an appointment? Call us at 661-654-6411 or email at wrc@csub.edu.
  • We take appointments and accept drop-ins! Drop-ins are on a first come, first served basis and appointments always receive priority.

In-Person Hours of Operation:

  • Monday through Thursday: 9AM to 5PM
  • Friday: 9AM to 1PM

Virtual Hours of Operation:

  • Monday through Thursday: 9AM to 5PM; 6PM to 8PM
  • Friday: 9AM to 1PM; 6PM to 8PM (Appointments highly encouraged!)
  • English 1109 students who did not attend the WRC in Fall 2022 had a Pass rate of 54.78% (n=149) and a DFW rate of 45.22% (n=123).
  • Students with at least one visit passed English 1109 at a rate of 88.93% (n=450) and earned a DFW at a rate of 11.07% (n=56).
    • With 3 or more visits, Fall 2022 English 1109 students passed at a rate of 97.53% (n=237) and earned a DFW at a rate of 2.47% (n=6).
  • In Fall 2022, students who did not visit the WRC for English 1109 earned an A, A-, B+ or B (the 3.0 threshold) 30.51% (n=83) of the time. Students who visited the WRC 3 or more times earned a 3.0 grade or above 83.54% (n=203) of the time.

MyLab Writing (MLW)

The mission of the MyLab Writing program is to provide academic enrichment and technological support in relation to the MyLab Writing and Smarthinking systems to all students and faculty at California State University, Bakersfield.  Our primary goal is to create an open atmosphere of learning and assistance. We aid students and faculty in numerous academic disciplines through a variety of techniques by addressing their individual needs. A part of our mission is to work closely with our faculty, as well as other offices that support student services to provide a customized learning experience for students and improve students’ overall success on writing across all disciplines at the university.
Smarthinking is available 24x7 on any device where you access Canvas. Upload your file for an asynchronous review or work live with a tutor.

Smarthinking is a 24x7 writing review service for students. Within this tool, students submit their written coursework for review by trained writing tutors at the masters or doctoral level and receive academic help. Smarthinking’s service does not do the writing work for students. Rather, the trained tutors apply expert skills and recommendations to the students’ text, highlighting areas of concern and providing grammar and writing tips for improvement. Students receive a document with overall feedback and writing tips to apply recommendations to all their work along with an annotated version of the writing they submitted. All students have access to Smarthinking via Canvas.

 Available writing options include a general essay category, a paragraph and thesis review, and business documentation. Tutor options include first available, as well as tutors with experience and specialization in English as a Second Language writing, business documentation, data and reporting, and more. Students select the category of work and the tutor specialization they want at the time they submit their work. Regardless of the category of work or tutor specialty, Smartthinking feedback holds to the 24-hour return window, seven days a week, 24 hours a day. This allows for night and weekend access by students and access to valuable and vital writing support at their convenience.

Karely (CHEM 3900) – “I love the feedback I received. Joan did a great job providing me very useful feedback to use on my writing.”

Joseph (ENGL 3109) – “Great advice from the tutor. Really appreciate the help to improve my paper!”

Manuel (PPA 4038) – “The process and tutors were incredibly fast, easy, and helpful. I will be using this service a lot more now.”

Taylor (HIST 1228) – “I appreciated the comments my tutor gave and the tips she shared. Also, I loved how quickly I received a response as it gives me much more time to revise my essay.”

Rachael (ENGL 3109) – “Smarthinking is a fast and easy service to use; I got my essay back in less than a day. The tutor gave great feedback to help me improve my writing skills! Thank you!!”

Smarthinking provides a 24-hour feedback return guarantee; data showed report the timeline is significantly shorter, even at peak points in the semester. In 2019, the average return time was 19.9 hours; in 2020, the average return time was 14 hours. Interestingly, the data shows students are most active with Smarthinking during traditional overnight hours between 10 PM and 3 AM. In the 2020-2021 academic year, the system supported 1,546 individual sessions over 63,000 minutes of tutoring time. Students accessed Smarthinking for nearly every subject and major at CSUB, including: English, Public Policy, Science, Computer Science, History, Sociology, Psychology, Political Science, Nursing, Management, Liberal Studies, Kinesiology, Art, Child and Family Studies, Chemistry, Communication, and more.
Smarthinking is a 24-hours-a-day, 7-days-a-week online tutoring service with both asynchronous and synchronous writing review options. The system provides tutoring via a national network of tutors at the masters or doctoral level with specific training and experience. Smarthinking is available via Canvas. Professors can add it to their courses, or students can add a specific Smarthinking card inside their Canvas. To manually add the course card to your Canvas using this link: https://csub.instructure.com/enroll/X34WWB. Once inside, select from the tutoring options for the type of paper you want. Full details about how to use Smarthinking are available in this presentation.

Assessment: How Are You Evaluated in Our Classes?

We have two grading guidelines that we use in our writing courses. The first is for our lower-division classes (English 1000 and English 1109); the second is for our upper-division classes (English 3109 and 3119).  All the instructors use the same grading guidelines so we evaluate you as consistently as possible in any section of our classes that you take.

For a copy of the CSUB Writing Program's Lower-Division Grading Guidelines, click on the link below:

For a copy of the CSUB Writing Program's Upper-Division Grading Guidelines, click on the link below:

The Graduation Writing Assessment Requirement (GWAR)

The Graduate Writing Assessment Requirement (GWAR) was established in May 1976 by the CSU Board of Trustees for the California State University (CSU) system. It requires that all students demonstrate writing competence at the upper-division level as part of their degree programs.

On April 11, 2022, the CSU Chancellor's Office revised the CSU Policy on the Graduation Writing Assessment Requirement (GWAR). This revised policy entails the following changes:

  • Effective fall 2023, the GWAR is no longer required for post-baccalaureate students.
  • Effective fall 2023, the GWAR must be met through completion of a designated 3-unit upper-division writing course with a grade of C- or higher. 

CHEM 3908 (Seminar in Chemical Literature) - Note: Course pre-requisites are 90 units accumulated; completion of GE A2; and a grade of C or better in CHEM 2900, CHEM 3600, and either CHEM 3110, CHEM 3310, or CHEM 4200. This course also satisfies the GE SELF requirement.

CHEM 3948 (Seminar in Biochemical Literature) - Note: Course pre-requisites are 90 units accumulated; completion of GE A2; and a grade of C or better in CHEM 2940, CHEM 3400, and either CHEM 3110, CHEM 3310, or CHEM 3500. This course also satisfies the GE SELF requirement.

COMM 3008 (Technical and Report Writing) - Note: Course pre-requisites are 60 units accumulated and completion of GE A2.

ENGL 3109 (Modes of Writing) - Note: Course pre-requisites are 60 units accumulated and completion of GE A2.

ENGL 3119 (Advanced Writing) - Note: Course pre-requisites are 60 units accumulated and completion of GE A2. This course also satisfies the GE JYDR requirement.

HIST 3008 (Historical Writing) - Note: Course pre-requisites are 60 units accumulated and completion of GE A2.

NURS 4218 (Healthcare Ethics) - Note: Course pre-requisites are 60 units accumulated; completion of GE A2; and completion of GE A3.

PHIL 3318 (Professional Ethics) - Note: Course pre-requisites are 60 units accumulated and completion of GE A2. This course also satisfies the GE Upper-Division Area C requirement.

PPA 4038 (The Public Policy-Making Process) - Note: Course pre-requisites are 60 units accumulated and completion of GE A2.

CSU campuses are no longer permitted to offer GWAR exams. However, under CSU’s Credit for Prior Learning Policy, undergraduate students may earn academic credit for a course by passing a campus-originated challenge exam. Units earned shall not count as resident units and shall be awarded only on a credit/no credit basis. A maximum of 12 semester units can be earned under this policy.

CSUB’s Testing Center currently offers challenge exams for ENGL 3109 (Modes of Writing). Students who pass this exam will receive 3 units of course credit for ENGL 3109, which fulfils the GWAR requirement. The fee for each exam is $30.00 and is payable on at myCSUB. (Click “My payments”, then click “Miscellaneous Fees.”)

Students may attempt a course challenge exam three times per CSUB’s Course Repetition Policy.
On April 25, 2022, the Chancellor’s Office issued a “Clarification on the CSU Policy on the Graduation Writing Assessment Requirement (GWAR),” which clarified that the GWAR may be waived for students who have catalog rights prior to fall 2023 if taking a GWAR-certifying course would delay their graduation. To request a GWAR waiver, students should complete a GE Waiver Form and provide evidence that taking a GWAR course would delay graduation.

Contact Us

English Department Office
Analía Rodriguez
Phone: (661) 654-2144
Email: arodriguez5@csub.edu
Office: HOB 148
Writing Program Office
Angela Beardsley
Phone: (661) 654-6194
Email: abeardsley@csub.edu
Office: DDH B100
Graduate Program Director
Dr. Carol Dell'Amico
Phone: (661) 654-6295
Email: cdellamico@csub.edu
Office: HOB 145