The Writing Program

Student reviewing a paper with their professor

 

The Stockton Writing Program involves faculty from all schools within the University, as well as a core writing faculty located in General Studies. Writing-designated courses are offered under both General Studies and program acronyms; therefore, students can choose from a variety of offerings and fulfill distribution requirements toward graduation while they use writing as a vital part of their education. 

Stockton’s Writing Program offers students a variety of writing courses at all levels of the curriculum. These courses help students grow as writers, both by improving their writing and by providing them opportunities to practice writing in creative, professional, academic, or personal writing contexts. We also offer students opportunities to use their writing outside of the classroom and to develop the foundation for producing purposeful, socially engaged work after they graduate. Whether students take only required writing courses or earn a writing minor while they are at Stockton, they can build their confidence as writers; enhance their knowledge of writing genres; and create writing habits that will serve them during school, at work, and in their personal lives.

W1 Course Designation 

W1 Minor Coordinator

Marcy Isabella

Marcy Isabella

Associate Professor of Writing & FRST
609-652-4412 | B-113
W1 Designation Form

For W1 Course Designation, note that writing should be the primary subject of the course. The majority of classtime should be spent on writing, rather than another subject like literature or biology. Writing courses include Rhetoric and Composition, Personal Essay, Writing about Nature, Professional Writing and Design, Writing Tutor Practicum, and Creative Nonfiction, among many others.

Once approval has been granted for a W1 course, it travels with the course as writing and instruction in writing are considered intrinsic to W1 courses.  Unless you are radically changing the course, you and others can teach it in the future as a W1 without reapplying for approval. This is the same as with Q1 courses.

W2 Course Designation (Writing Across the Curriculum)

W2 Convenor

Joe Cirio

Joe Cirio

Associate Professor of Writing & FRST
609-626-3144 | H-224
W2 Course Review Form

Courses with a W2 designation are linked together as Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) courses. The focus of a WAC course is on disciplinary or interdisciplinary content (such as history, algebra, or marketing), and students learn and practice writing through their engagement with that content area. Students are offered opportunities and support to improve their writing within particular academic contexts. A student in a WAC course will receive instruction both in a particular content area as well as in writing.  

When designing a W2 course, instructors should focus 15-20% of course instruction (in class or online) on activities and practices that develop students’ writing. A minimum of 30% of a student’s final grade should focus on their progress with writing in the course.  

W2 Student Learning Outcomes

Students will draft and compose writing in at least two genres.

Students will practice writing within particular writing situations that invite them to write for particular audiences, for identifiable purposes, and within situations that allow students to approximate expert roles.

Students will receive instruction and/or tutorials through class that prepare them for their writing tasks and assignments.

Time in class—whether face-to-face and online—will be spent in learning the particular writing practices and knowledge that will meet the outcomes of writing assignments.

Students will receive feedback on their writing in a way that aids in the writing process.

Responses to student writing are situation-specific, help students in achieving their communicative goals, and go beyond simply justifying a grade.

Applying for a W2 Designation

To apply for a W2 designation for your course, send a W2 application via email to the W2 Convenor: Joe Cirio (GENS), joseph.cirio@stockton.edu. Please submit materials in a single PDF for consideration. 

 A complete W2 application should include the following materials in a single PDF:  

  1. The W2 Course Review Form. The course review form covers three areas of focus:  
    • Writing Assignments 
    • Writing Instruction 
    • Writing Assessment
  2. A draft of the course syllabus and schedule. The syllabus should explain to students why writing is important in this class and what they will learn.  
  3. The writing assignment prompts that will be given to students. 
  4. Any supporting documents that demonstrate the course’s writing assignments, writing instruction, and writing assessment.  

Deadlines for W2 applications

Below are the deadlines for W2 applications in the 2024-2025 Academic Year. Because W2 approval is not guaranteed, please consider applying at the earliest possible deadline to account for any potential revisions requested by the W2 committee.  

For W2 approval for a Spring 2025 course, submit your application by Wednesday, September 18.  

For W2 approval for a Fall 2025 course, submit your application by  Monday, November 25  

For W2 approval for a Fall 2025 course, submit your application by Wednesday, February 12 

For W2 approval for a Spring 2026 course, submit your application by Wednesday, April 23 

Additional Information about W2 Review Process

Please keep in mind the following guidelines and expectations for the W2 review and approval process: 

If an instructor wishes to teach a course that typically carries a W2 with other instructors, the new instructor will need to get separate approval from the W2 committee. The W2 designation is approved with the understanding that not all instructors of a course may wish to pursue writing instruction in their course. 

The W2 committee, made up of members representing each school, reads and considers applications carefully in the approval process. All instructors will receive feedback on their applications. The committee comes to one of three decisions on the application:  

  1. Approval – The course may carry a W2 designation in a subsequent semester.  
  2. Conditional approval - The course may carry a W2 designation after the applicant provides additional material or clarifies some aspect of their application with the W2 convenor.  
  3. Revise and resubmit - Before a W2 is approved, the committee asks the instructor to address the committee’s feedback and to resubmit the application for additional review at the next application deadline.  

Instructors will always have an opportunity to revise and reapply even if they did not initially get approval in their first attempt. 

If you want a course to have a W2 designation for a particular semester, make sure it receives approval by the committee before students register for the course. A W2-designation will only be listed on a course BEFORE students can register for courses. A course given W2 approval AFTER registration has opened for students will not be listed until a subsequent semester. W2's are not approved for sections of a course that are currently being taught—the W2 approval will apply only to future sections of the course.  

The first review happens before students register for classes for the following semester. Courses approved in this review period may have a W2 designation listed on the course for the immediate next semester.

If a W2 application is given a Revise and Resubmit in this first review period, the applicant may resubmit a revised application prior to students’ registration. The revised application will be given an up or down vote by the committee (without feedback). A simple majority from the committee is needed for the course to be granted approval. 

In the second review of the semester, applicants who receive approval may carry a W2 in the following year. W2 approvals in this second period will NOT apply to the immediate next semester since this review period occurs after registration has opened for that semester. For instance, if a course is approved in Fall 2025 in the second round, it may carry a W2 for Fall 2026 at the earliest.

If you wish to ensure W2 approval, please get in contact with the W2 convenor and/or your school’s representative on the W2 committee.  Please give the convenor and committee members at least 2 weeks before a deadline to read your application.

Sample applications

Each sample provides examples of the three key areas of the current W2 application: writing assignments, writing instruction, and writing assessment. Note the sample applications may be older versions of the W2 Course Review Form or different iterations of the most recent W2 application form. 

GNM 2176: Public Health Crisis
ENVL 3435: Groundwater Hydrology
GSS 2210: Poverty and Inequality
PSYC 3232: Experimental Psychology

W2 Committee Representatives

The W2 committee is made up of representatives from every school:

Convenor - Joe Cirio, GENS

ARHU – Jacob Camacho

BUSN – George De Feis

EDUC – Dan Tulino

GENS – Emily Van Duyne

HLTH – Jill Tourtual

LIBR – Jessica Martorano 

NAMS – Susanne Moskalski

SOBL – vacant

At-Large Writing Faculty – Jimmy Hamill, GENS