A campus of The California State University
Office of the Academic Senate • One Washington Square • San Jose, California 95192-0024 • 408-924-2440 • Fax: 408-924-2410
F99-7
At its meeting of December 6, 1999, the Academic Senate unanimously passed the following Policy Recommendation presented by Jonathan Roth for the Curriculum and Research Committee.
POLICY RECOMMENDATION
Whereas: Advanced GE courses, by policy S98-11, require “…students to apply basic skills (reading, writing, [and] speaking)…,” and
Whereas: Advanced GE courses, by policy, mandate that, “A minimum of 3000 words of writing is required in a language and style appropriate for the discipline,” and
Whereas: Students who have not mastered the fundamentals of writing as demonstrated by passage of the Writing Skills Test cannot be considered to be “…apply(ing) basic skills…,” and
Whereas: Students who have not mastered the fundamentals of writing as demonstrated by passage of the Writing Skills Test cannot be considered to be writing in a discipline-appropriate language and style, therefore be it
Resolved: That the S98-11 policy provision permitting students who pass LLD 98/99 to enroll in Advanced GE be stricken, and that the fourth bullet of item 5, Rules for Students to Satisfy General Education Requirements, be rewritten as follows:
“Any students who fails the WST twice must complete with a Credit grade either LLD 98 or LLD 99, or an officially articulated equivalent course at a Community College or another CSU, before taking the WST a third time. Students who fail the WST once may enroll in LLD 98/99 on a space-available basis through adding after the close of Touch Tone Registration.”
Resolved: That the use of WST-equivalent examinations be discontinued immediately, and that the sole standard for enrollment in 100W, and all Advanced GE, become the passage of the Writing Skills Test.
Implications: Passage of this policy will slow the graduation progress of up to several hundred students per year by denying them access to Advanced GE courses until after they have passed the WST. It may necessitate expansion of sophomore level remedial opportunities such as LLD 99 in an attempt to address the needs of students who cannot pass the WST.
Action by the University President: Approved by president robert caret on january 5, 2000.