Second-Year Writing Experience (WIC)

Writing and Information Literacy Courses

Sophomore-level courses in the Valpo Writing Program.

After students have completed two semesters of CORE or the Christ College Freshman Program (or comparable courses for transfer students), they are required to take at least one Writing and Information Literacy Course (WIC). These courses entail 15-20 pages of final draft prose divided across at least two writing assignments.

WICs are designed for sophomore students who have already taken Valpo Core 110 and 115 or Christ College Freshman Program (or comparable courses for transfer students) but have not yet taken a Writing in the Disciplines (WID) course at the junior-level. At least one WIC will be required of each VU student, and courses will be offered beginning in the 2017-2018 academic year.

WICs include the following elements:

• Enrollment caps of 20 students
• Fifteen to twenty pages of final draft prose divided across at least 2 writing assignments throughout the semester
• One research-infused writing assignment
• Class time devoted to writing instruction
• Multiple drafts of writing assignments
• Peer reviews
• A writing conference with a faculty member
• Embedding library instruction
• Archive a writing assignment in an electronic portfolio for program assessment

40% of a final course grade is dedicated to formal, revised writing. Informal writing (not including drafts of formal writing assignments) may count for up to 10%.