First-Year Writing (FYW)

What is the First-Year Writing Program?

The First-Year Writing (FYW) Program houses all General Education writing courses, helping students become more effective writers in their courses, professions, communities and personal lives.

What courses are offered?

We offer four different FYW courses tailored to meet the needs of all students. While each works toward the same goals (see What will I learn?), some courses are designed for students who seek additional levels of support in the classroom.

How do I choose the right course?

All students begin by taking a simple, seven-minute survey that will help you identify the right course for you. It describes the four FYW courses and helps you understand how each one may or may not meet your particular needs based on your confidence level, what you value in a course and the level of support you seek.

Take the FYW Course Survey

Need assistance on course selection?

Should you have additional questions that the survey doesn’t answer, we are happy to assist with your course selection. Please contact Dr. Becky Lynn Caouette.

What will I learn?

FYW courses focus on two major goals:

• Helping students understand effective writing as a process. We build essential habits like brainstorming, drafting, responding to feedback, revising, editing and proofreading.
• Helping writers to change, adapt and grow based on who we are as authors, who our readers are and what we want to accomplish in our writing.

Students will develop a strong repertoire of writing tools and strategies they can adapt to the needs of their majors, workplaces and communities. Our goal is to develop flexible writers who are able to communicate effectively in any situation.