First-Year Writing: Placement 2024

Welcome to the University of Scranton!

Below, view the welcome video from Prof. Bonnie Lini Markowski, Department of English & Theatre, Coordinator-First Year Writing

Please email bonnie.markowski@scranton.edu or Prof. Bianca Sabia Moore, bianca.sabia@scranton with questions or to arrange a Zoom meeting.

WHAT IS FYW AT THE UNIVERSITY OF SCRANTON?

First-Year Writing (FYW) aims to prepare students for the writing they will do in their college courses and to encourage them to participate in public discourse in intelligent, responsible ways. We have two options for students to place into upon their arrival to the university: The two semester Foundational 105/106 sequence or the one-semester Traditional Writing 107 course.

Choosing Writing 105 or 107

Please see the chart below to measure your skills and abilities.

Many students will discover that they have some things in common with the typical 105 student & other things in common with the typical 107 student. If you like, you can arrive at your placement request by comparing how many times you placed yourself in the left column and how many times you placed yourself in the right column. A survey found on your Application Status Page (Scranton.edu/status) may help as well, but we still need to hear from you regarding the kinds and the amount of writing you were asked to produce in high school via your placement letter.

The Process:

FYW Professor Bianca Sabia Moore, Dept. of English & Theatre, Assistant Coordinator-First Year Writing, explains the concept behind this placement process:

Why does Placement Matter?

Through this process, the FYW Placement Exam reflects our Jesuit value of cura personalis, or "care for the entire person," because it allows students to communicate with instructors about their own specific experiences, dispositions, and needs instead of treating the entire incoming class of students as a monolithic entity or assuming that students place into one of two options for the same reasons.

This process also recognizes students' agency in their education and encourages them to add their voices and perspectives to their placement in our program. Students possess valuable information about themselves, their attitudes, and their abilities in relation to writing that cannot be gleaned wholly from traditional application materials. This placement request is an opportunity for students to speak beyond their GPAs and test scores to share this information with instructors.

Directions To Complete the Placement 2024 Request:

In a 450 to 650-word letter to instructors in the FYW Program, students should explain which FYW requirement best suits their abilities and needs: The Foundational Writing 105 two-semester fall course (Writing 106 follows in the spring semester) or the Traditional WRTG 107 one-semester course. Note: WRTG 106 alone is NOT an option.

To prepare for this exam, students should do the following:

(1). Students should review the information on this website, gaining an understanding of the different course options: What are the expectations for writers in each option? What is the workload? How much interaction with the professor or independent work is desired?

(2). Students should reflect on their own writing experiences in high school: How much and what kind of writing were you asked to complete? With how much ease or difficulty did you complete your assignments? What programs/levels/courses were you placed in, and which did you complete successfully?

(3). Students also should reflect on their experiences outside the classroom or traditional educational settings: Have you participated in community programs or activities that have helped develop your writing abilities or dispositions? Have you taken on roles or responsibilities with family or friends that have contributed to your development as a writer and thinker?

(4). Once students review the programmatic information and reflect on their own writing experiences, they should determine which option for fulfilling the FYW requirement is best for them and an explanation of why.

(5). To complete this request, students then should compose a letter to our FYW instructors, citing information about the FYW Program from this website and using their own experiences as support, explaining which option they wish instructors to consider for them.

Your letter should be well organized and carefully and clearly written. It also should demonstrate a mastery of basic writing skills, a clear sense of your writing situation, a strong grasp of the course descriptions, and the ability to develop an argument by making connections between your main idea and a logical series of secondary points. This letter will serve as a sample of your writing for the FYW instructors, so be sure it is an accurate representation of your abilities.

Timeline:

Placement opens on May 3, 2024 and closes on May 24, 2024

Sample Assignments: WRTG 105 and WRTG 107

To give you some idea of what our students have done in FYW, you can view sample writing assignments for each writing course in the Google Drive folder linked below:

Sample Assignments

Directions for Submission

First Year Writing Placement is now a checklist item found on your Application Status Page (Scranton.edu/status). After reviewing the information on this page and writing your placement letter, you simply need to click on the checklist item link which will bring you to a form. On that form you will both select your preferred course, and also upload your placement letter. Your checklist will update showing your checklist item as complete.

FAQ's

I've been accepted into the Gonzaga Program. Do I have to take a placement test? If you have been accepted into the Gonzaga Program, you do not have to take the placement test. You will be placed in a special Gonzaga section of WRTG. 105

I’m already in the SJLA program. Why do I have to take a placement exam? If you are already assigned to SJLA Program, you do not have to take the placement test.

I took AP Composition in high school. Why do I have to take a placement exam? You need to receive a score of 4 or 5 on your AP Language and Composition test to be exempt, however, we won’t have your AP results in time to know if you are exempt or not, so you will have to take the exam.

I got an A in my HS English class. Why did I end up in WRTG 105? College-level writing assignments are more complicated than the papers students write in high school, & our placement recommendation is based on our estimation of how much practice the student will need in order to adjust to the new set of expectations.

I requested WRTG 107, but I got placed in WRTG 105. Is there anything I can do? Your request was considered by your advisor, then one or more of our full-time FYW instructors assessed your placement exam and determined that you would be more successful in our 2 semester 105/106 course. In WRTG 105/106 you will earn 6 credits instead of 3. Please be assured that we felt this placement would help you to be the most successful in FYW and at the university.

Who can I contact if I have a problem or question? Feel free to reach out to either Professor Bonnie Lini Markowski, bonnie.markowski@scranton.edu, or Professor Bianca Sabia Moore, bianca.sabia@scranton.edu, with any concerns.