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Subject Writing Proficiency Exam
Author Tricia Trejo
Message: http://ecatalog.calstatela.edu/content.php?catoid=10&navoid=654

Students, if you have not done so already, please note that satisfactory completion of the WPE (GWAR) is required before you can enroll in the Comprehensive Exam or Thesis/Project. UNIV 400

Graduation Writing Assessment Requirement (GWAR)

(Postbaccalaureate Writing Proficiency Requirement)

All CSU students must demonstrate competence in writing skills as a requirement for graduation. All Cal State L.A. postbaccalaureate and graduate students who entered Cal State L.A. summer 1984 or later and who are pursuing a graduate degree or a credential are required to satisfy this requirement in one of the following ways:

Pass the Writing Proficiency Examination (WPE) required for the Cal State L.A. baccalaureate. Postbaccalaureate students who select this option must register for the WPE (listed as UNIV 400 in the Schedule of Classes) no later than the add deadline for the third quarter they are enrolled in a graduate or credential program. Failure to register for the WPE will void enrollment for that quarter; or
Postbaccalaureate students who hold an earned doctorate or masters degree from an accredited college or university where the primary language of instruction is English may substitute such a degree for passing the WPE; or
Postbaccalaureate students who have passed a writing proficiency examination or a graduation writing assessment examination in English at any accredited college or university where the primary language of instruction is English may petition to substitute such a result for passing the WPE at Cal State L.A.

Students who receive a No Credit (NC) grade on the WPE must meet with a WPE consultant in the University Writing Center to discuss deficiencies identified by the exam and receive recommendations of activities to correct these deficiencies. Based on the recommendations from the WPE consultant, students may retake the WPE or enroll in UNIV 401, the upper division writing proficiency course.

Postbaccalaureate students in the Charter College of Education and the College of Health and Human Services may satisfy the GWAR with a score of 41 or better on the writing portion of the California Basic Educational Skills Test (CBEST). Students in these colleges must submit the original CBEST score reports to their graduate dean’s office for processing.

Postbaccalaureate students must satisfy this postbaccalaureate requirement within the first three quarters of their graduate (conditionally classified or classified) or credential program or before the completion of 16 units, whichever comes later. Students must satisfy this postbaccalaureate writing requirement within the required time to be eligible for continued registration.

Departments and divisions may require of their majors additional discipline-based course work in writing. See a faculty 1adviser about major department/division/school requirements.

Petitions for certification of the postbaccalaureate writing requirement shall be made at the college level and results reported to the Dean of Graduate Studies and Research. A student who has satisfied the postbaccalaureate writing requirement shall continue to be certified with no time limit on such certification.

Postbaccalaureate unclassified students are not required to satisfy this postbaccalaureate writing requirement.