What's In A Name?

Is a writing-intensive course a WI or an IW course?

Is the CWE different from the old GWE?

The official registration designation, of necessity, is IW, but since the rest of the world refers to these courses as WI - for "writing intensive" - we will continue to use that designation in our resources.

In addition, the PCCC writing exam that is a graduation requirement for all students is getting a new name.

The Graduate Writing Exam (GWE) is now officially the College Writing Exam (CWE). 


What's in the exam name change? Our own surveys and statistics show that students perceive of the exam as something they need to do before graduation, and so tend to leave it until their final semesters at the college. A push will be made this year to encourage students to take the exam earlier, and the name change is part of that effort.

Students are eligible to take the College Writing Exam when they have successfully completed Composition II and at least half of their department’s credit requirements for graduation (30 - 35 credits).

It is strongly recommended that students take the CWE as soon as possible after completing these requirements. Students who leave the CWE until the end of their time at PCCC may find themselves unable to graduate due to failure on this exam.

For updated information on the exam, see our CWE LibGuide site at http://pccc.libguides.com/cwe