Writing plays a crucial role in Wheaton life. Every member of our English Department teaches First-Year Writing (English 101), which is required of all first-year students, except those who have passed the Advanced Placement examination with a 4 or 5, or have passed the Wheaton exemption examination.
But attention to writing proficiency doesn't end with the completion of a student's first year. With support from a Mellon Foundation grant, each department has developed a writing plan articulating its approach to teaching writing.
Support for student writing is provided through consultations with our Writing Associates and our peer writing tutor program. Writing faculty Constance Campana, Sherry Mason, and Ruth Foley teach First-Year Writing, Basic Writing, English as a Second Language, and consult individually with students about their writing projects and processes. Our peer writing tutor program, begun in 1978, offers a collaborative learning model for students at all stages in their writing development.
Evidence of writing beyond the classroom takes many forms, including publications such as Midnight Oil and Rushlight, which are written, edited, and managed by Wheaton students.
In their senior year, students who qualify may opt to write a thesis, making themselves candidates for honors, and culminating a process that is only the beginning of a lifetime of writing.