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The Baruch College Faculty Handbook

Writing (Student)
Writing Handbook, Writing Center, SACC, Bernard L. Schwartz Institute, CUNY WriteSite

This page last updated on 7/2/14

Students who enter Baruch College as freshmen complete two semesters of introductory writing courses (ENG 2100 and 2150)* and a literature course that emphasizes writing. Transfer students have similar requirements.** Students will also have the option to take ENG 0132, a noncredit writing course that meets nine hours a week and helps students prepare for the CATW exam. In addition, over the course of their careers at the college, undergraduates take several CIC (communication intensive) courses, including a CIC capstone in their minor.***

 

* ESL students will take ENG 2100T and 2150T.  These two courses meet for six hours per week and have smaller class sizes.  The ESL coordinators are Ellen Block and Gerard Dalish.

** Students who have had previous college writing courses that did not transfer are eligible, at the Writing Director's discretion, to take an exemption exam administered in the English Department.  The hour-long essay examination costs $25, payable to the Bursar.  If the student wishes to take exemption exams for both 2100 and 2150, the cost is $35.  The student taking these exams can fail, be exempt, or be exempt with credit awarded.  Two, sometimes three, professors evaluate each exam. No re-takes are allowed.

***  Students who entered Baruch before fall 2013 (except Accounting majors) complete a minor in a liberal arts discipline. Under Pathways (fall 2013 and following) most students will complete a liberal arts minor as part of their college option.

 

Goals of ENG 2100 and 2150|
English 2100 and 2150 are organized around topics that have a general appeal, such as "The New Media," "The Food Culture in America," "Immigration," "The Medical Narrative." A list of past topics can be found on the English Department's homepage.  Students who successfully complete ENG 2100 and 2150 will be able to:

  • read a variety of articles, essays, and literary works, identify their key ideas and techniques, and subject these works to logical analysis;
  • practice writing as a process requiring the outlining of ideas, multiple drafting, and revision of complete essays;
  • create an original and cogent thesis and develop an imaginative argument in unified and coherent paragraphs;
  • observe sentence boundaries, punctuate correctly, vary sentence structures, and employ the conventions of standard English grammar and usage;
  • engage with different genres of writing, including the short story, the novel, the essay, poetry, and drama, and comprehend and use appropriate vocabulary in interpreting the material by paying close attention to language and style;
  • identify, analyze, and synthesize multiple sources as support for written arguments;
  • gauge the value of different strategies for argumentation, including the use of counter-arguments;
  • produce researched essays that incorporate sources and that effectively evaluate multiple (and even conflicting) points of view;
  • avoid plagiarism and understand why it is unacceptable in the research process;
  • imagine the needs of one’s reader when writing in different rhetorical modes and social contexts and take audience and occasion into account when writing.

The Writing Handbook
All students taking ENG 2100 purchase copies of a writing handbook. The handbook is The Little, Brown Essential Handbook, by Jane Fowler. Faculty members teaching freshman courses (in any discipline) may receive desk copies of this handbook and are encouraged to explore ways of using it in their classes. Questions regarding the use of the handbook should be directed to either Prof. Lisa Blakenship, the English Department's Writing Director, or Keri Bertino, Director of the Writing Center.

All members of the faculty can encourage good writing through assignments that require writing, by providing feedback on those assignments, and by asking students to revise them. Faculty may direct students to the following resources for writing support:


The Writing Center
The Writing Center supports all undergraduates attending Baruch College. Writing Center consultants are academic professionals with strong teaching, composition, and ESL experience. The Writing Center provides one-to-one sessions (in person and online) and various workshops on the writing process, research, and grammar. Students can schedule appointments and sign up for workshops from the Writing Center’s website or by going to the Writing Center during its open hours.


SACC (Student Academic Consulting Center)
SACC provides peer tutoring on a drop-in and scheduled basis.


Bernard L. Schwartz Communication Institute

The Institute administers communication intensive courses (CICs) and provides help to students taking CICs through the Writing Fellows affiliated with each such course.


The CUNY WriteSite

From the WriteSite's Introduction: "The WriteSite is an Online Writing Lab, or OWL—a collection of writing resources and a way of interacting with other CUNY writers through the Internet. It complements face-to-face resources, like your campus Writing Center, and it's always open. You could call it a 'night OWL,' or a 'weekend OWL,' because it's always here, ready to help you ... We offer online instructional support in grammar and style, help with each stage of the writing process, and hints for how to handle various kinds of writing, throughout the disciplines. We provide interactive practice exercises and discussion of issues connected with writing. We also have links to your campus writing resources and resources on the World Wide Web to help you develop assignments and work on your writing."