Required Proficiencies-Baccalaureate Programs

The ability to communicate clearly and effectively in a variety of modes – formal and informal, written and oral, in videos, on social media, and visually – is vital for career management, professional achievement, and engaging the social world as leaders, citizens, and community members. A continuous focus on developing written communication skills is essential to students’ ongoing improvement as critical thinkers, problem solvers, and agents of information literacy.

The St. Catherine University writing requirement is designed to facilitate students’ continued engagement with intentional writing instruction and feedback across the curriculum, in both the CORE and programs of study. Students will learn to write for different audiences and purposes, in different forms, and in ways that respond to disciplinary expectations and conventions.

In collaboration with classroom writing work, the O'Neill Center for Academic Development provides writing support to students at all levels and at all stages of writing.

Baccalaureate Writing Requirement

Baccalaureate students at St. Catherine University fulfill the writing requirement through the successful completion of four courses designated Writing Intensive (identified by a “W” after the course number). The four courses must meet the criteria described below to satisfy the writing requirement.  

Students cannot earn Writing Intensive credit by taking any course, Writing Intensive-designated or not, as an independent study.

Core Writing Requirement

Students are required to take two Writing Intensive courses as part of the CORE curriculum course of study. 

CORE 1000W The Reflective Woman, usually taken during the student’s first year, introduces students to college writing at St. Catherine University by exploring writing for different audiences and purposes, receiving feedback on written work, and developing a clear sense of writing as an ongoing process of development.

CORE 3990W Global Search for Justice, usually taken during the student’s 3rd or 4th year, further develops students’ writing abilities as they address specific social problems and concerns; students focus on critical thinking, research, and communication skills in the context of social justice leadership.

Writing Requirement for the Major

Students are required to take one Writing Intensive course in their major program of study. Writing Intensive courses in the majors are dedicated to developing students’ writing skills and abilities in terms of particular disciplines and professional careers.

Students who plan to complete a major through another Associated Colleges of the Twin Cities (ACTC) school must complete an additional writing intensive course at St. Catherine University to meet the writing requirement for the major.

Fourth Course Requirement

Students are required to take a fourth Writing Intensive course.1 This course can be any other course designated Writing Intensive and can be taken as an elective or as required for a major or minor course of study. There are no Writing Intensive pre-requisites to take the fourth Writing Intensive course, but students should check course descriptions regarding any other prerequisites.

ENGL 1905W College Writing is a Writing Intensive course on writing for college and is recommended for students wanting a course focusing exclusively upon writing. 

An expository writing course transferred from another college or university may be credited as one Writing Intensive course, dependent upon approval from the Director or Writing and Professional Communication and the registrar.

1

See the LIFE Core Curriculum sections of the catalog for information about exemptions from the writing requirement.

List of Writing Intensive Courses

Writing-intensive courses are identified by a “W” appended to the course number (see online course catalog and course schedule). The courses designated as Writing Intensive for the 2022-23 academic year are listed below.

Please note that this list is subject to change. Current students should refer to the online Course Schedule or Degree Evaluation.

Subject Code Course Number Course Title
ACCT 4130W Auditing
ARTH 3500W Art and Power
BIOL 4860W Senior Seminar
BIOL 4850W Senior Seminar (in conjunction with BIOL 2720)
BUSI 3900W Social Entrepreneurship
CHEM 4000W Advanced Inorganic Chemistry with Lab
CHEM 4500W Advanced Biochemistry with Lab
CLAS 3450W Hindu Mythology
CLAS 3460W Women in Greece and Rome
COMM 1000W Introduction to Communication: Women and Social Change
COMM 3200W Public Relations Writing
COMM 3070W Gender and Rhetoric
CORE 1000W The Reflective Woman
CORE 3990W Global Search for Justice
CRST 2050W Foundations of Critical Studies of Race and Ethnicity
CRST 2151W Sociocultural Aspects of Dress
CRST 3401W Language as Power
CRST 3451W Haves and Have Nots: Development, Poverty, and Inequality
CRST 3500W Art and Power
CRST 4850W Senior Seminar
DSCI 3200W Analyzing Social Issues with Data
ECED 2040W Historical, Cultural, and Social Foundations of Early Childhood Education
ECON 3450W Haves and Have Nots: Development, Poverty, and Inequality
ECON 3460W Global Financial Issues
ECON 3480W International Economics
EDUC 2070W Teachers as Leaders for a Changing Society
ENGL 1905W College Writing
ENGL 2130W Written Communication for College
ENGL 2270W Shakespeare
ENGL 2280W Literary Themes
ENGL 2350W Grammar in Practice
ENGL 3302W Writing for Writers
ENGL 3360W Intermediate Writing: Writing with Power, Purpose and the Perfect Word
ENGL 3400W Language as Power
ENGL 4320W The Editorial Process
ENGL 4860W Seminar
EXSS 2800W Measurement and Evaluation in Exercise and Sport Science
FASH 2150W Sociocultural Aspects of Dress
FSNU 4310W Experimental Foods and Nutrition
HIST 3000W Historiography
HIST 3460W Women in Greece and Rome
HLTH 4800W Senior Seminar in Public Health
INTP 4210W Senior Seminar
IPE 4200W Research Methods
MATH 4850W Senior Seminar (in conjunction with MATH 2850)
MGMT 4490W Strategic Management
MGMT 4850W Senior Seminar in Healthcare Management
MKTG 3250W Integrated Marketing Communications
PHIL 2030W Healthcare Ethics
PHIL 2200W Ethics
POSC 1710W Introduction to American Government and Policy
POSC 2200W Introduction to Comparative Government
POSC 3450W Haves and Have Nots: Development, Poverty, and Inequality
PSYC 4220W History and Systems
PTA 4000W Rehab Administration Capstone
RESP 3200W Advanced Therapeutics
RESP 4800W Senior Seminar
RTT 4015W Principles of Oncology II
SALE 4430W Advanced Sales: Strategic Account Management
SOCI 2100W Research Methods in Sociology
SOCI 3700W Social Theory
SOWK 3800W Social Work Research
SOWK 4010W Generalist Practice I: Small Client Systems
SPAN 3050W Visions of the Hispanic World: Reading to Speak and Write
SPAN 4860W Senior Seminar
SSCS 2040W Power, Inequality and Social Change
THEO 2040W Sacramental Life
THEO 3360W War, Peace and the Apocalypse
THEO 3500W Liturgical Theology: Celebration at the Center
THEO 3670W The Quest for God in Contemporary Experience
THEO 3752W Christianity, Judaism and Islam
THEO 3753W Christianity, Hinduism and Buddhism
THEO 3850W Human Sexuality: Theological and Spiritual Explorations
THEO 3930W Christian Women Mystics
WOST 1000W Introduction to Communication: Women and Social Change
WOST 2050W Foundations in Women's Studies
WOST 3070W Gender and Rhetoric
WOST 3400W Language as Power
WOST 3452W Haves and Have Nots: Development, Poverty, and Inequality
WOST 3460W Women in Greece and Rome
WOST 3752W Christianity, Judaism and Islam
WOST 3850W Human Sexuality: Theological and Spiritual Explorations
WOST 3930W Christian Women Mystics
WOST 4850W Senior Seminar