"WI." Around here, these two little letters mean a lot. Students know they need two writing intensive courses to graduate from Brandeis. They say they are confused, however, by the assortment of classes that gain this designation. "The irony is that a writing intensive class can involve a lot less writing than other classes in your course load that should be writing intensive," Mara Blumenthal '06 said.

Arielle Macher '06 said she saw no clear differentiation between the molecular Biology lab and genetics lab, the latter of which was labeled WI. "The WI semester of Bio lab allowed students to submit revisions, but otherwise the amount of writing was the same in both classes."

Though not all students are aware of it, there are established guidelines governing which courses are eligible for the title. Throughout the University, faculty members are sent a letter at the beginning of each term inviting them to nominate their courses for writing intensive status. The letter stipulates two major conditions: the course "must include regular attention to writing, in the form of frequent writing assignments or sustained and guided processes of composition" and "it must include some stipulated way for each student to progress in writing through required revision, linked or repeated writing assignments, and/or consultation with the instructor about writing assignments."

The University Writing Program Web site adds that WI classes must contain between 18 and 20 pages of writing, or 4,500 to 5,000 words.

Not all WI classes follow this parameter. The Global Economy, for example, mandates two drafts of a 10-page research paper, but no other writing. Rather than adhering to a page count, many professors instead cite the revision process as the main distinguishing factor in WI courses.

Mary Jean Corbett, interim director of University writing, explained that a professor submits a course syllabus to the Writing Intensive committee, which is composed of various faculty members and administrators, including a number of English professors. The committee gives the professor feedback and the two entities work back and forth until both agree on the course structure.

Dean Elaine Wong, who is a member of the WI committee, said the committee realizes that certain WI courses require less writing than others. This is partially due to an effort to expand WI opportunities to as many departments as possible.

"There's always negotiation between and among faculty on these things," Corbett said.

She emphasized that revision could mean writing an entirely new paper.

"Most people who write seriously think of revision as re-vision. You re-see it," Corbett said.

"For me, handing in a 10-page essay means that I will have submitted 30 pages for it," she said. "But I'm a professional writer."

Referring to the economics course, Corbett said that students should be writing more than 10 total pages to compile their final 10-page paper. This way, she said, the course meets the WI guidelines.

WI has existed since the mid-1980s, but became a University requirement in the mid-1990s as a part of the University's revision of the curriculum. This last major revision also implemented the University Seminar, or USEM, program.

According to Wong, WI courses are successful because "everyone can improve their writing, no matter what level they are at when entering university; writing is a skill that requires continued improvement." A single course on writing is not enough, Wong said. "There must be a continued emphasis on writing after the student completes USEM, even if they are not an English major."

Prof. Rudolph Binion (HIST is teaching a USEM+W course this fall, titled "Text and Subtext."

In the USEM+W the professor does not instruct students in writing-such instruction is done in a supplemental hour each week, conducted by a teaching assistant.

Binion said that the unofficial norm for a USEM+W is 20 pages of writing. He achieves this by assigning three papers that total 20 pages; the first two can be rewritten for a better grade.

Binion said that he aims to teach writing skills "by annotating the students' papers fairly thoroughly with respect to English composition as well as accuracy and cogency."

By taking a USEM+W rather than a stand-alone USEM, students can bypass a mandatory writing seminar that would meet as a different course. However, the USEM+W does not satisfy any WI requirements, while the writing seminar does.

John Brereton, director of University Writing during the 2003-2004 academic year, said he worked to encourage departments, such as mathematics and the sciences, to embrace the importance of writing intensive courses.

To date, there is a course on proofs in the mathematics department that is writing intensive and a smattering of WI classes throughout the science and economics departments.

Science writing is its own genre, and Prof. Lawrence Wangh (BIOL), addresses this specific skill in his class, Human Reproductive and Developmental Biology. He designs the course to be writing intensive, he said, with various writing exercises and a term paper of at least 20 pages. During one lesson, he gives students a scientific article without the abstract and asks them to act as authors and write this introduction paragraph.

Wangh mentioned that he always enters students' term papers to the Cumming's Writing Award competition. "I have had a winner or honorable mention every year, so something is working," he said.

Also making a deliberate effort to improve students' writing abilities, Prof. Gregory Freeze (HIST) said he spends five to 10 minutes every other week discussing writing expectations based on a five-page handout he created with advice on writing academic prose. His WI courses are Imperial Russia and 20th-Century Russia.

"[20th-Century Russia] definitely should have been WI because it requires several essays and allows you to revise and this class was essay-heavy," Dmitry Gimzelberg '06 said. "I don't think it improved my writing as much as I felt it should have, but that was maybe because I didn't take advantage of all the revisions."

Some students take courses that they think should qualify for WI status, but don't. Students sometimes complain that they should be given WI credit for all the pages of writing and revision they do. Corbett explained that students often urge their professors to apply for WI status, but the professors must ultimately take this step themselves.

"Some professors don't want a writing intensive course, because that means teaching intensive," said Freeze, who serves on the WI committee.

Prof. Harry Coiner (ECON), one of the instructors for The Global Economy, said that in the early years of WI, before he came to Brandeis, the University administration pushed for at least one writing intensive class in each discipline. Coiner's class, then called Issues in Economic Analysis, already existed, but a research paper was added to the syllabus specifically to meet the WI requirements.

"I learned a lot about economics by doing the research, but my writing didn't improve at all in the class," Rachel Cohen '07, who took The Global Economy, said. "Making an Econ class writing intensive might be an easy way for Econ majors that don't want to take English to get writing credit."

Jared Smith '06 agreed: "The writing intensive part was a joke. [Wealth and Poverty] has a ton more writing, but isn't writing intensive officially."

Conservation Biology, taught by Prof. Dan Perlman (BIOL), was deemed WI in spring 2003.

Students said the course was extremely rigorous and required a significant quantity of writing, but that an equally impressive aspect of the course was the level of feedback they received from Perlman throughout the revision process. Students were encouraged to apply the feedback they received on three 10- to 15-page papers to create a final 30- to 50-page paper.

On the revision process, Perlman said: "I couldn't look myself in the mirror if I let students go through a class in which they had to do a lot of writing but in which they didn't get help to become better writers."

Attesting to the help some WI courses can provide, Rebeccah Horowitz '05 said she took The Eastern Forest: Paleoecology to Policy, an American Studies writing intensive class, before taking Conservation Biology last semester.

"The writing in Forestry prepared me for the papers required in Conservation Bio and in each class, my ability to focus my research really continued to improve," she said.

This year, courses may be submitted for retroactive 'WI' consideration.

Also, beginning last year, all courses previously submitted as WI can be automatically renewed as long as the professor indicates that he or she will continue to teach the course in the same manner.

Freeze said that professors often change their courses without reapplying for WI status, which may contribute to the perceived laxity in certain courses.

Thus, guidelines serve to standardize curricula. But just like with other classes, writing intensive courses are not all created equal.