Brown is renowned as a university without rigid academic requirements, but if Dean of the College Paul Armstrong and Director of College Writing Programs Rhoda Flaxman have their way, at least one traditional requirement will be strictly enforced.
The University's writing requirement - specified in the Course Announcement Bulletin - demands that all students demonstrate competence in writing in order to graduate.
But according to Flaxman, though the requirement has "been on the books forever," it has only begun to receive proper attention during the last three semesters.
Professors can check a box when submitting grades to indicate that a student's writing needs improvement. The system gradually "fell through the cracks," Armstrong said. Professors neglected to check the box when students had writing problems, and even when they did, the registrar never informed students that they had received checks, Flaxman said.
Armstrong said when he came to the University in 2001 he decided to follow through on the policy. "'This is a neat program, but it's not being implemented,'" Armstrong said he remembers thinking at the time. "We should enforce requirements, especially when they're good like this one."
Despite frequent memos and reminders, faculty members are still not checking off the boxes, Armstrong said. "I'm not sure whether that is a reflection of Brown student writing or whether faculty just aren't aware," he said.
Flaxman said few faculty members use the deficiency column. "These numbers are not indicative of writing in the University as a whole," she said.
Professor of English Kevin McLaughlin said he is "skeptical" about the requirement and has never checked the box, preferring instead to deal with students' writing problems individually.
"You don't know when you tell someone that they have a writing problem what that will mean for them," he said. "There are many different kinds of writing problems."
Writing skills and comfort levels do vary among students, Armstrong said. "There are lots of different ways of being a great writer and lots of different ways of not being a great writer," he said. "We care that students are writing well according to the different conventions" of their fields.
Accordingly, the English requirement seeks to tailor writing instruction to individual students, Flaxman said. She sends a letter to students with one check reminding them to "pay attention to their writing" and recommending either a writing-based course or a visit to the Writing Center, she said.
Flaxman said students with two checks are required to meet with her. She said she asks them to describe their "education in writing" and helps them design a "binding plan for how they're going to improve." After students complete their plans, Flaxman erases their checks.
Students who fail to meet the conditions of this "contract" can accumulate more checks, preventing them from graduating, Armstrong said.
Flaxman said withholding a diploma would be an extreme situation. For the most part, she said, students are eager to improve their writing abilities. About half the students who meet with her "know they're having difficulty and are eager for help, she said.
"Students tend to self-identify," McLaughlin said. Although Brown does not require any particular writing course, "a lot of students take expository writing classes" by choice, he said.
But Flaxman said Brown's lack of requirements means students don't have to take the initiative to improve their writing.
"It is possible to come to Brown and decide you're not going to work on your writing" by not taking classes with writing assignments, she said. "There is not much we can do to reach these students."
For students who want to improve their writing but prefer not to take formal writing courses such as EL11: "Critical Reading and Writing I: The Academic Essay," Flaxman said courses with Writing Fellows offer a flexible option.
"The best way to reach students is by having them write across the curriculum in courses they are interested in taking," she said. "Every professor in the University should be a teacher in writing."
While both Armstrong and Flaxman said their work is far from done, more faculty are aware of the writing requirement, and the number of students receiving help with their writing has increased.
In the spring of 2003, only 33 students received one check, while eight students received two, Armstrong said. Last fall, 71 students received one check and five students received two, Flaxman said. And the Writing Center "is blossoming," she added.
Still, Flaxman said more resources should be devoted to improving students' writing, and she hopes they will be included in the budget for President Ruth Simmons' Initiatives for Academic Enrichment.
"Everyone has writing that can be improved," Flaxman said.
