About the Writing Program
The WSU Writing Program is a member of DAESA, the Division of Academic Engagement and Student Achievement, under the Office of the Provost. We provide support to all members of the WSU community as they learn, tutor, and teach writing.
We’re located in the Smith Center for Undergraduate Education in rooms 303 and 305. This building is also called the CUE.
Our Hours during fall & spring terms are 8 to 4 on weekdays. In the summer and during the winter break, our hours are subject to change. We are closed on all official university holidays.
The Writing Center hours are similar, but it’s best to check the University Writing Center page or the Graduate Writing Center page for exact hours and availability.
Contact the Writing Program main office by email at writing.program@wsu.edu or by phone at 509-335-7959.
Contact the Pullman Undergraduate Writing Center at writing.center@wsu.edu.
Contact the Graduate Writing Center at gwc.wsu@wsu.edu.
WSU Pullman
Writing Assessment Office Front Desk
Jess Scholfield
writing.program@wsu.edu
Phone: 509-335-7959
WSU Spokane
Writing Portfolio & Writing Center
Jack Downs
jmdowns@wsu.edu
SAC 145E
Phone: 509-358-7650
Writing Portfolio Website
WSU Tri-Cities
Writing Portfolio & Writing Placement
Academic Advising
Phone: 509-372-7035
tricities.advising@wsu.edu
Writing Center
Phone: 509-372-7342
Writing Center Website
WSU Vancouver
Writing Portfolio & Writing Placement
VMMC 102 Reception
writingassessment@vancouver.wsu.edu
Phone: 360-546-9260Writing Portfolio Website
Writing Center
Kandy Robertson
writingcenter@vancouver.wsu.edu
Phone: 360-546-9251
Writing Center Website
Global Campus (WSU Online)
Writing Portfolio
online.wp@wsu.edu
800-222-4978
WSU Online Website
Everett
Writing Portfolio
Cathy Wright
Everett Community College building
915 N Broadway Room 110C
cathy.wright@wsu.edu
425-405-1714
Writing Portfolio website
The Washington State Writing Program was created in the early 1990s as a result of a mandate by the Washington Higher Education Coordinating Board that the University provide “end of career” writing assessment for graduating seniors. Seeking to create an innovative assessment that drew from cutting edge scholarship in Composition and Rhetoric, faculty members in the English Department teamed up with the General Education Program to create an instructional assessment that provided formative rather than summative results. In other words, the University Writing Portfolio was conceived of as a way not just to assess student writing proficiency, but to offer an educational response to the assessment that would reinforce writing proficiency in all graduates. In pursuit of this goal, Writing in the Major courses were added to the curricular infrastructure to guarantee that all WSU students would receive expertly-guided practice in writing for their chosen majors.
The Writing Program has provided direct student support through the Undergraduate Writing Center since the late 1980s and through the Graduate Writing Center since 2008. Additionally, the Writing Program offers students high-impact and low-enrollment classes on a variety of writing-related topics so that students can earn credit as they develop their writing skills and strategies.
Central to supporting the success of the Writing in the Major initiative, the Writing Program has offered faculty development opportunities in the form of the WORD! Faculty Fellows professional development series, the Brown Bag professional development series on teaching with writing, assessment trainings for the placement and portfolio evaluation teams, and one-with-one conferences for interested participants.