The Department of Writing is the home of the GVSU's First-Year Writing Program, which offers courses that fulfill GVSU's General Education Foundations - Writing Requirement.

You can fulfill this requirement by taking one of two first-year writing paths. Path One is WRT 150. Path Two is Stretch, which includes WRT 120 and WRT 130. When you complete WRT 150 or WRT 130 with a C or better, you will have fulfilled the GE Foundations - Writing requirement.

Although we offer different paths to complete the GE Foundations - Writing requirement, there are some common experiences you can expect to have in any first-year writing course at GVSU:

• Learning about and practicing strategies for the different stages of the writing process--prewriting, drafting, revising, and editing,
• Researching and writing about topics that are interesting to you and other college-level readers,
• Considering how the choices you make as a writer influence readers, 
• Collaborating with classmates and your instructor to strengthen your writing skills,
• Incorporating feedback from your classmates, instructor, and writing center consultants to improve your final written product.

These learning experiences ensure that our first-year writing courses support your growth and development as a writer, building on the writing skills you already have to prepare you for the work you will do throughout the rest of your college career and your life beyond GVSU.

To learn more about the differences between WRT 150 and Stretch (WRT 120 and WRT 130), please review the information found on our Choosing the Right Writing Class page.

The First-Year Writing Program at GVSU is coordinated by the Writing Department within the College of Arts and Sciences. We are responsible for the curriculum of WRT 150 and Stretch (WRT 120 and WRT 130), both of which fulfill the General Education Foundations - Writing requirement.

The mission of the First-Year Writing Program is to support the development of students’ research and writing skills by building on the knowledge about writing they already have and preparing them to participate in conversations in university, workplace, and community contexts. Our classes empower students to think critically about themselves, their disciplines, and their communities by emphasizing academic literacy practices that foster students’ agency and self-expression.