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Introductory Composition at Purdue (ICaP) Advisor's Guide

This page was last updated October 2022.
Questions? Contact the ICaP Staff.

ICaP Policy: English 10600 and 10800 instructors will not add new students to their class rosters beyond the first week of classes. This policy includes section changes.

 

Table of Contents

ENGL 10600 and 10800 Foundational Learning Outcomes and Program Outcomes

All versions of English 10600 (including 10600DIST, 10600LCOM, 10600INTL, and 10600INOL) and ENGL 10800 (including ENGL 10800HDPT) may be used to meet the foundational learning outcomes for Written Communication (WC) and Information Literacy (IL).See Purdue’s Undergraduate Core Curriculum website and the Advisor Guidelines for the core curricula on the Office of the Provost’s website.  

In the spring of 2015, the Introductory Writing Committee approved basic outcomes for ENGL 10600 and ENGL 10800. These outcomes are based on the Council of Writing Program Administrators’ Outcomes Statement for First-Year Composition.

 

Introductory Composition at Purdue (ICaP): An Overview

Students at Purdue have diverse academic interests and professional goals. Although not every student at Purdue is an English major or strives to become a career writer, the ability to communicate creatively and effectively is important to all of us for several reasons:

  • It provides us an outlet for sharing our ideas and an opportunity for making those ideas better;
  • It empowers us to understand different conventions, genres, groups, societies, and cultures; and
  • It allows us to have a voice in multiple academic, civic, and personal situations.

In short, writing is a way of learning that spans all fields and disciplines. Specifically, Introductory Composition at Purdue (ICaP) is designed to help students:

  • Build confidence in their abilities to create, interpret, and evaluate texts in all types of media;
  • Develop knowledge by inspiring new ideas through writing;
  • Understand, evaluate, and organize their ideas;
  • Articulate, develop and support a topic through first-hand and archival research;
  • Become an effective writer who can respond credibly and accurately to a variety of composing situations.

 

Course Descriptions for all ICaP Courses

ENGL 10600, First-Year Composition (including LCOM, INTL, and INOL)
ENGL 10600-DIST, First-Year Composition: Online (Asynchronous)
ENGL 10800, Accelerated First-Year Composition (including HDPT)
ENGL 30400, Advanced Composition

 

Registration: Placement

Because one purpose of studying composition and rhetoric is to prepare students for college writing, students should enroll in composition during their first fall or spring semester at Purdue whenever possible. Although the outcomes are the same across all sections of ENGL 10600 and ENGL 10800, each instructor chooses from among the approved ICaP themes to teach this course.

Directed Self-Placement

We encourage academic advisors to share with students the following self-placement guidelines These guidelines are written specifically for students so they may make informed decisions concerning their composition placement.

Directed Self-Placement Guidelines for ENGL 10600, 10600LCOM, and 10600DIST
Directed Self-Placement Guidelines for ENGL 10600INTL and 10600INOL
Directed Self-Placement Guidelines for ENGL 10800 and 10800HDPT

Information about Purdue Language and Cultural Exchange (PLaCE)

 

Registration: Drop/Add

During the first week of classes, students may drop or add composition classes through myPurdue. During the second week of classes and thereafter, a student may add with the instructor’s signature only if the student was previously enrolled in that instructor’s section, was attending class, and was cancelled due to tuition non-payment or encumbrances. Instructors will not add new students to the class roster beyond the first week of classes.

Instructors are told to not grant requests for section changes or to add new students to their rosters after the first week of classes because these changes make it too difficult for students to make up even a week’s worth of missed work. The Associate Director of Composition/Student Concerns will intervene only under extenuating circumstances.

Introductory Composition Policy: English 10600 and 10800 instructors will not add new students to their class rosters beyond the first week of classes. This policy includes section changes.

 

Composition Transfer Credit

Equivalency credit for courses taken at other accredited colleges or universities are reviewed by the Office of the Registrar and Credit Evaluation (See “How Purdue Awards Transfer Credit”). Credit Evaluation will request a program evaluation for any composition course that has not yet been evaluated. These program-level evaluations are completed by Linda Haynes, Associate Director of Composition/Student Concerns.

Many institutions offer composition in a two-semester sequence of Composition I & II. It is unlikely that only one of these courses will be equivalent to ENGL 10600 or 10800. If a student takes only one course of a two-semester sequence, the UCC may then determine that the student may earn ENGL 1XUWC, 1XUIL, or 1XILW credit.  It’s important to assure the plan of study will allow these UCC designations.

The student and advisor must observe any prerequisites for higher-level writing courses in the student’s plan of study. In some cases, a single 3-credit hour composition course (like ENGL 1XUWC) does not fulfill the prerequisites of other writing courses or for program requirements. Students and advisors should pay close attention to these prerequisites. Please see the Professional Writing Purdue Course Guide for more information or contact the director of the Professional Writing Program, Dr. Jennifer Bay, jbay@purdue.edu.

English composition courses taught at non-English speaking international institutions are not awarded any credit.

 

Other Composition Credit Policies

 

Retake Policies for Composition Courses

Students who are attempting to take ENGL 10600 or ENGL 10800 a third or fourth time require special permission from their college. University Regulations state that students may enroll in a non-repeatable course up to three times (and a withdrawal counts as an enrollment). After that, they must petition for an exception to enroll. Check with your college’s Director of Advising or with the Office of the Registrar for the full policy and for the procedure to request the exception.

Students who take ENGL 10800 and then take ENGL 10600 (and vice versa) will receive the grade and credit for BOTH classes.

  • The policy of the Registrar is that if two courses are not equivalent courses, one should NOT replace the other’s grade and credit.
  • ENGL 10600 and 10800 are NOT equivalent courses.
  • Neither of these courses are repeatable for credit.

AP Credit

Students beginning at Purdue in Fall 2005 and thereafter must receive an AP Credit score of 4 or 5 on the English Language and Composition exam to receive credit for ENGL 10600.

Test-out/CLEP

There is no test-out available for First-Year Composition. There is no English Composition credit for the CLEP (College-Level Examination Program).

 

Grade Appeals/Reviews

Students who believe the grades they received in an ENGL 10600, 10800, or 30400 course are not accurate reflections of their performance in the course should first consult the instructor who gave the grade. If the student and instructor cannot come to an agreement, the student may then request a grade review.

Students must refer to the Grades and Feedback section on the Student Guide to ICaP. The student will need to fill out a Qualtrics form and submit their graded work from the semester (with the instructor’s original comments and grades) along with any other supporting documentation.

If after the grade review process the student is still not satisfied with the outcome of their grade, they may take the case to the college level.