Student Guide to First Year Composition (FYC)

Registration: Adding a Writing Course to Your Schedule

• During the first week of the semester, you may add or drop any class that has space available using the Scheduling Assistant.
• Writing courses have strict course limits, and instructors will not sign you into their classes if the class is already full or during the second and subsequent weeks of the semester. This is a Department of English policy.
• Please do not email multiple instructors asking if you can be added to their courses.

Composition Credit Policies

There is no test-out for First-Year Composition. 

Guide to Success in First-Year Composition

• Communicate with your instructor early and often. Visit them during office hours.
• When emailing your instructor or peers, or posting on discussion boards, take a few moments to re-read your message to ensure you provide needed context.
• Start work on your writing projects far in advance of the due dates.
• Get to know the folks at the Purdue OWL. The Writing Lab has three locations on campus as well as its famous web site. Purdue OWL consultants can meet with you face-to-face, through a video conference, or they can offer you feedback asynchronously. To make an appointment, visit https://cla.purdue.edu/wlschedule or call 765-494-3723.
• Attend class reguraly and participate in calss activiteis! (See next section.)
• For summer classes: respect the fast pace. Plan ahead carefully. Don't fall behind.

Attendance & Participation

• In both face-to-face (F2F) and online courses, instructors often assign grades for participation. Please refer to your syllabus to learn more about these expectations. 
• In your F2F composition classes, you are expected to be present every day your class is scheduled. 
• If there are any changes to regular course activities, your instructor will notify you via email and on the course website. 

Grades and Writing Feedback

• Instructors are required to provide you with feedback by the seventh week of the course - but we expect they will do it much earlier.
• You will receive feedback from your instructor in the form of written and/or verbal comments on your work that will help you revise and improve your writing and composing.
• Initial feedback is not always accompanied by a grade for the assignment or activity, but at some point, your instructor will assign a grade to your work.

Conflicts and Complaints

If you are having a problem in your composition class, you should first try to talk with your instructor. But if you are having a conflict with your instructor, you have a complaint about your class or your instructor, or if you have a concern about your writing course, please contact the Director of Writing, Bradley Dilger (dilger@purdue.edu). 

Grade Appeals

If you believe that you received an inappropriate semester grade, you must first talk with your instructor. If you are unsatisfied with the result of that conversation, you may proceed to Purdue’s university-level grade appeal.

An “inappropriate grade” is defined as one given as a result of prejudice, caprice, or other improper conditions such as mechanical error, or assignment of a grade inconsistent with those assigned other students in your class. Additionally, you may challenge the reduction of a grade for alleged academic dishonesty. See the Office of Students Rights and Responsibilities for the complete grade appeal process.

Department of English Policy on Responsiveness

The Department of English expects instructors to respond to in-class questions, emails, Brightspace posts, and other communication within a reasonable amount of time (two business days). We also expect that instructors will return writing assignments with comments and grades before the next assignment is due. Please report any possible issues by using this web form: https://cla.purdue.edu/academic/english/query/.