SUNY New Paltz Department of English, Writing & Rhetoric Program 

Registration/Placement, Transfer Credits, & Grades (Special Circumstances)

 

Placement, ePortfolios (via Hawksites), and Registration 

• All students compose a diagnostic writing sample on the first day of class to confirm their proper placement in a particular type of writing course (SWW, ESL/SWW, Advanced courses).
• All students must submit an ePortfolio of their writing at the end of Composition I for review in order to pass to Writing & Rhetoric. Students must be earning a grade in the “D” range or higher, and have completed all major writing assignments in order to submit the portfolio. An ePortfolio is also required for Writing & Rhetoric; randomly selected and borderline cases will be reviewed for assessment purposes. Please make sure students sign the Academic Integrity Pledge, the Program Policy Pledge and the Permission to Publish form housed in Hawksites.

 

In some cases, students who submit Composition I portfolios will be given a provisional pass. This means that the student must immediately enroll in a Writing & Rhetoric Supplemental Writing Workshop (SWW) or ESL/SWW (for second language learners). This is required. Students may also be recommended for Advanced Writing & Rhetoric/ENG206 (a Writing & Rhetoric equivalent designed for student interested in writing) based on portfolios.

 

Transfer and Placement 

Refer to the Transfer Admissions website for details about transfer credit; students may contact our office regarding appeals for clearly similar courses. Transfer students may take Intermediate Composition (ENG207) if offered to meet their university writing requirements. This course also fulfills the university Writing Intensive requirement for graduation.

 

Grade Evaluation and Special Circumstances 

Final grades are submitted via mynewpaltz.edu.

Instructors may only make grade changes via a Grade Change Request form in mynewpaltz.edu if they have made a mistake in calculations. If a student disagrees with their final grade, please inform the Program Coordinator of the dispute in writing. This is officially step 1 of the Appeals Process. If the issue is not resolved and the student decides to move to step 2 of the appeals process, this documentation is extremely important in making sure the process runs correctly.  

If a student tries to pass the course but fails Composition I or Writing & Rhetoric because the writing lacks proficiency as per our portfolio rubric (but is not failing due to excessive absence or an inability to complete at the main assignments) a Repeat (“R”) grade may be granted. An “R” grade does not affect GPA, and the student earns the new grade in place of the “R.” The student is required to repeat the course the following semester without exception. 

A grade of “F” is earned by a student who failed a course due to excessive absences, or for a student who did not complete all of the main assignments, or who earned failing grades on essays as a result of poor work throughout the semester. An “F*” is reserved for a student who never attended or who attended just a few classes. This indicates failure due to not attending (as opposed to those who attended but missed a lot of class). 

Withdrawals or course drops are rarely allowed and are typically approved by our office in consultation with the Associate Dean of Liberal Arts and Sciences, who may request documentation to justify extenuating circumstances for this appeal. Only under documented and extenuating medical or personal circumstances may an adviser or instructor recommend a “W.”  Regarding extreme situations that affect all courses for the semester, students should speak to their advisers about a Leave of Absence, which results in a withdrawal from all courses that term. Students may withdraw with special fees. See the Academic calendar for drop/add information and deadlines. 

An Incomplete may be authorized by instructors in consultation with our program coordinator. The student must have completed approximately 75% of the work to be eligible and may need to provide documentation to justify extenuating circumstances for this appeal. The Incomplete allows the student to complete any missing assignments beyond the end of the semester for which the instructor sets a due date. (We recommend that this date does not exceed one month.) Upon evaluating the work, the instructor submits a grade change form (available on the Records and Registration website). The new grade replaces the “I” grade. The last day for a student to request an Incomplete is prior to the last day of classes in the term.