By Long Beach State faculty and staff expected changes to CSULB’s Graduation Writing Assessment Requirement policy. Still, they were surprised by the timing of the April 4 memorandum that announced the discontinuation of the GWAR exam.
According to the memorandum released by CSULB Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Karyn Scissum Gunn, changes to the GWAR were announced after CSULB’s policy was noted to not align with the CSU policy.
The CSU GWAR policies were updated in 2022, with most CSU schools implementing those policy updates.
GWAR Committee Chair Loretta Ramirez said the staff were expecting the announcement, but the group was completely surprised when the university announced it in the middle of the spring semester.
“The surprise came that it was announced mid-semester, and I feel that was a little unfortunate,” Ramirez said. “I was a little confused by the move to make this announcement, to make these decisions before the new policy was adopted.”
The committee had proposed new policy changes to the current GWAR, according to the 2023-2024 committee year-end report, changes which are currently under review by the Academic Senate.
Melanie Buckowski, an English lecturer at CSULB whose classes are not impacted by the changes, said she is excited for her students as they will be able to proceed without the pressure of additional requirements in their way.
“This has been talked about for a quite a long time,” Buckowski said. “They’re trying to make sure everything is working to its best and what’s best for students.”
The quality of writing, in general, for CSULB students is in question as faculty and board members are unaware whether the changes will benefit or worsen students’ writing potential.
Ramirez said she hopes the Academic Senate can quickly review the policy. She said instructors with writing-intensive courses should be informed about the changes to the GWAR policy to better prepare themselves.
“We’ll need to find ways to support writing-intensive instructors and the writing center, so that we have the awareness and the resources to support students until a new plan is put into place.” Ramirez said.
Ramirez is not currently worried about the level of writing from students, at least not yet. She added that providing resources might mean referencing and giving additional advising to students.
The Current contacted General Education Governing Committee Coordinator Danny Paskin for comment, but Paskin declined to comment due to the current stage of the policy.
