Need WI credit?

NOTE: This page is printer friendly. At the beginning of your WI petition process, it might be helpful to show it to the instructor and/or department involved.

Petitions for WI credit will be considered during the the following windows:

Fall: September 1 - October 30
Spring: February 1 - April 15

Petitions received outside of these timeframes will be considered in the next window.

The University Writing Requirement is a long-standing academic requirement, having been established in 1995. To satisfy the requirement, students must complete four Writing Intensive (WI) courses, one of which must include English 401 (First Year Writing), one of which must be in the student's major, and one of which must be at the 600 level or above. Given that the Writing Requirement is a well established component of the curriculum, and that WI courses are clearly identified in the UNH course catalog, petitions for WI credit should primarily be submitted for non-UNH courses and cases of administrative error. In all cases, Petitions can only be submitted for courses that students have successfully completed and received credit for.

WI petitions will fall into the following four categories, and must be identified as such:

A) Transfer Credit: for students who have completed and received credit for a course at another institution that they believe meets the UNH WI criterion. Note that WI credit can only be processed for courses that are approved for transfer credit by the UNH Registrar, so the first step in this process requires that the student check with the UNH Registrar's Office.
B) Study Abroad: for students who have completed and received credit for a course as part of an approved UNH study-abroad program that they believe meets the UNH WI criterion. If the course was not part of a UNH program, then submit as a Transfer (case A).
C) Administrative Correction: for students who require an adjustment or correction to their records because of some official activity that transpired external to themselves (academic department, advisor, or some other UNH organization or staff). Most of these situations fall outside of the action of the Writing Committee, and are within the domain of the Academic Department, Dean's Office of the School/College involved, the Registrar's Office, or the Academic Standards and Advising Committee. The circumstances may vary. One example might be changes in WI course designations that would require retroactive WI credit be granted to selected individuals (Department/College). Another might be a student who followed a program detailed by an advisor and finds that the WI requirements have not been addressed (Academic Standards Committee).
D) WI Credit for a non-WI UNH Course: for students who wish to receive WI credit for a UNH Course that they have completed and received credit for but that does not have a WI designation.

The petition process includes the following steps:

STEP 1: Determine if the course you’ve completed and received credit for meets UNH’s WI Guidelines (note that each course requires a separate petition).

Review the course syllabus, assignments, and other materials. Compare the course and your experience in it with the following guidelines:

WI Guideline 1. Students in the course should do substantial writing that enhances learning and demonstrates knowledge of the subject or the discipline. Writing should be an integral part of the course and should account for a significant part (approximately 50% or more) of the final grade.
WI Guideline 2. Writing should be assigned in such a manner as to require students to write regularly throughout the course. Major assignments should integrate the process of writing (prewriting, drafting, revision, editing). Students should be able to receive constructive feedback of some kind (peer response, workshop, Writing Center, professor, TA, etc.) during the drafting/revising process to help improve their writing.
WI Guideline 3. The course should include both formal (graded) and informal (heuristic) writing. There should be papers written outside of class which are handed in for formal evaluation as well as informal assignments designed to promote learning, such as invention activities, in-class essays, reaction papers, journals, reading summaries, or other appropriate exercises.

If the course meets all three of these guidelines, continue to step 2.

STEP 2: Download and Fill out the top of the "Undergraduate Petition for Variance in Academic Policy."

Download and print the Petition Form [PDF].

Fill in the information at the top.
For the section that begins “I request…,” State that you wish a particular course to be considered for WI credit. Fill in the following information for the course: the full course number, course title, department, instructor, and dates of study. If for transfer or study abroad, also include the name of the institution.

STEP 3: Determine the category of your request (see definitions) and proceed according to the instructions listed for each type below.

In the section “Reasons for the request…,” list the category that your request falls under:

A) If it is for transfer credit, list this in the "Reasons for the request" section; go on to explain why you believe the course should count as WI. To do this, you must directly describe how the course met or exceeded each of the three UNH WI Guidelines. Feel free to type this explanation and attach it to the petition (in which case, write "see attached" in this space on the form and leave it empty, except for listing any other attachments). Note that attaching a syllabus and stating "see syllabus" may not provide enough information by itself to approve the petition (not all syllabi describe course methods in depth). Attach any documentation that you may have to support your claim (course syllabus, sample writing assignment instructions, a statement from the instructor, or other course materials that illustrate tenets of the WI Guidelines). Itemize any attached documentation in the "Reasons for this request" area. If you have contact information for the instructor, please also include it. Sign the form where it says "signature" and also sign any attached memorandum. Instructor's comments are not required. See your advisor for review, verification, and signature: in the "Advisor's Comments" area, your advisor must verify that transfer credit has been awarded for the course in question.
B) If it is for study abroad, list this in the "Reasons for the request" section. Make sure that you refer to the UNH program under which you studied; go on to explain why you believe the course should count as WI. To do this, you must directly describe how the course met or exceeded each of the three UNH WI Guidelines. Feel free to type this explanation and attach it to the petition (in which case, write "see attached" in this space on the form and leave it empty, except for listing any other attachments). Note that attaching a syllabus and stating "see syllabus" may not provide enough information by itself to approve the petition (not all syllabi describe course methods in depth). Attach other documentation to support your claim (course syllabus, sample writing assignment instructions, or other course materials that illustrate the tenets of the WI Guidelines). Itemize any attached documentation in the "Reasons for this request" area. If you have contact information for the instructor, please also include it. Sign the form where it says "signature" and also sign any attached memorandum. Instructor's comments are not required. See your advisor for review and signature.
C) If to ask for an administrative correction, first list this in the "Reasons for the request" section; go on to provide a brief explanation of the circumstances surrounding the issue. Most of these cases fall beyond the action of the Writing Committee, and are within the domain of the Department, School/College, Registrar's Office, or are cases that would be judged by the Academic Standards and Advising Committee. See your Advisor, the Academic Department or Dean's Office involved, or the Registrar for for instructions.
D) To receive WI Credit for a UNH Non-WI course, list this category in the "Reasons for the request" area, and leave the rest of the form blank, except to document attachments. Given that WI courses are clearly designated in the UNH course catalog, and that the Writing Requirement is well known, students who wish to claim WI credit for a non-WI course taken at UNH must obtain complete and rigorous documentation as well as instructor and department chair signatures. To process this request further, the student must obtain a typed (word-processed) statement from the instructor that explicitly describes how the course methods addressed each of the three UNH WI Guidelines. The accompanying statement must be co-signed by the Instructor and the Department Chairperson (if they are different people). Attach the statement and any other documentation to support the claim (course syllabus, assignment instructions, and/or any other course materials that illustrate the tenets of the WI Guidelines). Please itemize all attachments in the "Reasons for this request" area. Note that the primary interest of the Writing Committee is the methodology of the course in question, so commentary on the student's circumstances, GPA, and other issues are compelling, but largely irrelevant to the petition. See your advisor for review and signature.

STEP 4: Forward your completed Petition to the Administrative Director, University Writing Programs, Hamilton Smith Hall, Room 7.

If, after reviewing the above instructions, you would like assistance with compiling a petition, or have any questions, contact the Associate Director of the University Writing Programs.