Opportunity Zone English Composition
Welcome to the WSU Opportunity Zone English composition pilot! In this program, students are invited to attend a special version of English Composition 1 offered in the summer before the Fall 2023 semester.
The program will target students who have been placed in ENGL 011, and provides a
low-risk, low-cost alternative path for students to move forward with their English
composition requirements at Wichita State.
How The Opportunity Zone English Composition Pilot Works
Students will be invited to enroll in a special version of ENGL 101 taught during
the summer. This is a trial of a special, non-credit version of ENGL 101– you will
be able to enroll in the class, try it out and see how you do.
- Students invited to the program will be sent a link to an enrollment page. Students
who are interested in taking advantage of the program can sign up using a link provided
in the invitation email. A $30 charge will be billed through the university's finance
system.
- Students will work through the program, which will be taught over the summer by experienced instructors from the WSU English department.
- The class will be an 8-week non-credit program starting June 5, 2023.
- There will be four possible outcomes for students who enroll in the program:
- Students who complete all assignments and earn at least a C- on graded work will be
able to request credit for ENGL 101 by submitting a portfolio of their essays from
the class and paying a $50 assessment fee (again, billed through the university finance
system). They will receive credit for the ENGL 101 requirement through Credit for
Prior Learning and will not need to take ENGL 011 or ENGL 101.
- Students who participate in the program will have an opportunity to re-take the English placement exam (for $10) at the end of the term. Success on that exam will allow them to move ahead to ENGL 101 instead of ENGL 011.
- Students who take the exam and don't succeed in placing into ENGL 101 will continue on to the normal ENGL 011 in the fall, with the benefit of new skills learned in the Opportunity Zone program.
- Students who do not successfully complete the program will continue to ENGL 011 in the fall with no impact to their grade or other consequences for not completing the summer Opportunity Zone program.
- Students who complete all assignments and earn at least a C- on graded work will be
able to request credit for ENGL 101 by submitting a portfolio of their essays from
the class and paying a $50 assessment fee (again, billed through the university finance
system). They will receive credit for the ENGL 101 requirement through Credit for
Prior Learning and will not need to take ENGL 011 or ENGL 101.
What is the point?
ENGL 101 and ENGL 011 can be challenging classes for students who are new to writing
at the college level, and that makes them classes that some students must take more
than once to get a passing grade. The Opportunity Zone program gives students a chance
to prepare and practice writing without the risk of having a bad grade on their record.
Students who don't choose to request credit or to retake the placement exam for the
program will have the experience of the program, the opportunity to learn from WSU
instructors about what they need to work on in their writing and will be better prepared
for their fall classes.
Risks
There aren’t any. Students can try out the course and see what to expect when they take the class in the fall – and if they do well, they can decide to opt for credit or to retake the placement exam at the end of the program.
How to join the program
The Opportunity Zone English Composition Pilot is invitation-only at this time, but we hope to be able to offer it more broadly in the future. Students selected for the program will receive an email at their university email address.