10 CommentsDue to the interruption of Core classes by the SWC-UAW strike, University Writing sections will now require additional instruction and coursework, to be completed after the Spring 2022 semester.
The Center for the Core Curriculum sent out an email today, January 11, regarding grading for University Writing sections and following up on Dean Valentini and Dean Rosen-Mesch’s previous notice about grading for Core courses that were impacted by the SWC strike. Grades for these courses will be given a “CP” (Credit Pending) designation, which will be converted into a final grade after additional instruction and coursework are completed and graded. The full text of the email is available below.
According to the email, students whose University Writing sections were impaired by the strike will now have to complete the class during the summer term in order to receive course credit. However, sections that had sufficient contact hours and submitted work will receive a course grade based on a novel grading rubric and will not have to register for the summer term course.
Columbia provided two options for students with insufficient course hours and written work. First, students can take a regular-paced six-week course or an expedited three-week version structured like the second half of University Writing during the summer term.
The university’s second option is Public Writing, a two-week online class called where students compose an op-ed piece. Public Writing will be offered immediately following the conclusion of the Spring 2022 Term, May 16 to 27, and August 1 to 12. Additional sections may be added relative to student interest. Students who opt for Public Writing will receive formal documentation of the different course formats.
Both options are tuition-free for students. Two grades will be determined—one based on the completed University Writing work for the fall semester and one based on the summer term work—with the higher score becoming the final course grade.
Registration for the May Public Writing sections opens in early February and closes on February 18. Students opting for the summer University Writing or Public Writing courses must select this by April 15.
Questions about any of this should be directed to John Stobo in the University Writing Program office; please email him at jrs9@columbia.edu with subject line FALL MAKEUP.
Email from the Center for the Core Curriculum sent to students on Tuesday, January 11 at 12:07 pm:
Dear Students:
As Dean Valentini, Dean Rosen-Metsch, and Dean Chang wrote in December, students in Core courses that were not meeting because of the strike will be temporarily given a transcript notation of “CP” (Credit Pending), which indicates that satisfactory progress is being made, but coursework needs to continue beyond the end of the term. You are receiving this email because we believe that you will receive a CP for your work in UW. The CP should appear in the system early this week.
University Writing has established a committee to consider each section of UW where instruction was interrupted and determine whether it falls into one of three categories:
- sections where the instructor stopped teaching at the onset of the strike, with only P1 and P2 submitted, and where no further written work was submitted and graded;
- sections where an instructor returned to teaching and solicited and graded at least one additional assignment but where there were insufficient contact hours and written work for students to receive full credit and a letter grade;
- sections where an instructor returned to teaching and solicited and graded at least one additional assignment and where there were sufficient contact hours and written work for students to receive full credit and a letter grade.
Confirmation as to whether your section falls under category A, B or C will be made by University Writing program administrators over the next several weeks, a determination that will be guided by university policy and state regulatory requirements. It is a priority for us to complete these reviews by the end of January, sooner if we can.
If the committee determines that your section falls under category C, your CP will be converted to a letter grade and you will receive an account of the new grading rubrics and the procedure that was followed in assigning this grade.
If the committee determines that your section falls under categories A or B, your grade will remain CP until you have completed one of the two options below.
Option 1:
Option 1 will let you complete the second half of UW (P3 and P4) either as a compressed three-week version that will meet four times per week or a regular-paced six-week version that follows the same format as your original class, meeting twice a week for seventy-five minutes. Both the three-week and the six-week version will be offered during the summer A and B terms, with scheduling based on student interest; they will be taught online and you will pay no additional tuition.
Option 2:
Option 2 allows you to satisfy the UW requirement by taking a tuition-free two-week online class called Public Writing that will be offered May 16-27 and August 1-12; if there is student interest, additional sections may be scheduled during the summer terms. The class meets three times each week for two hours; in addition to readings, there will be further asynchronous content and required student conferences. Each student will produce a polished op-ed piece by the end of the class; due along the way are a writing memo and a draft that will be workshopped in class.
You will receive a grade for the work you do under either of these options. An overall UW grade will then be calculated on the basis of the work you completed for UW in fall 2021 and for the completion of one of the options described above. Your CP for University Writing will be converted into whichever is the higher of these two grades. If you choose Option 2, you will also receive formal documentation of having completed the course in Public Writing.
If you are in group A or B, we know that you’ll have questions about which of these choices makes the most sense for you, and we will provide opportunities for conversation about that after you have been notified of the committee’s determination and before you are asked to choose. In early February, you will be asked whether you want to register for the May Public Writing option, and the deadline for registering for that option is February 18. For the other options, we will contact you in March and ask you to give us your decision about which choice you prefer by April 15.
Questions about any of this should be directed to John Stobo in the University Writing Program office; please email him at jrs9@columbia.edu with subject line FALL MAKEUP.
Thank you and all best wishes,
Nicole Wallack, Director of University Writing
Jenny Davidson, Chair, Department of English and Comparative Literature
Columbia University via Bwarchives
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10 Comments
@Anonymous God, I thought UW was already enough of a waste of our time. Looks like we get to do even more! Woooooooooo
@Anonymous Well, they got their money, and that’s the important thing, I guess.
@TJ Detweiler Fuck off
@Anonymous Thanks grad students for ruining undergrad courses.
@Anonymous you should be mad at columbia for trying to play hardball with the grad students for so long, if theyd simply accepted the demands earlier there wouldnt have been such an issue.
@Anonymous Um, Columbia and the administration were working everyday, the grad students were not. Maybe Columbia now should go on strike and make demands of the grad students and hold them hostage until they comply. Cancelling classes and holding the university hostage were terroristic tactics.
@Anonymous I know that you really don’t care to understand the issue, but for the sake of setting the record straight: SWC (Student Workers of Columbia) includes HUNDREDS of undergraduate and master students employed by the university in a variety of positions (TAs, Course Assistants, hourly RAs, etc). Many of them just went on strike for 10 weeks to secure better working conditions for themselves, as well as for their undergrad and MA peers. During the last weeks of the strike, the whole unit chose to hold the line and stay on strike for as long as needed to obtain a Recognition article that respected the ruling of the NLRB. Graduate workers on strike lost thousand of dollars to ensure that undergrad workers would be granted the protections of the contract (and we eventually forced Columbia to agree to this). This stupid divide between undergrad and graduate students exists only in your head.
Thank you for your time, now you can continue to embarass yourself publicly.
@Anonymous The strike undeniably caused inconveniences and even hardships for many students, staff, faculty, etc. who are not part of the union. I’ve never seen the union acknowledge that.
@Anonymous literally ALL official communications sent out by the union since November, as well as the digests sent out to faculty members and the direct outreach to students whose courses were interrupted by the strike constantly acknowledged that. You’re either willfully misrepresenting the facts or didn’t care enough to read the statements. SWC’s Bargaining Committee also repeatedly stated during bargaining sessions that the Union would much rather keep working, and that the administration could prevent a strike by making significant movement on our core demands. They could have bargained in good faith in September and October, and all the disruption and inconveniences would have been avoided. Instead, Columbia chose to try and starve out its employees, and only came to an agreement after 10 weeks of strike, when they realized their strategy wasn’t working.
I was personally present to several bargaining session where Columbia’s legal counsel (Bernie Plum) claimed that the administration “didn’t care about the strike”. If you’re looking to blame someone for minimizing the negative impact of the strike on the normal functioning of the university, you should look no further than Columbia’s admin.
@Anonymous One thing I did notice in direct outreach to students was disinformation, e.g., statements about how they would be receiving refunds from the University since the strike had gone on so long. One of several illegitimate tactics the union engaged in, along with disrupting Presbo’s class and physically intimidating people who wanted to enter or exit campus.