Program Policies

Enrollment
First-pass enrollment priority will be given to incoming freshman students during their first six quarters at UC San Diego.  Incoming transfer students will have 3 quarter of enrollment priority for each required course*. All other Muir students will be eligible to enroll during the second-pass enrollment period.

*Example 1: a transfer student with a completed IGETC has 3 quarters to complete MCWP 125/R. 

Example 2: a transfer student without IGETC has 6 quarters to complete MCWP 40/R and 50/R. Transfer students from 4-year institutions who believe they have completed a course equivalent to MCWP 40/R and/or 50/R should ask for more information via the Virtual Advising Center.

Attendance
MCWP classes are highly interactive; therefore, the program has a strict attendance policy. Missing a class meeting or a conference appointment counts as one absence. Responsibility for dropping or withdrawing from the class belongs solely to the student. 

Missing more than 5 minutes of class or conference (whether in the beginning, middle, or end) counts as half an absence. Class participation, including being prepared to discuss the assigned texts, is crucial to this course. If you do not prepare or participate in class, you will be counted as absent.

Any more than three cumulative absences (including multiple half absences) will result in a significant reduction in grade and often leads to not passing the class. Check the syllabus for current penalties.

WAITLISTING
MCWP classes often have long waitlists and we do not increase the class size. Therefore, we ask that you adhere to the following enrollment policies: Students on the waitlist MUST ATTEND ALL CLASS MEETINGS in Muir Writing in order to be eligible to add the class. Enrolled students who miss more than two class sessions (first class session in summer session) will be encouraged to drop.

All waitlisted students will be emailed instructions with waitlist procedures during the first two weeks of the quarter.

Office Hours: The Muir Writing office is open Monday through Thursday, 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. If you need to meet with a particular person, email muirwriting@ucsd.edu for assistance in setting up a meeting time.

Grades: MCWP courses must be taken for a letter grade. In Spring 1984, the Muir faculty voted that MCWP 40/R, 50/R, and 125/R were to be taken for a letter grade only. It is the student's responsibility to request a letter grade when registering for the course.

You can make arrangements with your instructor to mail your final grade to you in a self-addressed stamped envelope if you do not wish to wait until grades are posted on StudentLink. The office staff does not hand out grades—only your instructor. Grades cannot be emailed.

Papers: For safety's sake, you are responsible for retaining a copy of every draft you submit. If a draft or final draft somehow gets misplaced, you will be responsible for replacing it. If you have technical issues submitting your draft online, you are responsible for documenting the issue and following up with your instructor and the Canvas team immediately.

Academic Integrity: As part of the academic community at UC San Diego, students must abide by the university’s policies on academic integrity. Therefore, students must do their own work, including the translation of work written in a language other than English. The writing program uses the services of Turnitin.com, an anti-plagiarism database that compares student papers to websites, student papers, journal essays, and the like in an effort to detect instances of plagiarism. Students agree that, by taking a MCWP course, all required papers will be subject to submission for textual similarity review by Turnitin.com for the detection of plagiarism. All submitted papers will be included as source documents in the Turnitin.com database solely for the purpose of detecting plagiarism of such papers. Use of the Turnitin.com service is subject to the terms of use agreement posted on the Turnitin.com site.

Final Paper Evaluation: If you wish to see your final paper evaluation, please make arrangements with your instructor. 

Protesting a Grade: If you wish to protest a grade, please do the following: First, attempt to resolve the issue with your instructor. If you still feel that the instructor has misjudged the quality of your work, the second step is to write a letter to the Assistant Director that states your case. This letter should present evidence supporting your contention that the grade be changed. Such evidence should include specific discussion of your writing, including matters of thesis, focus and development, organization, and grammar. The letter itself should reflect your understanding of argumentation and analysis as they are taught in the Muir Writing Program. The Assistant Director will then review the contents of your folder in light of your request. The Muir Writing administrators reserve the right to lower your grade if they feel your paper has been graded too generously.

Updating Contact Information: If your address, phone number, or e-mail changes during the quarter, please notify your instructor.

Computer Account: As a UC San Diego student, you have access to the Google apps suite and you can set up an account to print on university printers. Check the UCSD IT Service Portal for information about Student tech services.

E-mail: All incoming students are given a UC San Diego e-mail account; this account is considered an official means of communication between the university and students. This is the email account your TA and the writing program will use to give you important information. Students are responsible for checking their e-mail on a regular—preferably, daily—basis.

MCWP 40 WAIVER (IGETC EQUIVALENT COURSEWORK)
If you took IGETC-equivalent coursework from a California Community College you may submit an online petition for MCWP 40 here: Transfer Student Waiver of MCWP 40. AP credit does not apply; it must be two courses from a California Community College.

COURSES FROM ANOTHER 4-YEAR INSTITUTION
If you took composition coursework at another 4-year institution, send a question to the Virtual Advising Center (choose "Muir Writing" as the reason for your question). Include a brief description of the course you took (institution name, course name, and learning objectives) so we can start the process.

Please be advised that the Student Petition will not be reviewed until the above materials are submitted to the MCWP office. If your petition is "Disapproved", there is no appeal. You must enroll in and complete the required course. The average review time for the undergraduate student petition is 4-6 weeks, and petitions are not reviewed during the summer.

COURSES FROM AN OUT-OF-STATE COMMUNITY COLLEGE
If you took English Composition coursework from a non 4-year institution (e.g. junior college in another state), you must take MCWP 40/R and 50/R to complete the Muir College writing requirement.

Enrollment Information for Transfer Students

Students requesting accommodations for this course due to a disability must provide a current Authorization for Accommodation (AFA) letter issued by the Office for Students with Disabilities (OSD) which is located in Pepper Canyon Hall, Suite 300.  Students are required to follow up on their AFA letters by meeting with their instructor (please make arrangements to converse with your instructor privately) in advance so that accommodations may be arranged.

Contact the Office for Students with Disabilities at (858) 534-4382 or osd@ucsd.edu for further information.