Students will need to brush up on their writing skills because of new changes made to UF's writing requirement.
Formerly called the Gordon Rule, the mandate requires students to take courses in which they write a total of 24,000 words before graduation. Originally, the Gordon Rule was added to a student's grade for the class.
New changes to the requirement include an additional grading component, according to the UF Web site.
Professors will give students a course grade and indicate whether or not the writing component has been completed.
In order to receive credit for the writing requirement, students must earn a grade of C or higher and satisfy the writing portion. It is possible to pass and receive credit for a class, even if the writing component is not completed.
The General Education Committee was concerned that the requirement wasn't strong enough, said UF associate provost Andrew McCollough. The undergraduate curriculum needed to find a better way to teach students to communicate through writing.
But faculty are not required to follow the new changes, he said, because the additional component would add extra work. Those who opt to follow the new rule will devote more time and attention to both aspects of the course outcome.
"I hope it will encourage students to write as well as they can," he said.
UF history professor Bret Seferian said he won't work the change into his class.
Writing and analyzing are a big part of American history classes, and it makes sense to combine the writing requirement with the course content grade, he said.
However, the new changes might work for a class that is not based on writing, he said.
Stephanie Thompson, a junior at UF, called the changes ridiculous.
Thompson, who has completed 75 percent of her writing requirement, said she believes that if you work hard enough to pass the class with a C or better, then you should automatically receive writing credit.
"Besides, if you got into UF in the first place, chances are good that you are not horrible at writing," she said.
