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Because the faculty of Winthrop University believes that writing is essential to learning, we require our students to complete two semesters of college composition courses with a grade of "C" or better to help ensure their success in other college courses. The goals listed below clearly state the ideas which form the basis of the composition courses at Winthrop. Faculty who teach these classes are committed to these goals and try, in every way possible, to achieve them in their classes; however, your participation is vital in this learning process we call writing. We hope that our faculty colleagues will encourage all Winthrop students to dedicate themselves to the writing tasks they face, requiring them to master the conventions of academic prose in all their Winthrop courses.

The foundation document for the new General Education Program states:

Building toward the goal of graduating students who are 'capable of writing effectively for a variety of audiences and purposes,' we attempted to construct a program that would encourage writing throughout the college career. While we recognize that different disciplines require many kinds of writing and a variety of formats, we believe that all writing can and should meet the criteria for content, style, and mechanics enumerated in the new General Education Program....We also recognize that requiring these courses and these assignments will in no way ensure that students will become "writing competent." That responsibility will ultimately rest upon the student and the professor assigning and evaluating the writing.

The goals of Freshman Composition courses are meant to encourage students to begin this journey of using writing as a fundamental way of learning; we hope that you, our faculty colleagues, will provide students with the incentive to reach similar goals in your classes.

Goals for Freshman Composition Courses

To use writing and reading as means of general cognitive development which foster intellectual growth in an academic environment.
To see writing as a learning tool which is important in all contexts and is not confined to the writing classroom.
To plan, organize, and develop essays based on introspection, general observation, deliberation, research, and the critical reading of mature prose texts.
To become aware of individual writing voices and how those voices can be adapted to fit different audiences and rhetorical situations.
To view writing as a process by using several prewriting, organizing, and drafting strategies.
To learn the importance of clear communication by revising effectively through the complete rethinking, restructuring, and rewriting of essays.
To encourage independent thinking.
To teach students to document correctly and to incorporate borrowed material smoothly and appropriately.

Source: page 15 of http://www.winthrop.edu/universitycollege/GenEd/gen%20ed%20proposal%20aug%2005.pdf