GWR Portfolio
Overview
The GWR Portfolio offers students an opportunity to demonstrate proficiency in upper-division writing by curating written work completed in prior upper-division courses. This pathway is best suited for students at or near graduation who have already completed sufficient writing-intensive coursework.
Students complete the portfolio through UNIV 401: GWR Portfolio, a 0-unit course. The portfolio consists of an introduction and two previously completed writing projects from upper-division courses for which the student received Cal Poly credit.
Registration
Students who wish to complete the GWR through the portfolio pathway should enroll in UNIV 401: GWR Portfolio. This asynchronous, CR/NC course carries a $35 course fee and has the following prerequisites:
- Senior standing
- Completion of GE Area A with grades of C- or better
Multiple sections of UNIV 401 are offered each term, including summer. Students do not need a permission number to enroll in a section with open seats. If a section is full, students should look for another section with available seats rather than joining the waitlist.
If all sections are full, permission to enroll will be provided only to students who are graduating during that term. Students who are not graduating that term should plan to enroll in a future term.
Important: Portfolio materials must come from upper-division courses that have already been completed and graded. Students should enroll in UNIV 401 only after they have sufficient eligible coursework available. Work from a course being taken during the same term as UNIV 401 may not be submitted because it will not have been completed and graded by the portfolio deadline.
Portfolio Criteria
Portfolio Introduction
The portfolio introduction must:
- Be written independently in response to the prompt provided in the UNIV 401 Canvas course
- Be at least 500 words, excluding the heading and title
- Reflect on the student’s development as a writer
- Explain how Portfolio Papers #1 and #2 demonstrate that development
Portfolio Papers #1 and #2
Each paper must:
- Have been completed for an upper-division course at the 300, 400, or 500 level
- Have been completed after the student reached junior standing (90 completed units)
- Come from a prior academic term
- Come from a course for which a final grade of C or better has been posted to the student’s transcript; a grade of C- is not acceptable
- Grant Cal Poly upper-division credit; work from an upper-division transfer course is acceptable if the credit has already posted
- Have been written independently in English for a graded assignment
- Have earned an assignment grade of C or better; collaborative projects and papers earning a C- are not acceptable
- Be at least 750 words, excluding the heading, title, tables, graphs, and citations
- Represent the student’s original work and appropriately cite all sources
- Respond effectively to the assignment’s rhetorical situation
- Present ideas clearly and logically, with fully developed support
Eligible and Ineligible Genres
Acceptable genres include, but are not limited to:
- Informative or argumentative essays
- Analyses
- Research papers
- Proposals
- Literature reviews
- Policy memos
- Technical papers
- Lab reports
- Critical reflections
To qualify, a submission must be a complete, independently written academic project that contains at least 750 words of sustained prose and meets all other portfolio criteria.
The following are not accepted:
- Creative fiction or poetry
- In-class handwritten essays
- Short-answer examinations
- Journal entries or collections of journal entries
- Discussion posts or collections of discussion posts
- Annotated bibliographies without an accompanying sustained written analysis
- Presentation slides, posters, websites, videos, or other primarily visual or multimedia projects
- Resumes, cover letters, and other application materials
- Worksheets, problem sets, and lab notebooks
- Collaborative or group-authored projects
- Translations of work originally written in another language
Multiple short assignments may not be combined to meet the 750-word minimum.
Optional Writing Prompts in Limited Circumstances
Optional writing prompts may be made available only in limited circumstances to students who are graduating during the current term and, because of documented extenuating circumstances, do not have two previously completed upper-division writing assignments that meet the portfolio criteria.
Optional prompts are an exception and are not a standard alternative to submitting previously completed coursework. They are not automatically available to students who enroll in UNIV 401, and students should not enroll in the course with the expectation that they will be permitted to use them.
Students who have not yet completed sufficient eligible writing-intensive coursework should ordinarily either:
- Complete the GWR through a designated 4-unit GWR course, or
- Delay enrollment in UNIV 401 until they have completed two qualifying upper-division writing assignments
Students who believe they may qualify for an optional prompt must follow the instructions provided in the UNIV 401 Canvas course. Approval is determined individually and is not guaranteed.
Portfolio Submission
UNIV 401: GWR Portfolio is a fully asynchronous course. Enrolled students receive all portfolio instructions, required prompts, submission requirements, and deadlines through the UNIV 401 Canvas course.
Portfolio materials are generally due near the middle of the term. This schedule allows time for faculty evaluation and, when permitted, the submission of revisions or alternative materials before final grades are assigned. Students are responsible for reviewing the Canvas course, completing each required step, and submitting all materials by the published deadlines.
Students who successfully complete all portfolio requirements receive a grade of Credit (CR) in UNIV 401. A grade of CR confirms completion of Cal Poly’s Graduation Writing Requirement.
Are you an inactive or former Cal Poly student who still needs to fulfill the GWR and no longer lives in the San Luis Obispo area?
The Office of Writing and Learning can assist you; please contact the office for next steps.
