Transfer Thursdays
Thinking about transferring to the UW? If you are, Transfer Thursday is your gateway to transfer information. At a Transfer Thursday session, you can speak to an admissions counselor who will tell you all about applying to the UW. You can also meet with an undergraduate academic advisor who will help you prepare for your intended UW major. Bring your questions and your unofficial transcript(s). It’s one-stop shopping for the prospective transfer student.
Where:
University of Washington
171 Mary Gates Hall
When:
Every Thursday
1:00 to 4:00.
Admissions sessions
begins at 2:30!
For more information:
(206) 543-2550 or click here.
UW Virtual Tour
Credits
James Meadows
Editor
Jamie Yaptinchay
Technical Designer
Contributors to this Issue:
Judi Clark
Kathleen A. Elkins
Deanna Fryhle
Susan Inman
Sylvia Kurinsky
Mary F. Lampe
Tamara Leonard
Kate Long
James Meadows
Mariko Navin
Melissa Wenzel
The Transfer eNewsletter is a project of the UW Undergraduate Advising Gateway Center.
Undergraduate
Gateway Center
171 Mary Gates Hall
Weekdays 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.
By Mel Wensel, Director of Academic Services, UW English Department
The Department of English is pleased to announce the introduction of a new undergraduate major in Autumn 2005. The restructured English major reflects important changes in the discipline that have developed since the 1970s and offers a significantly more flexible learning experience. New options for admission to the major and for completion of senior capstone requirements eliminate “bottlenecks” that can slow student progress. The new curriculum gives students more freedom to pursue their intellectual interests and faculty more opportunity to fully integrate the most exciting aspects of their scholarship into undergraduate teaching.
In Autumn 2002 the Committee to Restructure the Undergraduate Major (C.R.U.M.) was formed. Led by Director of Undergraduate Programs, Professor Caroline Simpson, this committee of English faculty, staff, and students studied models of English majors at peer institutions, gathered input from students, advisers, faculty, and other members of the department, and started sketching the bold outlines of an exciting new major. The vision that has taken shape over the last three years becomes a reality this Autumn, and it starts with a policy for admitting students earlier and more easily to the English major. No longer must students wait until they have sophomore standing to apply for admission. All students, including freshmen, are eligible to apply for admission when they have:
The change in admission policy is particularly good news for transfer students who may have had difficulty in the past finding courses equivalent to the old, more restrictive prerequisites. With literature offerings expanding at many community colleges, transfer students should have few problems finding courses that will make them eligible to apply for admission in their first quarter at the UW. Although English is listed as a “competitive” major, no eligible students have been denied since Winter 1996. All eligible students are encouraged to apply as early as possible so that they can receive major priority for registration.
Key features of the new English major include a 10-credit “gateway” course for English majors designed to prepare the way for further study in literature and language, including attention to issues of reading and interpretation, cultural and historical perspective, and the development of analyses and arguments of texts and critical issues. ENGL 202: Introduction to the Study of English Language and Literature and its required writing link, ENGL 197: Writing in the Humanities, provide the necessary intellectual scaffolding for students to build connections between the courses they take in the major, and to identify and reflect on what they learn within a larger disciplinary framework.
Although ENGL 202/197 is not a prerequisite for admission to the English major, it may be used as an alternative to the 10 credits of literature for admission eligibility. The option for taking the gateway course before or shortly after entering the program is just one of the features that makes the new English major more flexible and student-friendly. Students enrolled at Washington community colleges who are considering a major in English at the UW are invited by Professor Leroy Searle to visit the lecture for ENGL 202 that he is teaching in Spring 2005. If you would like to visit this class, please contact Professor Searle at: engladv@u.washington.edu. Additional information is available on our web site at: http://depts.washington.edu/engl/