The University of Minnesota’s Writing-Enriched Curriculum (WEC) Project, launched in 2007 with generous support from the Bush Foundation, pilots a process for meaningfully infusing writing and writing instruction into all undergraduate curricula. During the three-year pilot period (2007-2010), the project will engage 22 academic units in developing and implementing customized Undergraduate Writing Plans. At the completion of the pilot period, a course for expanding the process to remaining academic units will be determined. In this way, the project works toward the University’s ultimate goal of making all undergraduate degrees “writing-enriched.”

The WEC project is founded on the following principles, gleaned from three decades of research and experience:

1. Writing is instrumental to learning in all content areas.
   
2. Academic writing (like thinking) differs from content area to
   content area.
   
3. Writing ability is continually developed rather than mastered.
   
4. Writing instruction becomes most meaningful when those who teach are provided multiple opportunities to both articulate and interrogate their assumptions and expectations.
   
5. Instructors who infuse writing instruction into their teaching require support.

“What’s happening with writing at the University of Minnesota is as exciting as anything that’s happening in the country."