Program Policies

Enrollment
First-pass enrollment priority will be given to incoming freshman students during their first six quarters at UC San Diego.  Incoming transfer students will have 3 quarter of enrollment priority for each required course*. All other Muir students will be eligible to enroll during the second-pass enrollment period.

*Example 1: a transfer student with a completed IGETC has 3 quarters to complete MCWP 125/R. 

*Example 2: a transfer student without IGETC has 6 quarters to complete MCWP 40/R and 50/R. Transfer students from 4-year institutions who believe they have completed a course equivalent to MCWP 40/R and/or 50/R should ask for more information via the Virtual Advising Center.

WAITLISTING
MCWP classes often have long waitlists and we do not increase the class size. Therefore, waitlisted students only get in when an enrolled student drops. Attendance is important and class check-ins cannot be made up, so we recommend attending class.

All waitlisted students will be emailed instructions with waitlist procedures during the first two weeks of the quarter.

Office Hours: The Muir Writing office is open Monday through Thursday, 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. If you need to meet with a particular person, email muirwriting@ucsd.edu for assistance in setting up a meeting time.

Grades: MCWP courses must be taken for a letter grade. In Spring 1984, the Muir faculty voted that MCWP 40/R, 50/R, and 125/R were to be taken for a letter grade only. It is your responsibility to request a letter grade when registering for the course.

Papers: For safety's sake, you are responsible for retaining a copy of every draft you submit. If a draft or final draft somehow gets misplaced, you will be responsible for replacing it. If you have technical issues submitting your draft online, you are responsible for documenting the issue and following up with your instructor and the Canvas team immediately.

Academic Integrity: As part of the academic community at UC San Diego, you must abide by the university’s policies on academic integrity.

You must do your own work, including the translation of work written in a language other than English. Plagiarism, including failure to correctly cite quotations, summaries, or paraphrases, ideas from print or online sources, or the unauthorized use of Artificial Intelligence text generators or editors is strictly prohibited.

You may not submit any work you have turned in to another course, including a previous MCWP course. Providing access to your personal coursework to another student is also considered academic misconduct

Any questions about academic integrity should be taken to the instructor.

The writing program uses Turnitin.com, an anti-plagiarism database that compares student papers to websites, student papers, and other writing, to review submissions for plagiarism.  By taking a MCWP course, you agree that all required papers will be subject to review by Turnitin.com for the detection of plagiarism. 

Final Paper Evaluation: If you wish to see your final paper evaluation, please make arrangements with your instructor. 

The office staff does not hand out grades—only your instructor. Grades cannot be emailed.

Protesting a Grade: If you wish to protest a grade, please do the following: First, attempt to resolve the issue with your instructor. If you still feel that the instructor has misjudged the quality of your work, the second step is to write a letter to the Associate Director that states your case. This letter should present evidence supporting your contention that the grade be changed. Such evidence should include specific discussion of your writing, including matters of thesis, focus and development, organization, and grammar. The letter itself should reflect your understanding of argumentation and analysis as they are taught in the Muir Writing Program. The Associate Director will then review the contents of your work in light of your request. The Muir Writing administrators reserve the right to lower your grade if they feel your paper has been graded too generously.

Updating Contact Information: If your address, phone number, or e-mail changes during the quarter, please notify your instructor.

Computer Account: As a UC San Diego student, you have access to the Google apps suite and you can set up an account to print on university printers. Check the UCSD IT Service Portal for information about Student tech services.

Communication: All MCWP students are given access to a Canvas site for their class. This is the primary communication channel for MCWP classes. You should send questions or requests to your instructor through the Canvas inbox. Students are responsible for checking Canvas on a regular—preferably, daily—basis.

Students on the waitlist should also check their UCSD email address regularly for communication from the program.

MCWP 40 WAIVER (IGETC EQUIVALENT COURSEWORK)
If you took IGETC-equivalent coursework from a California Community College you may submit an online petition for MCWP 40 here: Transfer Student Waiver of MCWP 40. AP credit does not apply; it must be two courses from a California Community College.

COURSES FROM ANOTHER 4-YEAR INSTITUTION
If you took composition coursework at another 4-year institution, send a question to the Virtual Advising Center (choose "Muir Writing" as the reason for your question). Include a brief description of the course you took (institution name, course name, and type of writing) so we can confirm it is a writing/composition course.

Please be advised that the Student Petition will not be reviewed until the above materials are submitted to the MCWP office. If your petition is "Disapproved", there is no appeal. You must enroll in and complete the required course. The average review time for the undergraduate student petition is 4-6 weeks, and petitions are not reviewed during the summer.

COURSES FROM AN OUT-OF-STATE COMMUNITY COLLEGE
If you took English Composition coursework from a non 4-year institution (e.g. junior college in another state), you must take MCWP 40/R and 50/R to complete the Muir College writing requirement.

Enrollment Information for Transfer Students

Students requesting accommodations for this course due to a disability must provide a current Authorization for Accommodation (AFA) letter issued by the Office for Students with Disabilities (OSD) which is located in Pepper Canyon Hall, Suite 300.  Students are required to follow up on their AFA letters by meeting with their instructor (please make arrangements to converse with your instructor privately) in advance so that accommodations may be arranged.

Contact the Office for Students with Disabilities at (858) 534-4382 or osd@ucsd.edu for further information.