All Students entering Rice must complete the FWIS Writing Assessment by June 27, 2023.

The FWIS Writing Assessment is used to determine the best placement for incoming students in our first-year writing-intensive seminar (FWIS) courses. Based on assessment, students will either move directly into a fall or spring FWIS seminar course that satisfies the graduation requirement, or into FWIS 100 Introduction to Academic Writing in the fall and a FWIS seminar in the spring.

FWIS 100 introduces students to academic writing through topic-based courses designed to develop skills in college-level reading and writing. FWIS 100 alone cannot be used to meet the graduation requirement and must be followed by a FWIS seminar course.

Click here to learn more about the FWIS Writing Assessment and FWIS courses from the FWIS Program Director, Dr. David Messmer.

FWIS courses that meet the graduation requirement (numbered 101-299) are content-based, three-credit hour seminars that can be taught in any department and focus on any topic, and in which writing and communication instruction plays a significant role in assignments and grading. FWIS seminars are open only to first-year students. “Writing-intensive” typically means that there are writing assignments throughout the semester; that students are asked to revise some of these assignments; that there is discussion of the writing assignments in class; and that students are given a chance to discuss their writing privately with the instructor. FWIS seminars also include an oral presentation component.