Writing Placement
As an incoming undergraduate student, you will be placed in a writing course based on a review of your achievement, including high school grade point average, high school English grades, Advanced Placement credit, or English Composition transfer credit.
As a result of the assessment process, you are placed in the writing class most appropriate to your demonstrated level of skill:
- Writing Lab (SAS011) with English Composition
- English Composition (ENG 110)
Writing lab credits count toward full-time enrollment requirements, and the grade received in the course is computed in your grade point average (GPA), but the course does not fulfill graduation requirements. English Composition is part of the University's Core Curriculum and is required of all students as one component of that curriculum.
Placement Challenge
If you believe that your writing capabilities are not accurately captured in your academic profile, you may challenge your placement by submitting up to three writing samples to the developmental writing supervisor of the Student Academic Success Center. Writing samples should be non-fiction; engage the ideas of other writers; and have gone through a multi-stage drafting, revision, and editing process. Submissions should include drafts (preferably with comments form a teacher) and final versions of papers and have been written in grades 11 or 12. Email Eric Drown at edrown@dos5.net or (207) 602-2584 for more information.
Writing Lab
This developmental level course is designed to support you while you are enrolled in English Composition. The course focus is on writing as a process, using engagement with and responses to text as its content, while simultaneously achieving developmental objectives.
The course earns 1 credit that counts toward full-time enrollment but does not satisfy the core curriculum or graduation requirements. The course grade is computed into your cumulative grade point average.
Enrollment
If you are placed in ENG110 Mainstreaming you are enrolled in ENG110 English Composition and SAS011 concurrently.
You may also voluntarily enroll in SAS011 for additional support in your ENG110 course. This is a personal decision that should be based on an understanding of what to expect from the English Composition course.
To decide if you want to enroll in SAS011, you must have a sense of the level of academic challenge and expectations for the class. The following activities (which should take about an hour) will help you determine if you should elect to enroll in SAS011.
- Carefully review the course description and sample writing assignment below.
- Read Malcolm Gladwell’s “Small Change”.
- Take the Self-Placement Diagnostic Survey to help you make an informed decision about enrolling SAS 011. Once you complete and submit the survey, you will receive a guide to help you interpret your diagnostic survey results.
This course introduces you to writing as a conscious and developmental activity. You learn to read, think, and write in response to a variety of texts, to integrate your ideas with those of others, and to treat writing as a recursive process. Through this work with texts, you are exposed to a range of reading and writing techniques you can employ in other courses and are introduced to fundamental skills of information literacy. You work individually and collaboratively, participate in peer review, and learn to take more responsibility for your writing development. Placement into this course is determined by entering SAT (or ACT) writing scores. 4 Credit hours
Sample ENG110 writing assignment: “Action for Change in the Digital Age”
In “Small Change,” Malcolm Gladwell writes about social media’s limited ability to effect real change. In his view, meaningful social change requires high-risk activism, strong-tie connections, hierarchies and hard work. He finds social media lacks all these elements. In his interview on ABC News and in the It Gets Better Project website, Dan Savage offers a portrait of a largely web-based, social media style campaign to improve the teen years for LGBTQ kids. Together, Gladwell’s text, Savage’s interview and the It Gets Better Project website offer us an opportunity to consider social activism in the twenty-first century.
Write a five-page paper that draws on Gladwell, Savage’s interview with ABC News and specific material from the It Gets Better Project website to evaluate the potential for social media to contribute to meaningful social change. In your response, be sure to:
- Be clear about your perspective or point of view;
- Briefly (and appropriately) introduce Gladwell’s text, Savage’s interview and the It Gets Better Project website;
- Take seriously Gladwell’s critique of social media and draw on his ideas about strong and weak ties;
- Engage with specifics in both Savage’s interview with ABC News and the It Gets Better Project website as you develop and support your claims;
- Document sources using MLA style.
Questions You Might Consider
- Are “It Gets Better” videos on the project website low risk in the way that the cheek swabs described by Gladwell are low risk? How? Why?
- Might the Savage interview and project website confirm or challenge elements of Gladwell’s argument? Which elements? Why?
- Consider the question of personal risk in It Gets Better sharing and broader network context of the campaign. What does this help us understand about activism today?
Self-Placement Diagnostic Survey
Take our “Self-Placement Diagnostic Survey”
Sample Writing Assignment: “Action for Change in the Digital Age”
In “Small Change,” Malcolm Gladwell writes about social media’s limited ability to effect real change. In his view, meaningful social change requires high-risk activism, strong-tie connections, hierarchies and hard work. He finds social media lacks all these elements. In his interview on ABC News and in the It Gets Better Project website, Dan Savage offers a portrait of a largely web-based, social media style campaign to improve the teen years for LGBTQ kids. Together, Gladwell’s text, Savage’s interview and the It Gets Better Project website offer us an opportunity to consider social activism in the twenty-first century.
Write a five-page paper that draws on Gladwell, Savage’s interview with ABC News and specific material from the It Gets Better Project website to evaluate the potential for social media to contribute to meaningful social change. In your response, be sure to:
- Be clear about your perspective or point of view;
- Briefly (and appropriately) introduce Gladwell’s text, Savage’s interview and the It Gets Better Project website;
- Take seriously Gladwell’s critique of social media and draw on his ideas about strong and weak ties;
- Engage with specifics in both Savage’s interview with ABC News and the It Gets Better Project website as you develop and support your claims;
- Document sources using MLA style.
Questions You Might Consider
- Are “It Gets Better” videos on the project website low risk in the way that the cheek swabs described by Gladwell are low risk? How? Why?
- Might the Savage interview and project website confirm or challenge elements of Gladwell’s argument? Which elements? Why?
- Consider the question of personal risk in It Gets Better sharing and broader network context of the campaign. What does this help us understand about activism today?
Math Placement
- Placement is made based on your credentials prior to New Student Orientation
- You are encouraged to challenge placement
- A mathematics bridge program is available if you want to advance your placement
- If your major requires pre-calculus, calculus, chemistry, and/or physics, you need a UL4 placement to avoid prerequisite coursework
Mathematics Placement Levels
First-year students are assigned one of five levels (UL2 thru UL6) using a combination of data: high school mathematics courses and grades, other high school transcript information, GPA, and SAT/ACT or other standard mathematics test scores if available. Transfer students are placed based on available high school records and college transcripts.
If you feel that your initial placement does not accurately reflect your mathematical ability, you are encouraged to submit additional evidence of achievement, including Advanced Placement scores, updated or additional transcripts, or Accuplacer results from another college. In particular, if you were enrolled in any mathematics class during your senior year, you should email a final senior transcript directly to Lori Wall at lwall@dos5.net.
Every degree program has a mathematics requirement and mathematics prerequisites exist for Biology, Chemistry, and Physics. Your initial mathematics placement level will determine your first-semester course schedule. Placement levels and corresponding courses are listed below.
| University Placement level | Math Courses | Science Courses |
|---|---|---|
| UL2 | SAS021* Introductory Algebra | N/A |
| UL3 |
|
|
| UL4 |
|
|
| UL5 | MAT190 Calculus I | Any entry-level science course |
| UL6 | MAT195 Calculus II | Any entry-level science course |
If you change your major, you will be required to follow the prerequisites of that program which may include a different math requirement.
*Courses with a SAS designation are offered through the Student Academic Success Center and serve as prerequisites to mathematics and science courses. SAS courses count towards full-time enrollment for the purposes of athletic eligibility and financial aid but do not satisfy core curriculum or graduation requirements and do not earn credit toward graduation. Grades for SAS courses are computed into your grade point average. If you are required to enroll in SAS mathematics courses, you will be invited to participate in UNE’s Mathematics Bridge Opportunity.
Mathematics Bridge
If you place at UL2 or UL3, you should consider UNE's Mathematics Bridge as an option to advance your math placement level. The curriculum is online, individualized, and completely self-paced.
ALEKS Mathematics Bridge is an independent study opportunity for students who want to advance their placement level. ALEKS is a completely online, artificially intelligent, assessment, and learning system adopted by UNE to assist you in mastering the material you will need for success in college-level mathematics and science courses. It is adaptive to each individual and quickly determines what you know and doesn’t know within the context of the selected modules. ALEKS offers an individualized learning plan, practice, help, and immediate feedback from virtually any computer with Internet access.
If you have a UL2 or UL3 (SAS021 or SAS022) mathematics placement you may complete this coursework prior to the start of classes in your first semester at UNE. SAS 021 and SAS 022 are required prerequisite courses for many college-level math and science courses. Eligible students are invited to participate based on mathematics placement. If you have a UL4 placement and your major requires UL5 calculus you may also elect to complete the ALEKS bridge for precalculus.
If you complete at least 90% of the required ALEKS modules you are eligible to advance your mathematics placement level and enroll in your next required math and/or science courses saving time and money. You should expect to spend 20 to 40 hours on ALEKS but this number will vary depending on your current mathematical knowledge.
If you elect not to participate in Bridge or if you do not complete 90% of the required modules, you will be enrolled in a traditional classroom section of the required math course for your placement level in the fall semester and advance to your next level of math upon successful completion of that course.
A six-week access code costs less than $50. There are no university fees associated with this program. If you are interested in enrolling in the UNE bridge opportunity, email Lori Wall at lwall@dos5.net or call (207) 602-2794 for a course code.