BME Graduate English Writing Requirement
All BME graduate students must satisfy the university’s graduate writing requirement (GWAR). This is a CSU wide requirement. This must be satisfied before enrolling in BME 291.
University Policy requires that all graduate students demonstrate competency in written English. Graduate students must satisfy the Graduation Writing Assessment Requirement (GWAR) before advancement to candidacy.
Students Admitted Fall 2020 Semester or Later: Graduate students admitted in the Fall 2020 semester or later may satisfy the Graduation Writing Assessment Requirement (GWAR) in one of three ways:
1. Satisfactory completion of a GWAR course. BME 274 satisfies the GWAR, so please
take it as soon as possible, and pass it with a B or better.
2. Approval by the College of Graduate Studies of a professional publication written
in English for which the candidate was a primary author.
3. Completion of a master’s or doctoral program with a substantive writing requirement
at an accredited university in which the primary language of instruction is English.
Waiving the program GWAR requirement will require the addition of an elective selected in consultation with the Graduate Program Coordinator.
Student Admitted Prior to Fall 2020 Semester: Graduate students enrolled in their program prior to the Fall 2020 semester may meet their GWAR requirement in one of four ways:
1.Complete either BME 207 or BME 274 with a grade of B or better.
2.Graduates from a CSU school will most probably have already satisfied the GWAR.Please
consult your graduate advisor.
3.If you have taken a technical writing course at a US University and are going to
petition to use that course to meet the GWAR requirement, you MUST meet with your
graduate advisor in order to fill out a petition that must be approved by the Graduate
and Undergraduate Programs Office.
The class must have been an upper division (junior/senior) technical writing course taught in the College of Science or Engineering with documented 32 pages of writing and a required literature review that includes referencing of technical articles. Just an English class or a lab class will not be accepted.
Please provide the following: (a) a description of the course you took (from the web is fine), (b) course syllabus (c) a copy of your transcript with the grade you obtained in the course highlighted, and (d) a copy of graded writing form the class you took.
You MUST have obtained a B or better in the Technical Writing Course in order to petition.
4.Sole author of a peer-reviewed technical journal article. If so, provide the article
to your graduate advisor to submit the petition.