In response to Governor Gavin Newsom’s executive order, CSUN is temporarily suspending the Upper Division Writing Proficiency Exam.

Students currently registered for the computer-based and paper-based exams in April will be issued a refund.

CSUN uses the UDWPE to meet the Graduate Writing Assessment Requirement, a California State University policy that requires students to demonstrate writing proficiency in order to graduate. The university also requires undergraduate students to pass the exam before registering for upper division courses.

All test dates for the exam are canceled through June 2020, and all writing proficiency exam holds will be lifted for fall 2020 registration, according to the UDWPE website.

“If you are a fall 2019, spring 2020, or summer 2020 graduating senior who has not yet met the UDWPE requirement, it will be waived,” the website states. “You do not need to do anything, your degree progress report will be updated automatically.”

Students who have already taken the exam can check their score on their student portals by going to the academic tab, and clicking on “Check Test Scores” located in “Tools for Academic Success” on the bottom left on the page.

The website states that undergraduates who need a particular score to take classes in psychology and the Nazarian College of Business and Economics may still register for those classes taking place in summer or fall 2020, without meeting the writing requirement.

Graduate students who need to take the writing proficiency exam for classified status should contact the Graduate Studies department or their graduate program coordinator for additional information, according to the website.

Test preparation, sample essays, scoring guides and frequently asked questions can be accessed through the Learning Resource Center’s website.

The center’s tutoring hours and online workshops for UDWPE will be canceled until further notice. The main LRC office hours are on Thursdays and Fridays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and offers online tutoring available through Zoom. The center can be reached at 818-677-2033.