WashU’s McKelvey School of Engineering has begun to shift their writing and ethics core requirements as part of the gradual closure of the Engineering Communication Center (ECC). These changes differ across departments, but largely move away from requiring specific courses, instead opting to integrate this material into pre-existing requirements.

Students were first informed of the center’s closure last February in an email from Dean of Engineering Aaron Bobick. More details on changing requirements were communicated to some McKelvey students last spring through program-specific bulletins. McKelvey’s Associate Dean of Undergraduate Affairs Chris Ramsay shared that undergraduate advisors have been working with students to navigate these changes. 

ABET, the organization that accredits six of McKelvey’s 16 undergraduate engineering programs, requires students to be trained in both writing and ethics. Jay Turner, McKelvey’s vice dean for education and head of the Division of Engineering Education, shared that the school adjusted the curriculum with accreditation in mind, ensuring that students are still receiving the proper training and programs remain certified. 

“We’re hyperconscious about making sure that we do zero backsliding on any of that,” Turner said.

The ethics requirement, previously required for all undergraduate engineering degrees, will now vary by department, with some choosing to incorporate the material into pre-existing courses. 

McKelvey’s core writing course, Technical Writing, is also no longer required for incoming students. The course will continue to be offered through the spring 2027 semester in order for students still in need of the requirement (who came in under the old requirements system) to be able to take it.  

Ramsey shared that he is hopeful Technical Writing will be offered in following years, although its continuation depends on how many faculty will be available to teach it. First-year McKelvey students will now be required to take College Writing, the first-year writing course they could previously test out of. 

Additionally, Turner explained that pre-existing course requirements will now include writing assessment where it was not earlier. He explained that the departments have been collaborating with the ECC in redeveloping these curricula. 

“We still have instructors in the ECC as part of the Division of Engineering Education, and so they are also helping support our departments with these transitions on an as-requested basis,” Turner said. 

In Turner’s view, newly added college writing requirement brings additional benefits.

“We feel that’s highly advantageous because [incoming McKelvey students are] all going to get a writing intensive experience in their first year,” Turner said. “That will prepare them better for their undergrad experience, as well as for their career.” 

Students expressed positive views on the writing courses. Maryn Nguyen, a first-year planning to study biomedical engineering, believes writing improves communication and teamwork. 

“I think writing courses are really important, especially in engineering,” Nguyen said. “If you don’t have a strong writing background or you can’t communicate your thoughts well, then you can’t work in a team. And all of engineering is working together and solving problems with other people.”

Some students who have already taken Technical Writing seem to be in agreement with the phasing out of the technical writing course. Heather Sutkus, a senior biomedical engineering major, said the course could feel redundant. 

“I already do so much technical writing, so it felt a little like the class that I took didn’t contribute to my understanding of technical writing,” Sutkus said.

After hearing about the course, first-year Xaris Rodriguez, who is planning to study mechanical engineering, expressed interest in the class, believing it might have been helpful for engineering students. 

“I think it might have been pretty valuable, especially because I feel like technical writing is different from writing an essay, so I feel like technical writing could have more importance than regular writing for someone studying engineering,” Rodriguez said. 

The Environmental Engineering Lab, a course required for all environmental engineering majors, has already been altered to include more writing and be worth more credit hours. 

“We’ve taken that [lab] from three credits to four credits because we’re adding a writing-intensive component to that lab, and it’s going to give [students] writing in the context of environmental engineering instead of just broadly writing in the context of technical topics,” Turner said. 

The diffusion of writing training to specific classes also allows students to focus on material most relevant to their fields of study. 

“One of the problems is that there’s a bunch of different engineering specialties,” Sutkus said. “There’s very different [ethical] considerations for somebody designing a weapon system versus somebody designing a pacemaker.” 

Kevin Brennan, a lecturer in the Division of Engineering Education, currently teaches all sections of McKelvey’s Engineering Ethics and Sustainability course. He expressed a similar sentiment, explaining that while a broader ethics course introduces students to a wide range of ideas, it also can prevent them from connecting it to their other engineering material. 

“I think the drawback to having a focused class is that we’re not seeing [ethics] in context. This sometimes gives students the impression that ethics is in its own world and is separate from their other coursework, when in fact, it touches on most everything they do,” Brennan said.

However, Brennan also stated the benefit that this requirement provided through its ability to connect students from many different fields of engineering.

“I have students from all kinds of different majors and departments, so they get to share not only their different experiences, but also see the commonalities between their disciplines and be aware of challenges that other engineers face,” Brennan said. 

Overall, Turner reflected on the faculty’s commitment to incorporating ethics and writing into other parts of their curriculum, noting the advantage in incorporating it into other classes. 

“Our faculty, by and large, see the strategic advantage and the benefit for our students of having [ethics and writing courses] so tightly tethered to the discipline,” Turner said.