Skip to main content
Santa Clara University Homepage
Santa Clara University
The Jesuit University in Silicon Valley

Written Communication

  1. Home
  2. Office of the Provost and EVP
  3. Institutional Effectiveness
  4. Educational Assessment
  5. The Santa Clara Story
  6. Written Communication

Written Communication

Writing is essential in all professions. Writing helps us think, communicate ideas, and express who we are and what we believe. The ability to write well has always been a critical skill, and its relevance has only increased in the digital age. At Santa Clara, students write often and well, gaining experience writing in a variety of formats for many different audiences. 

111

 
Seniors produce an average of 111 pages of written work in their senior year (that’s at least 20 pages more than their comparison groups) (NSSE, 2018).



A doodle of pieces of paper. Faculty Commitment to Writing

  • SCU faculty assign more papers or other writing tasks of varying lengths than any of their comparison groups nationally (on average 18 papers, reports, or other writing tasks per year) (NSSE, 2018).
  • 73% of faculty view as essential their role in promoting students’ ability to write effectively; another 26% say it’s very important (HERI College Senior Survey, 2017).

The HUB Logo HUB Writing Center

  • Santa Clara’s HUB Writing Center shows that writing is more about grammar and editing. Peer educators support students' development as writers, and that includes refining ideas, analyses, organization, and more. 
  • During the 2018-19 academic year, there were 1380 unique visits to the Center, with 601 students coming in more than once.

80%


of seniors affirm their SCU education contributed quite a bit or very much to their ability to write clearly and effectively (NSSE, 2018).




85%


of SCU seniors scored as proficient or above in several measures of written communication, exceeding the benchmark set in a multi-campus study of
written communication (Multi-Campus Study, 2015).





A doodle of a pencil Take Your Writing Further

  • Publication opportunities in the award-winning, student-run Santa Clara newspaper, yearbook, and literary magazines. 
  • Internships in news media, sports radio, business, or non-profits, where SCU students write press releases, design web content, develop podcasts, publish magazine features, or tweet.
  • All seniors write an essay for their Pathway requirement that demonstrates their ability to engage in multi-disciplinary analysis.