New Communication Skills Program (CSP) Core Requirements and Placement Information

The University Core Curriculum requirement is 12 credits (or four courses) of Communications Skills. Currently, there are five Communications Skills courses, but as part of the University Core Curriculum, you are required to take only four of them.

As entering first-year students, you will be placed in a four-course Communications Skills track, based upon your ACT/ASSET placement scores, your SAT scores, and other multi-measures that we have in place. Your performance on the reading and writing tests will help us to assign you to this track. You will be placed in either CSEN0990 College Reading and Writing, CSEN1010 Reading & Writing Strategies, or CSEN1020 Argument & Research.

If placed in CSEN0990, your Core requirements are CSEN1010, CSEN1020, CSCM1030, and CSCM2040.

If placed in CSEN1010 Reading & Writing Strategies, your Core requirements are CSEN1010, CSEN1020, CSCM1030, and CSCM2040. For you, CSCM2050 Intercultural Communication may be an elective or required elsewhere in your program, but you are not required to take it as part of your University Core Requirements.

If placed in CSEN1020 Argument & Research, your Core requirements are CSEN1020, CSCM1030, CSCM2040, and CSCM2050.

The five courses in the Communications Skills Sequence are as follows:

  • CSEN1010 Reading & Writing Strategies
  • CSEN1020 Argument & Research
  • CSCM1030 Public Speaking & Persuasion
  • CSCM2040 Professional Communications in the Workplace
  • CSCM2050 Intercultural Communications

Placement Exams

Students are required to complete English and mathematics courses for completion of their undergraduate degrees. Students are automatically placed into these courses based on the results of their score on the appropriate portions of the SAT/ACT exams. Without these scores, students will be required to take placement exams to determine appropriate instruction levels. For those with test scores, these exams are optional if they wish to be re-evaluated for the level of courses received on their course schedule. Learn more here.