The latest piece from Inside Higher Ed addresses a topic at which it excels regularly: writing. According to article author and director of the Honors Scholar program at Mount Ida College, Ellen Goldenberger, writing should be taught across every discipline -- not just in English classes or courses marked with a special "w" (which stood for writing intensive at the school I attended).

Goldenberger provides a list of common complaints and excuses made by professors explaining why they can't and/or won't teach their students about the finer points of writing. Later in the article, she analyses the root cause of each one and provides solutions. The full list:

1. "I'm not an English teacher; I can't be expected to correct spelling and grammar."
2. "I don't have time in class to teach writing - I barely have enough time to teach content."
3. "Why should students be penalized for bad writing if they get the correct answer?"
4. "Mine isn't supposed to be a 'W' course, so I'll leave the writing to others."
5. "There is no way to work writing into the subject matter of my course."
6. "They hate to read and write and won't take the time to revise their work."
7. "I don't have a teaching assistant and don't want to do a lot of extra correcting-I have enough to do."
8. "Our students come to college with such poor writing skills that we can't make up for years of bad writing."
9. "They never make the corrections I suggest; I see the same mistakes over and over again, so why bother?"
10. "They're seniors, and they still can't write!"

I was fortunate enough to attend a college that focused on writing no matter the subject or professor. In fact, I probably wrote more in my psychology classes than my English ones. Even then, there was sometimes a struggle between good writing and student writing (including my own). Thus, the forgotten side of Goldenberger's argument is the students and their own excuses/complaints. My top five (because by then you'll get the point):

1. "I'm not an English major; I don't need to write well to succeed."

2. "I don't have the time to write a high quality, 10 page paper."

3. "As long as my answers are right and ideas strong, I shouldn't be penalized for bad writing."

4. "This isn't a writing intensive class so there shouldn't be any writing."

5. "Writing has nothing to do with this class."

No assignment is more time intensive and effortful than an essay. Perhaps professors should focus on making this activity more enjoyable or at least tolerable.