Business Writing

English 3130 040 CRN 83895 Minimester 1 Fall 2008

Syllabus

Course Description

Business Writing is a multi-disciplinary course informed by the needs of students, educators, business, and society at large. Business Writing has the following aims:

• To foster a view of writing as situated action (people acting through writing within organizations)
• To foster educational practices that demand a consideration of ethics
• To create contexts for writing that are real and sophisticated (through the use of cases, real clients, and service learning with community organizations)
• To recognize the fact that computers significantly alter where and how people work and that the use of computers is integral to how people write in the workplace and the types of documents they produce
• To advocate reader/user needs
• To create contexts for effective collaboration
• To teach visual and verbal argumentation
• To teach research practices
• To teach students to follow and adjust conventions of business writing

Our class time will consist of several different activities: mini lectures, reading reflections, discussions & critiques, small group work, projects, and hands-on workshops.

Texts

Required:

• Kolin, Philip C. Successful Writing at Work. 8th Edition. ISBN: 0618593705
• ERes readings http://reserves.gsu.edu/eres/  

Materials

You must have the following materials for this class:

• two 3.5” high-density disks, CD-RW’s, USB drive, or other portable computer storage devices that will work in the lab formatted for IBM-compatible computers
• an e-mail account for communication
• access to a web browser & your student h: drive
• A copy of Adobe Reader to read the ERes readings, which you can download for free from: http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html

Grading

Grading will be broken down into the typical A, B, C, D, F range with pluses and minuses. The following is a general description of expectations for each grade:

A: Professional quality work (considered exemplary in a real-word setting). Content and design are appropriate for the audience, purpose, and context. May contain only a minor flaw.

B: Professional quality work (considered adequate in a real-world setting). Your project is of high quality in most of the major areas. Content and design are appropriate for the audience, purpose, and context. May contain a few minor errors.

C: Marginal professional quality (your supervisor would likely ask you to redo parts of it). Content and design consider audience, purpose, and context, but need adjustments to be clear, appropriate, well-developed. Contains a single major deficiency or many minor errors.

D: Not of professional quality and would need major revisions to become of professional quality. Content and design barely consider audience, purpose, and context. Contains some major deficiencies and/or many minor errors.

F: Unacceptable quality that ignores the standards of professional quality. Content and design lack consideration of audience, purpose, and context. Contains many major deficiencies.

The new Plus/Minus Grading system will be employed in this class. If you have not already done so, I suggest you review the explanation GSU gives of the new system: http://chhsweb.gsu.edu/docs/PlusMinusGradingOption.pdf.

Work will be due in various forms such as email, web, and paper. Work that is not submitted in the correct form will receive deductions.

Attendance & Tardiness

You are expected to arrive on time, stay for the duration of class, and be ready to work when class begins. You will earn participation points for your attendance: 5 points for being present and on time, 2-4 points for being present but late or leaving early, and 0 points for being absent. I take attendance by passing around a sign-in sheet. It is your responsibility to make sure you sign the sheet, even if late. If you do not sign the sign-in sheet you will not be counted present. We will often work on assignments in class that cannot be made up if you miss the class. Repeated lateness or absences will negatively impact your ability to complete these assignments and thus your grade. There is no substitute for your presence in class, thus your presence for every class meeting is desired and required. If you have excessive absences your grade will be impacted. Missing 4 classes will result in a letter grade deduction from your participation grade and any additional absences will result in letter grade deductions from your final class grade or an “F” in the class (at instructor's discretion). You are responsible for all material you may have missed while you were absent. 

Make sure you are on time because we will often start class with a reflection or quiz and missing this assignment will result in a zero for that participation grade.

Assignments & Policies

Assignments
All assignments will be posted in detail online. Unless noted otherwise, all assignments are due at the start of class. All work is assumed to be your original work, created in response to assignments for this class (unless otherwise noted), using your own designs, layouts, and content, except were correctly referenced. If you have an applicable project you created for another class and would like to use here you must first receive my permission to do so. All work must be submitted in the correct form and it will not be accepted otherwise. If you are unable to attend class or have another issue getting the completed assignment in to me on time you may turn in work due on paper via email to met deadline, but must hand in a paper copy of the emailed assignment at the start of the next class. Single space all papers unless otherwise noted. You are responsible for keeping copies of all assignments including assignments returned to you with grades, the sent emails with any emailed work attached, and a clean electronic version of each assignment until the final class grades are posted.

Participation Grade
The participation grade will be based on attendance (see the “Attendance and Tardiness” section), reading reflections & mini-quizzes, homework, participation in the class forum, and in-class activities. The assignments will be graded on a 0-5 scale:

• 5: Excellent work, goes above and beyond the assignment
• 4: Good work, strongly responds to the assignment
• 3: Fair work, responds to the assignment but could be stronger
• 2: Barely adequate work, neglects important aspects of the assignment
• 1: Poor work, barely responds to the assignment
• 0: Not done or does not respond to the assignment at all

Your participation in the class forum, beyond responding to assignments (such as the reading reflections), will also result in participation points. Any questions you ask or answer will count towards your participation, as will your participation in discussions on the forum.

Your participation grade will be determined by adding up your earned participation points and then divided into the total number of points available. For example: if you earned 182 points and there were 200 points available you would receive a 91 or an A for your participation grade. 

If necessary (if people are not doing the reading) I may add longer (and harder) quizzes which will be graded on a 0-100 scale and will be added to the participation grade separately.

Deadlines

I will not accept late work, including assignments missed due to absences. Projects are due at the beginning of class and in-class assignments by the end of class. Projects turned in more than 15 minutes after the time they are due will not be accepted without a “Get Out of Jail Free” card (with the exception of the reading responses, which are due by the time stated and cannot be turned in late at all, even with a card). You are each given one “Get Out of Jail Free” card, which you may use to turn a project or assignment in late or to redo an assignment or project. Should you use your card, you must coordinate with me a new deadline for your project, assignment, or redo.

• To turn an assignment in late: the card must be filled out appropriately (with the new agreed upon deadline) and turned in on the day the project was originally due.
• To redo an assignment: fill out the card (make sure you check the redo box) with the deadline we agree upon and submit the card, original project with my comments and grade, and the redo on the agreed upon deadline.

For some assignments I may not allow the use of the cards, so please check with me first. It is your responsibility to make sure I receive the late assignment by the correct time, even if it is a weekend. Use this leniency well—it is what you must use if you are ill or gone for any reason whatsoever. If your group hands in a project late, all of you must submit a card. You may not buy, sell, create, or trade cards. I keep track of card use. If you do not use your card you may hand it in at the end for participation points. Any work turned in with a “Get Out of Jail Free” card gets put at the bottom of the grading pile and be returned at my convenience. Work cannot be turned in using a “Get Out of Jail Free” card after the second to last class (October 6, 2008) unless special permission is received by that day.

Plagiarism & Copyright

Plagiarism is defined by the school as:
[P]resenting another person's work as one's own. Plagiarism includes any paraphrasing or summarizing of the works of another person without acknowledgment, including the submitting of another student's work as one's own. Plagiarism frequently involves a failure to acknowledge in the text, notes, or footnotes the quotation of paragraphs, sentences, or even a few phrases written or spoken by someone else. The submission of research or completed papers or projects prepared by someone else is plagiarism, as is the unacknowledged use of research sources gathered by someone else when that use is specifically forbidden by the faculty member [This is specifically forbidden by me]. Failure to indicate the extent and nature of one's reliance on other sources is also a form of plagiarism. (http://www2.gsu.edu/%7Ewwwdos/codeofconduct_conpol.html#2)

In other words, if you did not come up with the information or material completely on your own before doing any research, give credit to your outside sources and follow copyright & fair use policies. This policy includes the use of visuals (like photos or other images) and templates from the web. Don't Plagiarize. Within the class there are trust issues. I, as the instructor, trust you to hand in your own original work. You, as the student, trust me to grade fairly and appropriately. Plagiarism breaks this trust. It also breaks national laws and school policies.  At best you, and if applicable your team members, will fail the assignment and possibly the class. At worst you could be kicked out of school. To repeat: Absolutely anything in your work that is not created by you must be cited and must follow copyright & fair use policies. By anything I mean anything: any text, any images, anything. In the past students have had issues using images (such as jpg and gif files), logos, photos, sections of text, and templates, and they have received appropriately severe penalties. If you have any questions on how to properly cite material and how to use material according to copyright polices, please let me know and I’ll be happy to help.  To repeat: it is acceptable in this course to use material that you did not create, but it must be cited correctly or you are guilty of plagiarism.

Course Policies

Cell Phones, Computers, et al.: Please turn off and put away any cell phones, pagers, text messaging devices, or other possibly distracting gadgets during class time, including newspapers and crossword puzzles and instant messaging programs. In addition, the class will be held in a computer classroom but the computers are for class-based use only. Do not use the computers during lectures, discussion or other activities where I have not said you may use the computer. Breaking this policy may result in deductions in your participation grade.

Questions & Availability: I am happy to answer your questions and discuss class related issues during free time in class, during my office hours, by appointment in my office, over Internet chats, or via email. However, I ask that you post any general class questions to the class forum. By general questions, I mean any questions you think your peers could answer, or are questions you think your peers might also want answers to. Send more private questions to me via email or chat, or ask them during my office hours. Please do not ask me complicated questions about grades, attendance, or other matters before class starts or during class activities, instead save these questions for a time when we both can focus on the issue, such as my office hours. I encourage you to make good use of my office hours.  I enjoy spending time talking with students and often have candy available for visitors.  If the office hours conflict with your own schedule, please e-mail me to arrange an appointment. 

Accommodations for Students with Special Needs: Students who need accommodations are asked to arrange a meeting during office hours or at another mutually convenient time during the first two weeks of class (for minimester classes I recommend 1 week). Bring a copy of your Student Accommodation Form to the meeting. If you do not have an Accommodation Form but need accommodations, make an appointment with the Office of Disability Services (Suite 230, New Student Center, 651-9044) to arrange for accommodations.

New GSU Withdraw Policy: Starting in the fall semester of 2006, all undergraduate students are allowed to withdraw with a grade of W a maximum of six times. If they exceed their limit of six, they will receive a grade of WF. All withdrawals before the Fall Semester 2006 will not count against them. The full policy on W is available at http://www.gsu.edu/es/20425.html and there is a link for more information.

Writing Studio: You have access to tutors, books and other resources in the Writing Studio, which is located on the 9th floor of General Classroom Building. Visit www.writingstudio.gsu.edu for more information or to make an appointment.

Portfolio

Attention all English Majors: As part of your graduation requirement, you will be asked to submit, during your senior year, a portfolio of your work as an English major. You should collect several assignments each term to prepare your portfolio. To find the specific requirements for your concentration, contact the main office of the Department of English or consult information on the English department home page. Please feel free to ask any of your instructors or your advisor for advice about your portfolio. I will be happy to help you choose which projects to include from this class.