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English 3010C: Writing for Business
CRN 20781 Dr. Lee Campbell West Hall 216 1. DESCRIPTION: Prerequisites: ENGL 1102 or 1102H. An advanced writing course focusing on the
elements of effective writing, particularly as they apply to business and the
professions. 2. OUTCOMES: Students who successfully complete Writing for Business will i. demonstrate the ability to produce a variety of written business communication, including letters, memos, fact sheets, instructions, and proposals ii. develop skills in five components of successful business writing: a. style b. chunking (organization and design) of information c. audience appeal d. message e. purpose iii. learn to manage all stages of the composing process iv. improve skills with word processing v. increase their awareness of the importance of skillful and ethical communication in their lives at work 3. ASSIGNMENTS: In order to produce the above outcomes, class members will complete three kinds of assignments, all to be posted to BlazeView discussion boards: (a) four memos requesting the instructor’s permission to write on chosen topics, (b) eight rough drafts of assignments, and (c) eight final drafts of business writing documents. The following list presents the twelve assignments for topic memos and final drafts.
Members will write topic memos to gain the instructor’s permission to write on topics they have chosen and to do some preliminary thinking about their documents. Members who do the topic memos will have a much better chance of doing well on their final drafts, as the instructor will comment on their ideas. Similarly, instructor comments on rough drafts will help members to produce more successful finished documents: do not ignore instructor comments on rough drafts. 4. TEXT AND MATERIALS: The required text is an advanced introduction to business writing: Successful Writing at Work (9th ed.), by Kolin. In addition, class members will need good word processing abilities; the requisite knowledge and technology to access and navigate BlazeView (don’t ask the instructor to help with technology issues: contact IT’s help desk); depending on their skills, a grammar handbook and/or dictionary; and (optionally) an email account to communicate with the instructor outside of BlazeView. Class members may send the instructor mail via BlazeView or Live@VState at <jlcampbe@valdosta.edu>. 5. LATE WORK: In a writing-intensive
course, there should be, in short, no late work. Rough drafts and topic memos not submitted
on time will not be given credit. (If the instructor has some extra time,
he might comment on them—but for no
credit.) Final drafts not submitted on
time will receive a two-point penalty, which is a one-grade deduction. The course is a skills-focused writing
class, so it requires consistent work—not cramming. The schedule is tight, requiring of the
instructor a great deal of commenting and scoring. He will simply not be able to help with
late work. If members find themselves getting behind due to technical difficulties, time constraints, less than adequate writing skills, or personal issues, he strongly encourages them to drop before midterm, March 3. 6. GRADING: All final drafts of writing assignments will be given numerical grades that correspond roughly with letter grades. Each final draft will be scored analytically on five criteria, for which SCAMP is an acronym. In ascending order of importance, these five criteria are
Each of the eight final drafts of business writing documents is worth 10 points (two points for each criterion) for a total of 80 points. A rough draft is not just any response to an assignment. It is a bona fide attempt to meet an assignment. Rough drafts that represent a bona fide attempt will be commented on and given 1.5 points each for a total of twelve points. Rough drafts aren’t worth much in terms of points, but they are essential steps to completing successful final drafts. Topic memos written to the instructor to get his permission to proceed with a chosen subject will be commented on and given two points each for a total of eight points. Like rough drafts, topic memos may not be worth many points, but they must be completed so that members do the necessary planning for assignments and do not choose inappropriate topics. There are thus 100 points possible in the course. The following lists grade equivalents for numerical scores on the final drafts:
Final grades will be assigned according to the following scale:
All eight final drafts must be completed in
order for a class member to earn a C in the course: in other words, if a member
does not submit a final draft, a D is the highest grade s/he can
receive. Members should note that the
grading is not done on a percentage basis: do not divide a score by the total
possible points. It’s a GPA-like
system in which a certain number equals a certain grade. Final grades are determined by simply
totaling points earned, not by averaging or anything else: if a member wants
to know what his/her grade is at a given time, he/she must total up the
number of points earned and then estimate the number of points he/she is
likely to earn in the points remaining.
Members who want an A are shooting for
as close to 90 as they can; members who need at least a B must
accumulate 70 points. The instructor will use the
BlazeView grade book tool to score rough drafts, topic memos, and final
drafts. Students can access their
scores by clicking on My Grades. 7. ATTENDANCE: Class
members must not miss once-a-week meetings.
In general, the instructor does not consider excuses, but he does
provide members with a generous attendance policy: · 1-2 absences: no points deducted from final total · 3 absences: 2 points deducted from final total · 4 or more absences: 10 points deducted from final total (about one half of a letter grade). Students who miss four or more times have violated VSU’s limit of 20 percent of class meetings and risk failing the course because of their poor attendance. 8. ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: Class members are advised not to submit any work written by anyone other than themselves, especially work written for this instructor in past sections of Writing for Business taught by him! That constitutes plagiarism (and stupidity). Rough drafts, topic memos, and final drafts will be posted to public discussion boards. Members may, therefore, get an idea of how other people in the class are responding to assignments. It should go without saying that members must never copy words or ideas from their classmates’ postings in order to complete their own assignments. A member can certainly review the general content and format of documents posted on the discussion boards, but he/she must not copy specifics. Also, members must be careful not to take as good models documents that do not respond well to the assignment; check the instructor’s comments before deciding that a document is a good model. 9. OVERVIEW OF PROCEDURES: Here’s a quick review of how the course will work in class and on BlazeView: · Class meetings will be used for two purposes: (1) to introduce and clarify assignments by lecture and discussion and (2) to work on rough drafts by lecture, discussion, or small group work. · The instructor will create on the BlazeView homepage a place for instructor announcements and a discussion board for general questions, comments, and messages about the course. If members have a question or problem that isn’t personal, please post it to the general discussion board rather than mailing it to the instructor; other members may benefit from reading the instructor’s reply. Keep an eye on this board throughout the term. · Members will use discussion boards on BlazeView to post rough drafts and topic memos (by attachment). Attach documents in only Word or Rich Text Format with extensions .doc, .docx, or .rtf. Don’t use Works (.wps extension). Sometimes posting PDF files is a good idea if formatting of the document is crucial, as it sometimes is with fact sheets. You may also post questions or comments along with the attachment in the message text area. · When you attach a document to a message, be sure to close the document first before creating the attachment. If you don’t, you’re in danger of posting the document’s temporary file, which is unreadable. · The instructor will comment on rough drafts and topic memos by replying to members’ posts. Replies will be made on a first posted, first commented on basis and will be completed as quickly as is humanly possible. Obviously, members need to read the instructor’s replies in order to know how best to proceed with an assignment. Class meetings devoted to rough drafts will explicate these comments and prepare students to submit successful final drafts. · Members will also use discussion boards to post final drafts by attachment. The instructor will not reply to these, however. They’ll simply be graded; check My Grades for your scores. Questions about grading, correctness, grammar, punctuation, and so on can be asked in the general discussion board on the homepage. · Assignments 2, 3, 4, 5, 9, and 10 may be written individually or collaboratively in groups of up to three members. If members choose to do these assignments collaboratively, they should post only one rough draft, topic memo, or final draft and indicate in a message who worked on the assignment. 10. SCHEDULE AND READING ASSIGNMENTS: The following schedule and reading assignments are tentative; class members are expected to keep up with changes announced online. Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8 Week 10 Week 11 Week 12 Week 13 Week 14 Week 15 Finals week 11. ACCESS: Class members requiring course accommodations or modifications because of a documented disability should discuss this need with the instructor at the beginning of the semester. Class members who require assistance but who are not registered with the Special Services Program should contact the Access Office. |