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Communications 1123-001, Interpersonal Communication, Spring 2017

Professor: Dr. Holly Kruse

Office: Baird Hall 221D

Department of Communications

Rogers State University

1701 Will Rogers Blvd.

Claremore, OK 74017

http://hollykruse.com

Phone: 918-343-7879

Email:

Web: http://hollykruse.com/teaching.html

Office hours: Monday – Thursday: 2:30 p.m.–4:30 p.m.

Class meetings: Monday & Wednesday, 1:00–2:15 p.m. (section 001), BH 133

Texts

o  Beebe, S. A., Beebe, S.J., and Redmond, M.V. (2017). Interpersonal communication: Relating to others. 8th ed. Boston: Pearson. (BBR in course schedule below.)

o  Course website: http://hollykruse.com/InterpersonalComm.html

o  MyRSU/eLearning course site: https://my.rsu.edu

Course Description

Study of the theories and practices necessary to develop interpersonal communication skills in both personal and professional relationships, with emphasis on improving verbal and nonverbal techniques for developing and maintaining clear communication between two people.

Course Objectives and Student Outcomes

Every day we are involved in the processes of creating, maintaining, managing, and repairing our interactions and relationships. Although we often discuss these topics with our friends, these discussions rarely encompass the real complexity of interpersonal communication. In this class you will learn the complicated nature of interactions, and you will understand how we define ourselves through interpersonal communication, analyze how we use interpersonal communication to form impressions of others, and examine how interpersonal communication is employed in developing and ending relationships.

Assignments / Points Possible
Attendance/Participation / 25
Assignments / 25
Papers (two, 100 pts. each) / 200
Midterm Exam / 100
Final Exam / 150
500

This syllabus constitutes an agreement between student and professor. By remaining in this class, you are agreeing to abide by the rules described in the syllabus.

Phones, Laptops, Tablets and Other Devices: You must turn off and put away your cell phone and/or any other electronic devices during class. Using such devices in class will result in a deduction of participation points, and if you continually try to use these devices, I will ask you to leave the classroom. If you wish to take notes on a laptop computer, please ask me first for permission (and be prepared to be subject to in-class scrutiny). Any allowed laptops are for note-taking only. Internet use is not allowed. You will lose the privilege of laptop use. Note-taking, however, is highly recommended, and proven to improve grades. Violations of the electronic device use policy will result in a deduction in your participation grade.

Attendance, Class Participation and Assignments: The university is a social institutions, so it is crucial that you always treat your classmates and your professor with respect. Regular attendance and participation are required. Frequent absences and tardiness, and failure to participate in class discussions, will hurt your grade. If you miss class, it is your responsibility to get the assignments from me and lecture notes from a classmate. You will be allowed two unexcused absences: after that, unexcused absences will result in a point deduction from your grade, as will excessive tardiness. If you are going to miss class or have missed class, please email me to let me know what’s going on. If you arrive after attendance is taken, it is your responsibility to come to me after class and let me know that you are present: otherwise you will be counted absent. Also, only leave in the middle of class if there is a dire emergency. Do not leave the classroom to, for instance, talk on your phone. If you expect to need to leave class, please let me know before class starts.

There may be a number of assignments and possible quizzes during the semester. If you put reasonable effort into doing an assignment and turn it in on time, you will get credit for it. However, if you turn in an assignment into which was put very little effort or thought, or, of course, if you fail to turn in an assignment, you will not receive credit for the assignment. No assignments will be accepted unless you discuss the situation with me first, and even then acceptance is not guaranteed. Assignments will be considered late if they are not ready to be turned in at the beginning of the class period in the form required (either via e-campus drop box, email, or hard copy, as required for the assignment) on the day that they are due. You will be required to provide documentary evidence of any emergency situations that keep you from turning in work on time. In addition, some assignments may be in-class exercises, so you must attend regularly. If you are going to miss an exam or assignment because of a sanctioned school activity or another legitimate reason, you must take the exam or turn in the assignment in advance. Do not assume that your coach or someone else associated with your activity has provided me with a schedule of your activities. You need to provide me with one, and you must let me know in advance when you will miss class because of a university-sanctioned activity.

In the event that the university cancels classes, such as for severe weather, students will be expected to continue with readings as originally scheduled. Any assignments scheduled during those missed classes, such as an exam or paper, are due at the next class meeting unless other instructions are posted at the course website.

Assignments: There will be credit/no-credit assignments during the semester. If you put reasonable effort into doing an assignment and turn it in on time, you will get credit for it. However, if you turn in an assignment into which was put very little effort or thought, or, of course, if you fail to turn in an assignment, you will not receive credit for the assignment. No late assignments will be accepted unless you discuss the situation with me first, and even then acceptance is not guaranteed. Papers and assignments will be considered late if they are not ready to be turned in at the beginning of the class period on the day that they are due. You will be required to provide documentary evidence of any emergency situations that keep you from turning in work on time. In addition, some assignments will be in-class exercises and cannot be made up, so you must attend regularly. If students do not seem to be doing the required readings, then you may be subject to credit/no-credit pop quizzes.

Exams: There are two exams in this class: an in-class midterm exam and a final exam during the final exam period. All include multiple choice and short answer questions. I will upload study guides to the “Study Guides” folder on e-campus for each exam several days before you take the exam. If students have questions about the study guide, we will go over those near the end of class during the class period before the exam.

Papers: You will write two 5-page-long papers during the semester. In each paper you will explain an important concept from the course and apply that concept to a real-world example. The specific assignments are in the “Paper Assignments” folder on MyRSU. You will turn in your papers using e-campus. If your paper appears late in the drop box, and you haven’t discussed the situation causing the delay with me first, I will give your paper a zero. Also, your papers must be well written to receive good grades. I strongly suggest using the Writing Center as a resource.

Writing Center

The RSU English and Humanities' Writing Center is in Baird Hall, Room 206 with two satellite tutoring locations on the Pryor campus (room 103) and the Bartlesville campus (room 725). There, students may access free writing help with any college-level paper or outline at any point of time while they are students at RSU. The Writing Consultants are friendly and professional and can help students with any writing issue. Writing help is available over the phone or online for students who are working full-time or who have transportation issues. Call 918-343-7838 or email , and/or go to http://www.rsu.edu/writingcenter/.

School of Arts and Sciences Tutoring

There is also more general tutoring available through the School of Liberal Arts, located in Prep Hall 104. The advising and retention specialist is Bonnie Paul (PH 106A) at 918-343-7572 or . There's more information at http://www.rsu.edu/academics/schools-departments/school-arts-sciences/student-resources/

Grades

Letter grades will not be assigned to individual assignments; you will simply receive a point total. In general, you can assume that if you receive 90% or more of the total points on an assignment, you are in the "A" range; 80-89% would be the "B" range; 70-79% would be the "C" range; and 60-69% would be the "D" range. At the end of the semester I will total all the points and assign final course grades. In this class, grades will mean the following:

A = Clearly superior work, showing keen insight into the material and a firm grasp of concepts. "A" work is free of obvious writing, presentational and reasoning errors.

B = Above average, competent and clearly presented work, demonstrating a good understanding of material. "B" work is largely free of writing, presentational and reasoning errors.

C = Work that demonstrates some understanding of material, but may not be clearly written or presented, and/or may not directly complete all portions of the assignment. "C" work contains obvious writing and/or reasoning errors.

D = Work that fails to complete the assignment, demonstrates little grasp of material, is poorly executed, and contains many errors.

F= Poorly conceived and executed work that fails to follow the assignment and shows no understanding of material. "F" work contains many serious errors.

If you wish to contest a grade, you must first submit to me a written rationale at least one paragraph in length explaining the reasoning behind the contestation of your grade. Once I’ve read your rationale, we will meet in person to discuss your grade.

Keep track of the points you’ve earned on assignments yourself, and be prepared to add them up and then divide them by the total number of points available to date in class to determine your percentage of points at any point in time. There are problems with e-campus that make percentages on the main page for inaccurate.

Extra Credit

No extra credit points are available in this class. If you ask for extra credit work, I will tell you that we need to work together to maximize the many points available on the required assignments, rather than having you take time away from assigned course work to do other work.

Privacy Policy Regarding E-Campus & Email

The internet may change or challenge notions of what is private and what isn't. Although the course site is protected by a password, such tools are not perfect. The student is relatively protected by the password but no one can guarantee absolute privacy on-line.

o  Course software enables the instructor to know which students have logged in, where in the course site they have visited, and how long they have stayed. The technology support people have access to information posted at the site.

o  Course Security: In the event the student uses a public terminal (for example, at a hotel or library) the student needs to completely close the browser software when finished. This will prevent another person from accessing the course using the student's identification, doing mischief in the student's name, and violating the privacy of other students. The student is not to allow access to the course to those not registered in the course. Passwords should be guarded.

o  Students sometimes want to discuss their grade via email. Email is NOT secure or private. If an individual student requests his/her grade, the instructor cannot legally send to that student his/her grade through email without a legal signature from that student on a permission form.

o  Students are expected to represent their identities in a truthful manner. Falsifying your identity is grounds for disciplinary action of all parties involved.

Email Policy

You are required to access your RSU email and eLearning in this class. Please note that official “Student Email Policy,” states:

“Account Assignment: Each student will be assigned an official University email account upon initial enrollment. This account will remain active while the student is enrolled at Rogers State University. A University assigned student email account is one of the University’s official means of communication with Rogers State University students. Students are responsible for all information sent to them via their University assigned email account.

“Expectations regarding student email: Students are expected to check their email on a frequent and consistent basis in order to stay current with University-related communications. Students have the responsibility to recognize that certain communications may be time-critical. Email returned to the University with ‘mailbox full’ or untimely access of an email account are not acceptable excuses for missing official University communications via email.”

(From http://www.rsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/StudentEmailUsePolicy.pdf)

Technology Accessibility Statement

For this class, you will need access to an internet-connected computer in order to complete and upload assignments. Some course content may be accessible using a smartphone, but not all. RSU offers several computer labs on its Claremore campus, as well as one each at its Pryor and Bartlesville campuses. For more information on lab location and hours, see http://www.rsu.edu/academics/academic-resources/computer-labs/.