Office Hours and Contact Information

Policies & Procedures

Office Hours and Contact Information

Required Textbook

On Writing Well, Thirtieth Anniversary Edition. William Zinsser. 978-0-0-6089154-1

If you buy an earlier edition, please be sure it has the sections on business writing.

Course Objectives:Thinking, problem solving, writing, editing, persuading.

Think of this course as persuasive writing in the business setting.

Course Mantra:“Clear thinking becomes clear writing: one can’t exist without the other.” –William Zinsser, On Writing Well

How Online ENGL 394 Works

Instruction will take place completely online, asynchronously, via links to:

Voicethreads to present instruction on assignment sheets and other content
TedEd customized presentations
Student comments on voicethreads and reading
Reading student samples of assignments
Reading in textbook and other sources

Schedule

Our class week will run from Monday to Sunday, due to UMD’s Fall academic calendar.

Course materials and assignments are in Canvas Modules, organized by week.

All deadlines can be viewed by clicking on your course calendar. You can see them by the month in Agenda mode (example here).

Follow the sequence of assignments from the Weekly Module to learn the material in the correct order.

Assignments--At least two, and as many as five, per week:

Will be due on Canvas, on Sunday of the week, at 11:59 pm. (Exception: peer edits). More info on Peer Edit below.
Major assignments are spaced roughly two weeks apart throughout the semester

Peer Edit--conducted online, with different partners each assignment:

Submit draft on Thurs. 11:59 pm; partner assigned automatically by Canvas at 12:05 am. Friday; peer edit to be completed by Friday. 11:59 pm.

Major assignment deadlines:

Sunday nights at 11:59 pm. This allows two full days to revise work following peer edits.

Comments and grades:

My rubrics, comments, and grades are embedded in your submissions on Canvas.
Grades post automatically to Canvas.

Conferences:

Will take place in Canvas conference feature.

Former 394 Online Students describe the difference between online and in person courses

here

Why This Course is Different from Other Writing Courses

Nearly all writing in the workplace has persuasion as the ultimate goal. You may be trying to persuade an employer to hire you, or trying to persuade a colleague to follow your plan. Either way, writing persuasively requires writers to know their readers, do high quality research, understand and address all arguments, and present a high level of craftsmanship.

Up to now, the reader, or audience for your writing at UMD has probably been your professors, and you’re probably quite familiar with what they need in order to find your work persuasive. However, in this course, you will learn to write for a different audience—your boss or colleagues in a professional workplace. You will learn to discover and provide what that audience needs to find your writing persuasive, and you will likely be pleasantly surprised by some of the differences between academic and professional writing.

Skills You Will Build in This Course

Drafting, revising and editing, copyediting and proofreading: the craftsmanship of writing
Writing to get a job, keep a job, and advance in a job
Understanding the needs of readers and audiences outside of academia
Practicing the techniques of Rogerian argumentation
Refining ideas and thinking critically
Strengthening the expression of your original ideas
Developing customer service communication skills and ethics
Researching professional, trade, scholarly and other sources, and documenting those sources according to natural language citation and APA citation
Experiencing several business writing genres
Composing effective arguments and counterarguments
Applying document design elements and principles
Peer editing based on content of the writing

What You Will Write

Weekly exercises and voicethread comments will demonstrate your growing knowledge of our subject and receive varied numbers of points. The major graded writing assignments will begin with your resume and cover letter. Following this, the primary work of this semester will be an in-depth project. This will be developed over the course of the semester by writing four groundwork assignments. In these, you will:

develop your topic
identify and understand the needs of your audience
research and support your ideas
analyze your topic thoroughly and develop counterarguments
Finally, at semester's end, you will write a formal business report to present your work.

The Subject of Your Semester Project

To develop your project idea, I want you to look towards the spheres of influence in your real life. Each of you belongs to some type of organization, whether a sorority, a place of employment, a team, or a club. Chances are very good that you have observed a problem that you think you could solve, or you have a great idea that you would like to implement. The solution to this problem or the introduction of this idea will become your topic for the semester’s writing and research work. Although the idea does not have to be presented to the decision makers in your organization, we will act as if it will be presented, to give the project the proper element of seriousness.

Your project idea is an opportunity to do original work addressing something you care about. We will talk at length about how to choose your project topic. Trust me: I have never met a student who couldn’t develop a suitable topic with my assistance.

Assignment Sequence

The first major assignment is to:

write a cover letter for a real job posting edit and improve your current resume

Next, you will have four groundwork assignments that will work through the stages of your project’s development:

a Preliminary Topic Memo
a Final Topic Memo
a Progress Report Newsletter
an Analysis Memo

A final report will:

present your complete analysis and your best persuasive writing
discuss and document the research that supports your findings
propose your solutions and recommendations

Oral presentation via Voicethread: A 5-minute presentation of your project supported by a Powerpoint or other visuals

The Professional Writing Program (PWP) requires six graded assignments, resulting in roughly 25 pages of original writing per semester. We will easily reach that amount. This course will require weekly writing, whether in exercises, voicethread comments, or peer edit comments. Online courses are conducted in writing, rather than sitting passively in a lecture. So be prepared to write a lot.

Attendance and Participation

Attendance in this online course is only a problem if you miss a deadline or don’t do your work. To receive credit for late work or to get an extension, you must have a university sanctioned excused absence with the correct documentation. If you have a serious problem that affects your participation, please contact me so that we can discuss it. Be proactive--it’s always easier than struggling to catch up.

From the University Policy:

“Events that justify an excused absence include:

Religious observances; Mandatory military obligation; Illness of the student or illness of an immediate family member; Participation in university activities at the request of university authorities; Compelling circumstances beyond the student's control (e.g., death in the family, required court appearance); Absences stemming from work duties other than military obligation (e.g., unexpected changes in shift assignments) and traffic/transit problems do not typically qualify for excused absence.

II. Notification and Documentation: To receive academic accommodation for an excused absence:

1. The student must notify the instructor in a timely manner. The notification should be provided either prior to the absence or as soon afterwards as possible. In the case of religious observances, athletic events, and planned absences known at the beginning of the semester, the student must inform the instructor during the schedule adjustment period. All other absences must be reported as soon as is practical.

2. The student must provide appropriate documentation of the absence. The documentation must be provided in writing to the instructor by the means specified in the syllabus.

a. For medically necessitated absences: Students may, one time per course per semester, provide a self-signed excuse as documentation of an absence from a single class (e.g., lecture, recitation, or laboratory session) that does not coincide with a major assessment or assignment due date. For all other medically necessitated absences, students must provide documentation from a physician or the University Health Center, upon request of the course instructor.

b. For all other absences students must provide verifiable documentation upon request (e.g., religious calendar, court summons, death announcement, etc.).

3. Providing false information to University officials is prohibited under Part 9(h) of the Code of Student Conduct (V-1.00(B) University of Maryland Code of Student Conduct) and may result in disciplinary action.

Weekly Deadlines

Your work is due on the day of the deadline (usually Sunday. night) by 11:59 pm, uploaded on Canvas. Please try to submit a few minutes early because the assignment space closes promptly, so you can’t submit at 12:01 am without my involvement. Late work will be downgraded one letter per class day or with a reduction of points. The Final Report is comparable to a final exam. If it is late, even for ten minutes, it will be downgraded by one letter.

Sometimes Canvas seems to “lose” student work. Please screenshot the “assignment accepted” notification in Canvas, and keep it. Without this receipt, neither you nor I will be able to tell if something was indeed submitted on time.

Video Conference: Once per Semester

We schedule one mandatory video conference around week five, to discuss your project topic. You may not cancel your scheduled time unless you have a university-approved excused absence. There is no wiggle room in the schedule for oversleeping or electronic drama.

Peer Edit: Each Major Assignment

Although peer edit is often dreaded, I teach students how to edit each other effectively. Participation in peer review is mandatory and points are assigned for quality of work.

Email Questions and Three Before Me Board

I welcome questions that seek a deeper understanding of our subject. However, I receive dozens of emails asking me to repeat basic information, and to answer how-to questions that can be found in Canvas guides or by re-reading the carefully written assignment sheets before you hit “send.” Note: Emails that alert me to technical problems are helpful.

To address this, we have Three Before Me in the discussion board space. That’s the place to post basic questions, like, “when is this due?” or “how do I see the rubric?” I monitor the board and will step in to respond if needed.

Please understand that this is not a blanket refusal to answer questions. Substantive, thoughtful questions help all of us. I will always give my best thought and effort to these questions.

Grading and Grade Scale

Learning to write skillfully is a practice, like learning to play a sport or an instrument. In my course, grading is essentially like coaching—I will give you the feedback you need to improve and refine your performance. I comment extensively.

Each assignment has a written assignment sheet. For grading, I use a rubric drawn exactly from the assignment sheet criteria, and also on writing craftsmanship criteria. Your grade will be calculated on how well you met the assignment criteria, your writing craftsmanship, and whether you followed directions. Papers will always be graded before the next assignment is due.

Course Rewrite Policy

You may be allowed or encouraged to rewrite no more than two assignments (grade must be B+ or lower). Simple copyediting and proofreading changes will not be considered for rewrites. Instead, substantive changes in content, research, voice and tone, or audience awareness are fair game. I will average the grades of the first version and the rewrite. Rewrites will be due within two weeks of the date the assignment is returned to you. This deadline is strictly enforced. The purpose of rewrites is to learn the skill and apply it to the next assignment; therefore, rewrites may not be used during Finals Week to improve points. The Final Report can not be rewritten.

Academic Integrity

If you plagiarize, fabricate, or cheat, I am required to refer you to the Honor Council for appropriate action. In the online environment, it is very easy to check for plagiarism, whether accidental, inadvertent, deliberate, or otherwise. Any form is unacceptable. We will study plagiarism, and learn how to prevent accidental plagiarism. The University requires all students to show their commitment to the Honor Code by writing this pledge on all major assignments:

“I pledge on my honor that I have not given or received any unauthorized assistance on this assignment/examination.”

Disability Accommodations

Students with disabilities must provide documentation of the appropriate accommodations from Student Support Services within the first two weeks of the semester.

Course Evaluation

CourseEval is available for you to assess your experience in the course.

Self-Evaluation of Goals and Progress

We have 2-3 brief self-evaluation exercises to help you reflect on your writing challenges, your progress, and your future application of your newly strengthened skills.

Other University Policies

Academic accommodations for students who experience sexual misconduct

Diversity