ENG 103-01: Business and Professional Writing

Spring 2017 online course

Dr. Rachel Bowman-Abdi, instructor

~ online office hours Tuesday afternoons from 1:00-4:00

Introduction and Course Description:

Whatever line of work you choose to pursue after college, good writing skills will serve you well. Clear communication of instructions, information, and requests is essential for business to function; in addition, good writing will help you present yourself as polished and competent. In this course we will focus on the written skills needed for workplace success, emphasizing process strategies for clear, concise, and accurate communication that can be applied in a wide variety of professional and business settings. We will also develop skills in producing specific types of professional documents, analyzing the writing of others, and collaborating on written assignments.

Student Learning Outcomes:

This course satisfies three of the six hours of the Reasoning and Discourse (GRD) requirement at UNCG, which asserts that students “gain skills in intellectual discourse, including constructing cogent arguments, locating, synthesizing and analyzing documents, and writing and speaking clearly, coherently, and effectively” (

In addition, English 103 is designed to meet Learning Goal #1 (LG1) in the UNCG General Education Program. This is the ability to “think critically, communicate effectively, and develop appropriate fundamental skills in quantitative and information literacies” (

General Education Writing Intensive Student Learning Outcome

Because this course carries a Writing Intenstive (WI) marker, the following Student Learning Outcome also applies: “Students will be able to write in genres appropriate to the discipline(s) of the primary subject matter of the course” (http://utlc.uncg.edu/genedu/proposals/guidelines-for-a-writing-intensive-course).

Required Text:

Oliu, Walter E., Charles T. Brusaw, and Gerald J. Alred. Writing That Works: Communicating Effectively on the Job. 12th ed., Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2016.

Note: You must obtain the 12th edition of this work, whether in print or as an ebook. The premium resources connected with this book at the Bedford website are not required. You may purchase or rent the book depending on your finances. I know textbook costs can be quite high, but this book contains many useful examples and references you may wish to revisit when you find yourself on the job, so do consider actually purchasing the book.

Assignments:

Weekly Readings

Each week, you will be required to read 30-50 pages of material, mostly from your textbook Writing that Works (WTW). This material will introduce various valuable skills and concepts that will help you to write more effectively in the workplace.

Because “surface errors”—errors in grammar, usage, and spelling—can be very distracting for readers, we will also have a brief grammar unit each week, designed to help you avoid surface errors. Units will discuss, for example, comma splices and run-on sentences, apostrophe usage, commonly confused words, and so on. Most grammar units will include a brief video and a handout you can keep for future reference.

Weekly Writing Assignments

The best way to write better is to write a lot. Therefore, we will write regularly in this class, with weekly writing assignments due every Friday at midnight Eastern Standard time (EST). These assignments will coordinate with the weekly readings and will often also build toward larger assignments. For example, one week during your group proposal project, you will write an informal progress report about how the group project is proceeding. The weekly writing assignments will give you practice with a wide variety of genres required in workplace writing, from correspondence to proposals.

These weekly assignments are low-stakes writing, and they will be graded on a pass/fail basis (Canvas uses the language “complete” and “incomplete”), with pass calculated as 100% and fail as 0%.

Though the grading is pass/fail for these assignments, I will provide specific, tailored feedback on your writing—including rhetorical choices and surface issues such as grammar and usage—each week through Canvas’s comment system.

The average of your weekly writing assignments will be worth 15% of your grade. As an attendance policy (see full policy below), I will drop your lowest weekly writing score before calculating your final grade with the exception of peer review. Because peer review affects others as well as yourself, the peer review weekly writing assignment cannot be dropped.

Weekly Quizzes

These quizzes will check your participation in the course and comprehension of the materials each week. Some of the questions will simply assess whether or not you have done the week’s reading. Others will require you to put into practice the principles you have learned, both regarding specific skills from WTW and grammar and usage skills from that week’s unit.

These quizzes will be graded using pure percentages (if you get 4/5 questions correct, your grade will be 80%). The average of your weekly quizzes will be worth 15% of your final grade. As an attendance policy (see full policy below), I will drop your lowest quiz score before calculating your final grade.

Business Correspondence Portfolio Assignment

Business correspondence is one of the most regularly used genres of workplace writing. For this assignment, you will write five letters, emails, or memos. I will offer a range of possible correspondence situations for you to choose from, and you will choose the five that most closely resemble the kinds of writing you see yourself doing in the future. You will turn in a complete draft of this portfolio (all five letters), I will give you feedback on the draft in our conference (see below), and you will then revise your portfolio for resubmission and grading. For more information, see the assignment sheet.

Drafts will be due February 17 at 11:59 pm EST, and your revisions will be due February 24 at 11:59 pm EST. This assignment will be graded on a 100-point scale and will be worth 20% of your final grade.

Conferences

Each student will have a video or audio conference with me to discuss your writing in the course. This is a time for you to ask whatever questions you may have as well as for me to give you more fluid, tailored feedback on your writing. Specifically, we will discuss ways to revise your draft of the Business Correspondence Portfolio assignment.

Conferences will take place from February 20 to February 22 (sign-up TBA). The conferences will be graded on a pass/fail basis, with pass calculated as 100% and fail as 0%. If you have submitted a complete draft of your correspondence assignment, show up on time, and participate fully, you will pass. The conference is worth 10% of your final grade.

Group Proposal Project

In this major assignment, you will work together in groups to craft a formal proposal for what this course’s final project should be. Together with your groupmates, you will decide what purpose the project should serve, research effective learning tools and real-world applications, and propose an end-of-semester assignment that will be worth 20% of your final grade. I will review each group’s proposal and choose one to implement; that assignment will then be the final project required of the whole class. (I reserve the right to make changes if necessary.) More information can be found on the group proposal assignment sheet.

This assignment will be graded on a 100-point scale and will be worth 20% of your final grade. It will be due Thursday, April 13 at 11:59 pm EST.

Final Project

This project will be determined by the results of the above proposal process.

The final project will be graded on a 100-point scale and will be worth 20% of your final grade. It will be due Friday May 5, 11:59 pm EST.

Grading:

Your final grade will be determined using the following percentages:

15% - an average of your weekly writing assignment grades

(remember that I will drop your lowest score)

15% - an average of your quiz grades

(remember that I will drop your lowest score)

20% - your grade on the business correspondence portfolio

10% - your grade on the conference

20% - your grade on the group proposal

20% - your grade on the final project

Grade scale:

A+ 100%

to 97.5%

A < 97.5%

to 91.5%

A- < 91.5%

to 89.5%

B+ < 89.5%

to 87.5%

B < 87.5%

to 81.5%

B- < 81.5%

to 79.5%

C+ < 79.5%

to 77.5%

C < 77.5%

to 71.5%

C- < 71.5%

to 69.5%

D+ < 69.5%

to 67.5%

D < 67.5%

to 61.5%

D- < 61.5%

to 59.5%

< 59.5%

to 0%

< 60

Your grades can always be viewed on Canvas. Please do not ask me what your grade is or is likely to be. You’re welcome to do the math yourself. Here’s how:

find the average of your weekly writing assignment grades (remember that I will drop the lowest grade) then multiply by .15 (since the weekly writing assignments are worth 15% of your grade)
find the average of your reading quiz grades (I will drop the lowest quiz grade) and multiply by .15
multiply your conference grade by .1
multiply your business correspondence portfolio grade by .2
multiply your group proposal grade by .2
multiply your final project grade by .2
add all these numbers together—the total will be your grade

You can also use Canvas’s “What If?” feature to figure what your grade is likely to be. Search the Help guides for information about how to use it.

Policies:

Attendance:

The department’s standard attendance policy is in italics below, with my adaptation for this online course following:

Students in MWF classes are allowed a maximum of three absences without a grade penalty (to be defined by the individual instructor); students in TR classes are allowed two absences without such penalty. Students who miss six classes on a MWF schedule, or four classes on a TR schedule, will fail the course. This attendance policy does not differentiate between "excused" and "unexcused" absences; thus, it is the student's responsibility to plan for absences within the policy concerning program fieldtrips, athletic events, work-related absences, advising sessions, minor illnesses, family and/or friend events, etc. For this English course, the College Writing Program’s attendance policy supersedes any other.

The standard policy allows one week’s worth of absence without penalty. Therefore, in this online course, I will drop your lowest weekly quiz grade and your lowest weekly writing assignment grade as a way to account for one week’s absence from the course (the two dropped grades need not be from the same week). As in the official policy, there is no distinction between missing work for “excused” or “unexcused” reasons.

Students are by state law allowed two excused absences due to religious holidays. These absences do not count toward the total maximums allowed above. If a student plans to miss class due to a religious holiday, he or she must notify the instructor in writing at least 48 hours prior to the absence.

If you need to miss work for religious reasons, let me know before the work is due.

If you have extenuating circumstances such as a death in the family, chronic illness/injury requiring prolonged medical treatment, prolonged psychological issues, etc., you should make me aware of these as soon as possible and keep me informed until you are able to return to class. You are also encouraged to contact the Dean of Students Office (http://sa.uncg.edu/dean/), which can review documentation and notify multiple instructors on your behalf, especially if personal reasons prevent you from properly doing so yourself. You should be aware, however, that assistance from this Office does not change the outcome of the instructor’s decision in any particular class. The Dean of Students office is located on the second floor of the Elliott University Center (EUC).

Late work:

I do not accept late quizzes or weekly writing assignments. I will not reschedule conferences except in case of dire need.

For the major assignments, I will deduct ten points for each twenty-four-hour day the work is late. (For example, if a paper is due on Friday at 11:59 pm, turning it in any time between 11:59 pm Friday and 11:59 pm on Saturday would result in a 10-point deduction. Turning it in between 11:59 pm on Saturday and 11:59 pm on Sunday would result in a 20-point deduction. And so on.)

If your lateness prevents peer reviews, I will reduce your own grade for the assignment being discussed. (And of course you will not have the benefit of comments to improve your work.)

Academic integrity:

“Academic integrity is founded upon and encompasses the following five values: honesty, trust, fairness, respect, and responsibility. Violations include, for example, cheating, plagiarism, misuse of academic resources, falsification, and facilitating academic dishonesty. If knowledge is to be gained and properly evaluated, it must be pursued under conditions free from dishonesty. Deceit and misrepresentations are incompatible with the fundamental activity of this academic institution and shall not be tolerated” (from UNCG’s Academic Integrity Policy). To ensure that you understand the university’s policy on academic integrity, review the guidelines and list of violations at http://academicintegrity.uncg.edu. I expect you to abide by the Academic Integrity Policy. Incidents of cheating and plagiarism are reported to the Dean of Students and sanctions are aligned with the policies at http://sa.uncg.edu/dean/academic-integrity/violation/plagiarism/

In addition, you must always properly document any use of another’s words, ideas, images, or research both in the text and in a Works Cited/Bibliography. Failure to properly document is a form of plagiarism and may earn a zero on an assignment.

If you violate UNCG’s academic integrity policy, you will be required to attend a Faculty-Student Conference with me, per UNCG’s protocol. Violations will incur failing grades for the assignment or for the course, depending on the severity of the violation and the weight of the assignment within the final grade. Second-time violations will automatically result in failure of the course.

Extra credit:

You will have the opportunity to earn five points of extra credit on each of your three main assignments by visiting a multiliteracy center, for a total of fifteen points during the semester. For the two papers, you should visit the Writing Center; for the website, you may visit the Writing Center, the Digital ACT Studio or the Speaking Center as applicable.

I do not offer any other extra credit, so please do not email me at the end of the semester asking for extra opportunities.

Technology:

This is an online class. You are responsible for maintaining a reliable internet connection and all other necessary technology, just as you would be responsible for transportation to and from a face-to-face class. “My internet quit” is not a valid excuse for missing an assignment, so please leave plenty of time for problems and have a backup plan in case your regular internet connection fails (like a campus computer or a public library). If you have a truly unavoidable emergency, contact me as soon as possible.

Behavior and Respect:

Respect for others and their ideas is expected in this course. Therefore, disruptive and disrespectful behavior will not be tolerated, and action to deter it will be taken. The UNCG Disruptive Behavior Policy describes words and deeds as follows:

“Disruptive is behavior which the UNCG regards as speech or action which 1) is disrespectful, offensive, and/or threatening, 2) impedes or interferes with the learning activities of other students, 3) impedes the delivery of university services, and/or 4) has a negative impact in any learning environment. Disruptive behavior includes physically, verbally or psychologically harassing, threatening, or acting abusively toward an instructor, staff member, or toward other students in any activity authorized by the University. Disruptive behavior also includes any other behavior covered by the Student Conduct Code.”

For the entire policy, go to http://sa.uncg.edu/handbook/wp-content/uploads/disruptive_policy.pdf

Contacting me:

The best way to contact me is by email (). I will try to respond promptly—my goal is to respond within 24 hours, weekends excluded. Be aware that emails sent the night before an assignment is due may not be answered before the due date, so please plan accordingly. If I haven’t responded to an email within 48 hours, please resend the email.

Your email rhetoric matters. When you write me an email, please use professional courtesy and respect. Include a greeting (such as “Dear Dr. Bowman-Abdi”) and closing salutation (such as, “Thanks— Sam”), write in complete sentences, and most importantly, give me enough information to actually answer your question. I have received emails that consist of single sentences or even phrases to which I simply can’t respond. In order to achieve the best results, before you send your email, read over it while imagining that you are the professor who must answer it.

If you have a question that you think others may benefit from hearing answered—for example, about an assignment, or about my expectations of you—please post it in the question forum on Canvas.