COM 228
Spring 2015
Instructor:Frank Powell
Office:408 Fell Hall
Office Phone:438-2942E-mail:
Office Hours:MWF Noon – 1:00 & Wed 2:00 – 3:00 And as Arranged
Required Texts:
Interviewing: Principles and Practices. 12th Edition (Stewart and Cash).
The Interviewing Guidebook. (DeVito).
General Policies:
1)Attendance: Regular attendance is expected. Valuable information presented during class discussion will be considered appropriate material for the construction of exams. This course will also include several in class activities, announced and unannounced quizzes, which may not be made up by absentees. “Excused absences” may be given as per University and instructor policies. Even when an absence is “Excused” there will be an alternate assignment (typically a 5 page written assignment) which must be completed to receive credit for the missed period. Class participation points will also be determined in part by attendance.
“Excused absences” may be given as per University and instructor policies.
University Bereavement policy
Students who experience the death of an immediate family member or relative as defined in the University Student Bereavement Policy will be excused from class for funeral leave, subsequent bereavement, and/or travel considerations.Students are responsible for providing appropriate documentation to the Dean of Students office and for contacting the instructor as soon as possible to make arrangements for completing missed work.More information is available in the Student Bereavement Policy at
2)Tardiness: Class will begin as scheduled. Any student arriving late should discuss this with the instructor immediately after class in order to insure participation credit for the period. Tardiness may result in missed opportunities, including participation points as well as quiz points.
3)Exams: The course will include three major exams. Exams will be constructed to evaluate your understanding and ability to apply the interviewing concepts and practices presented by texts, lectures, and class exercises/discussions.
4)Participation Activities: Reading assignments will be synthesized and presented in class discussions and activities. All students should complete readings as they are assigned in order to fully process the information as well as to contribute to the class discussion. Activities will focus on the material from assigned readings. Students missing class should make advance arrangements with the instructor, or obtain the information from a fellow student.
5)Assignment due dates: Late assignments will not be accepted. Exception will be made only when advance arrangements are made or acceptable documentation of extreme circumstance is received. Even when an assignment is “excused” for being late an alternative assignment will be required in order to receive credit. This includes interview presentations, so careful planning prior to interview presentation sign-up is highly recommended. If you do not make an interview presentation on your assigned day, you will be assessed a 20% penalty (20 points) on the presentation. If you do not attend others’ presentations, you will be assessed a 10% penalty (10 points) on your presentation. The excuse “the computer lost my project” is unacceptable. Save often and make backup copies of your project files.
6)Professional Courtesy: Class rules of courteous conduct will be determined and presented in class. Please note that students should feel free to bring to the course instructor’s attention anything that may interfere with the education process.
7)Cheating/Plagiarism: University policy as detailed in the University Handbook will be followed. Consequences for cheating/plagiarism include failure of the course as well as possible dismissal from IllinoisStateUniversity.
8)Participation: This course addresses communication skills and development, which means that participation is essential. Participation will be assured through attendance, discussion contribution (which will require completion of reading assignments), asking questions that further the understanding of all participants, and the demonstration of respect for all contributions of all class participants.
Evaluation:
Exam 1(Ch 1 – 4 + Guidebook)100 Points
Exam 2( Ch 5 – 11)100 Points
Exam 3(Ch 12, 13 & Cumulative)200 Points
Organization Investigation Document150 Points
Classroom Exercises(interviews, discussions, etc.)100 Points
Final Interview and Analysis Assignment100 Points
Participation (Includes “Current Events” quizzes)100 Points
Classroom Partner Interviews50 Points
External Participant Interview50 Points
Resume Assignment50 Points
Total 1000Points
A standard scale will be used to determine final course grades:
90%-100# = A, 80%-89% = B, 70%-79% = C, 60%-69% = D, below 60% = F.
Beliefs:
The ability to communicate and effectively construct, conduct, and analyze interviews is essential for success. It is the goal of this course to prepare students for the interview opportunities that they will encounter throughout their careers. From a first job interview to an executive board meeting, from the college classroom to social organizational membership, the ability to act as an effective interview participant will have significant impact on the degree of success. Every effort will be made to assist all students toward improving communication and interviewing skills as well as their understanding of the interview process.
Student Learning and Responsibilities:
Improving interviewing skills will require a dedicated effort from each student. Classroom interview exercises will be a regular occurrence in order to facilitate learning through participation (“learn by doing”). This participation includes several classroom interview presentations which will act as specific skill-building exercises. In addition, students should be prepared to spend time outside of class; reading assigned material and preparing and practicing interview presentations.
Instructor’s Role:
My role as your instructor is to assist you in improving your communication knowledge and skills related to the interview process. In my experience I have found very little as rewarding as witnessing these improvements. I will make myself available as a resource, to assist you throughout the semester.
Course Objectives (Learning Outcomes):
After successfully completing COM 228, students should be able to:
- Define and recognize the interview process as well as the many types of interviews
- Be able to recognize various types of questions as well as question pitfalls.
- Be able to recognize and effective utilize various approaches of interviews.
- Understand the levels of interactions possible during an interview
- Conduct organizationinvestigation necessary to become fully prepared to participate as an effective interviewee
- Be able to analyze and evaluate the interview presentations of others according recognized guidelines.
- Recognize the different types of interview schedules and be able to determine which should be used to make an interview most effective.
- Demonstrate openness, intellectual tolerance and civility in the exchange of ideas and the resolution of conflict in small group settings.
- Demonstrate self-confidence in organization of thought and self-expression in a variety of interview situations.
- Generate ideas and gather supporting materials in order to develop specific, well-focused arguments that allow for the use of evidence and reasoning in persuasive interviewing as both the interviewer and interviewee.
- Demonstrate ethical behavior at all times as an interview and classroom participant.
- Demonstrate an awareness of and sensitivity to non-verbal communication as it relates to the interview process.
- Demonstrate appropriate behavior as listeners in class and during interview exercise and be able to distinguish between empathetic and critical listening skills.
- Demonstrate an awareness, tolerance and appreciation of the cultural diversity of others as they work to refine their interview skills.
Methods of Instruction:
This course will utilize a variety of learning methods. These include: instructor lectures, skill building exercises, classroom discussions, as well as example observations. Each of these requires the concerted effort of the student to attend and participate. Missed classroom activities will result in a lost opportunity to improve specific skills. These missed opportunities are likely to be reflected in the evaluation process.
Course Policies:
Method of Evaluation (Tests/Exams, Grading System):
Course grades will be determined by scores on; exams. Classroom and “outside” interview exercises, resume construction and ability to adapt to specific organization requirements, investigation documents and participation and current events quizzes.
Grading Policy:
Grades will be assigned and returned to students in a timely and organized manner. Grades will be posted on WebCt as soon as the evaluations are determined. Criteria for grades will be discussed thoroughly with students and every attempt will be made to assign grades objectively. Students are encouraged to discuss the evaluation process as well as the evaluation criteria with the instructor in order to gain understanding and facilitate improvements.
Participation (or Attendance):
Class participation is required. Missed classroom activities will result in missed opportunities to gain understanding and/or improve skills. This is likely to impact the evaluation process.
Incompletes:
The official college policy, as found in the College catalog, will be followed regarding incompletes.
Make-up Tests and Assignments:
Missed classroom activities will not be repeated. Absences due to unavoidable/extreme circumstances may be negotiated (an alternative assignment will be required).
Required Writing and Reading:
Students will read approximately 25-30 pages per week from our textbook and will be asked to deliver brief evaluations of peers.
Academic Integrity and Plagiarism:
Academic integrity is a fundamental principle of collegial life at IllinoisStateUniversity and is essential to the credibility of the College’s educational programs. Moreover, because grading may be competitive, students who misrepresent their academic work violate the rights of their fellow students. The College, therefore, views any act of academic dishonesty as a serious offense requiring disciplinary measures, including course failure, suspension, and even expulsion from the College. In addition, an act of academic dishonesty may have unforeseen effects far beyond any officially imposed consequences. Violations of academic integrity include, but are not limited to: cheating, aiding or suborning cheating or other acts of academic dishonesty, plagiarism, misrepresentation of data, falsification of academic records or documents and unauthorized access to computerized academic or administrative records or systems. Definitions of these violations may be found in the college catalog.
(Adapted from Tom Clemens, PhD.)
Plagiarism is the presentation of other’s ideas as if they were your own. When you write a paper, create a project, do a presentation, or create anything original, it is assumed that all the work, except for that which is attributed to another author or creator, is your own. Plagiarism is considered a serious academic offense and may take the following forms:
1Copying word-for-word from another source and not giving that source credit.
2Paraphrasing the work of another and not giving the source credit.
3Adopting a particularly apt phrase as your own.
4Paraphrasing someone else’s line of thinking in the development of a topic as if it were your own.
5Receiving excessive help from a friend or elsewhere, or using another project as if it were your own.
Note that word-for-word copying is not the only form of plagiarism.
The penalties for plagiarism may be severe, ranging from failure on the particular piece of work, failure of the course, or expulsion from the school in extreme cases.
[Adapted from the Modern Language Association’s MLA Handbook for Writers of Research papers. New York: MLA, 1995:26]
Special Needs:
Any student in need of a special accommodation should contact 438-5853 (voice), 438-8620 (TTD).
Syllabi Disclaimer:
The course calendar (following) will be closely followed and will be changed only to meet the specific learning needs of the class.
Class Schedule for Introduction to Organizational Communication
Day / DateMaterialAssigned Reading
WEEK 1
Mon Jan 13Introductions/ SyllabusThe Interviewing Guidebook 1 - 48
Wed Jan 12Elements of Interviews
Approaches
Assign Icebreaker Interview
Icebreaker Interviews
Fri Jan 14Icebreaker interviews
WEEK 2
Mon Jan 19No Class Martin Luther King Holiday
Wed Jan 21Deliver Icebreaker InterviewsThe Interviewing Guidebook 49 - 98
Fri Jan 23 Interaction Process
WEEK 3
Mon Jan 26ListeningCh 1 & 2
Interview Situations
Wed Jan 28Types of Questions
Fri Jan 30Question PitfallsCh 3
WEEK 4
Mon Feb 2Opening InterviewsCh 4
Body of Interviews
Wed Feb 4 Body of Interviews
Closing Interviews
Fri Feb 6Interview Exercises
WEEK 5
Mon Feb 9Exam 1 (Ch 1 -4 and Guidebook)
Wed Feb 11Probing InterviewsCh 5
Preparing Interviews
Selecting Interviewees
Selecting Interviewers
Fri Feb 13Conduction Interviews
Preparing Reports
Interview Exercises
WEEK 6
Mon Feb 16Survey InterviewsCh 6
Wed Feb 18Survey Interviews
Fri Feb 20Interview Exercises
WEEK 7
Mon Feb 23Recruiting InterviewsCh 7
Wed Feb 25Recruiting Cont.
Fri Feb 27Employment Interviews
Interview Exercises
WEEK 8
Mon Mar2Employment InterviewsCh 8
Wed Mar 4Employment Interviews Cont.
Fri Mar 6Employment Interviews
Interview Exercises
WEEK 9
Mon Mar 9 – Fri Mar 13
NO CLASS Spring Break
WEEK 10
Mon Mar 16Interview Exercises
Wed Mar 18Interview Exercises
Fri Mar 20Interview Exercises
WEEK 11
Mon Mar 23Interview ExercisesCh 9
Wed Mar 25Interview Exercises
Fri Mar 27Performance Interviews
WEEK 12
Mon Mar 30Persuasive InterviewsPersuaderCh 10
Wed Apr1Persuasive Interviews Persuadee 11
Fri Apr 3Exam # 2 (Ch 5 - 11)
WEEK 13
Mon Apr 6Counseling InterviewsCh 12
Wed Apr 8No Class - Com Week Interview activity
Fri Apr 10Interview Exercises
WEEK 14
Mon Apr 13Health Care Interviews
Wed Apr 15Health Care Interviews
Fri Apr 17Organizational Investigation Reports Due
Interview Presentations
WEEK 15
Mon Apr 20Interview Presentations
Wed Apr 21Interview Presentations
Fri Apr 23Interview Presentations
WEEK 16
Mon Apr 27Interview Presentations
Wed Apr 29Interview Presentations
Fri May1Review For Final Exam
ExamFinal Exam as Scheduled
Final Exam WeekFinal Exam as scheduled at Registrar web site.