Business Writing (Eng 203)

 

78780 ENG203 Business Writing TR 9:30-10:45 JHG338

Instructor: Jude Roy
Office: JHG 345A
Office Telephone: (270) 824-8624
Email: jude.roy@kctcs.edu

Webpage: http://www.madisonville.kctcs.edu/facstaf/jroy/

Textbook: Gerald, J. Alred, Charles t. Brusaw and Walter E. Oliu.  The Business Writer's Handbook, 8th ed. Boston:Bedfor/St. Martin's, 2006.

Course Description: "Provides instruction and experience in writing for business, industry and government.  Emphasizes clarity, conciseness, and effectiveness in preparing letters, memos, and reports for specific audiences.  Lecture: 3 credits (45 contact hours). Prereq: English 102 or English 105. Components: Lecture” (KCTCS, Community College Catalog)

General Education Competencies:

1.    Communicate Effectively

      1.    Read and listen with comprehension.

·        Students will be assessed on their ability to read and listen with comprehension through quizzes over course readings and lectures/discussions.

·        Students will be assessed on their ability to read and listen with comprehension through written homework activities.

            2.         Write clearly using Standard English.

·        Students will be assessed on their ability to write clearly using Standard English through homework activities, business letters, memoranda, emails, brochures, proposal reports, resumes, and presentations.

            3.         Interact cooperatively with others using both verbal and non-verbal means.

·        Students will be assessed on their ability to interact cooperatively with others through their class participation.

·        Students will be assessed on their ability to interact cooperatively with others through their participation in group activities.

4.                  Demonstrate information processing through basic computer skills.

·        Students will be assessed on their basic computer skills through submitting a correctly formatted and word processed business letters, resumes, memoranda, emails, proposal reports and presentations.

5.                  Speak clearly using Standard English

·        Students will be assessed on their ability to speak clearly through their oral presentations

II.                 Think Critically

      1.    Make connections in learning across the disciplines and draw logical conclusions.  

·        Students will be assessed on their ability to make connections in learning across the disciplines through their compositions, homework activities and presentations.

·        Students will be assessed on their ability to draw logical conclusions through their research and “real world” cases

1.        Demonstrate problem solving through interpreting, analyzing, summarizing, and/or integrating a variety of materials.

·        Students will be assessed their ability to problem solve through interpreting, analyzing, summarizing and/or integrating a variety of material through proposal reports, business letters, memoranda, emails, and homework activities that accurately synthesizes their ideas with the ideas of others

·        Students will be assessed their ability to problem solve through interpreting, analyzing, summarizing and/or integrating a variety of material through resumes that reflect their work histories

III. Learn Independently

  1. Use appropriate search strategies and resources to find, evaluate, and use information.

·        Students will be assessed their ability to use appropriate search strategies and resources to find, evaluate and use information through library and computer research and interviews

  1. Make choices based upon awareness of ethics and differing perspectives/ideas.

·        Students will be assessed on their ability to make choices based upon awareness of business ethics and avoiding unethical behavior

·        Students will be assessed on their ability to make choices based upon awareness of differing perspectives/ideas through classroom discussion and assigned reading.

  1. Apply learning in academic, personal, and public situations.

·        Students will be assessed on their ability to apply learning in academic and personal situations through their written and oral compositions

  1. Think creatively to develop new ideas, processes, or products.

·        Students will be assessed on their ability to develop new ideas, processes, or products through their creation of a mock business and the development of  memoranda, emails, brochures and business letters dealing with the management of the business

IV.   Examine Relationships in Diverse and Complex Environments

  1. Recognize the relationship of the individual to human heritage and culture.

·        Students will be assessed on their ability to recognize the relationship of the individual to human heritage and culture through their consideration of the importance of heritage and culture to their workers, co-workers and customers

 

 

Assignments & Distribution: 

Job Search Unit (10%): One (1) Resume (50 pts) and two (2) Application Letters (50 pts)
Communication Unit 10%): One (1) Memoranda (25 pts), two (2) Email Messages (25 pts) and one (1) Brochure (50 pts)
Letter Unit (20%): Four (4) Business Letters: Collection Letter (50 pts); Complaint Letter (50 pts); Adjustment Letter (50pts); Reference Letter (50 pts) 
Presentation Unit (40%): One (1) Proposal (300 pts) and one (1) Oral Presentation (100 pts) The Proposal, cover letter & Oral Presentation will be group generated.
Class Participation/Exercises/Quizzes (20%)

Grading Scale:
A = 100 - 90
B =    89 - 80
C =    79 - 70
D =    69 - 60
E =  Below 60

Note: All written assignments submitted in this course need to be typed, correctly formatted, and free of mechanical and surface errors.

Attendance: Regular and prompt attendance is a necessary part of satisfactory college work and is expected from every student. A student who misses a class is responsible for the work done in that class and for the work due the next class period. A student who misses a class due to emergency or illness should contact a classmate or the instructor to find out what she has missed and what she is required to do. Attendance will be taken at every class meeting and will count as a component of a student's final grade. A=1-2 absences; B=3-4 absences; C=5-6 absences; E-7 or more absences. Excessive absences excused or not, are defined as missing more than 25% (7) or more of the total number of class periods. A student who misses 7 or more class meetings, for whatever reasons, will be advised to withdraw from the course or may fail the course depending upon the instructor's judgment.  One final note: much of the work you will do in Business Writing will be group generated.  If you are not in class, you are not participating.

Late Work Policy: Except for emergency situations, illness, or late work approved by me prior to the date of submission, I will not accept late work.

Make-up Policy: Students will not be allowed to make-up in-class writing assignments for any reason.

Incomplete Grade Policy: A grade of "incomplete" will be given only in cases involving emergency or illness. If an "incomplete" is assigned, a student will have thirty days to complete all missing work to have the "incomplete" changed to a letter grade.

Withdrawal Policy: Up to the midterm date of the semester, students may withdraw from a course at their discretion by turning in a withdrawal slip at the Admissions Office. After this date, however, students must have their instructor's permission. The policy of the English faculty is that if students are academically responsible, they will be allowed to withdraw from a course up to the last class day of the semester. However, if a student is academically irresponsible (i.e., does not submit assignments, is frequently absent, or suddenly stops attending class), the instructor will not give permission to withdraw from the course.

Plagiarism Policy: Plagiarism means using other people’s ideas, words, or organizational patterns without given proper credit, in other words, not documenting sources properly. Plagiarism may take several forms: quoting a source’s words without using quotation marks or identifying the source, paraphrasing a source’s ideas without identifying the source, summarizing a source’s ideas without identifying the source, and using statistics without identifying the source. Also, plagiarism means turning in a paper written by another student (or parts of a paper) or turning in a paper downloaded from the web (or parts of a paper or parts of several papers). Having someone correct the errors on a paper is also plagiarism. Plagiarism is a serious academic and ethical offense. It’s cheating. Thus the penalty for plagiarism must be severe. A student who plagiarizes the work of another will receive a failing grade for the plagiarized work and, depending upon the instructor’s judgment about the severity of the plagiarism, may fail the course. Students should properly document sources in their writing by using quotation marks for quoted material, in-text parenthetical references, and bibliography entries on a Works Cited page. If a student has any questions about what to document or how to document a source, he or she should ask the instructor. Do not plagiarize.(See Plagiarism Handout.)

Disability Statement: "If you have a documented disability and need any type of accommodation, you are required to register with the Disability Resource Coordinator.  Contact Valerie Wolfe, <Valerie.Wolfe@kctcs.edu> Disability Resource Coordinator, Room 112 LRC, (270) 824-1708.