This class (ENGL 3880-001) meets MWF in Bate 2018 at 8 o'clock

Tentative Syllabus for Spring Semester 2004

Date	Topic	Reading	Remarks/Assignments
#1 Jan. 9	Introduction & Overview; Grades;
#2 Jan. 12-14-16	The Writing Process; Introductions	EBC A & C	Letter of Introduction (due 1/14); Sentence Types
#3 Jan. 19-21-23	Communicating; Planning Business Messages	EBC 2 & 4	No Class Jan. 19  (State Holiday) Analyze & revise document on p. 22 in class; company policy
#4 Jan. 26-28-30	Writing, Completing, & Planning Business Messages; Routine Messages	EBC 5, 6 & 7	Review documents on pp. 96 and 129 in class; Review exercises 6.A, 6.B, 7.A, 7.B & 7.C; revise routine letter (due 2/4)
#5 Feb. 2-4-6	Writing Bad-News & Persuasive Messages	EBC 8 & 9	Review exercises 8.A, 8.B, 9.A & 9.B in class; revise negative letter (due 2/9); the AIDA Plan; revise persuasive message (due 2/9)
#6 Feb. 9-11-13	Planning Business Reports	EBC 10	Justification Report (due 2/16);[info and guidelines]
#7 Feb. 16-18-20	Reports: The Formal Report Requirements and Overview	EBC 11	Tentative Work Plan (due at Proposal Conference) for Formal Report (due 4/16); Visit Career Services
#8 Feb. 23-25-27	Proposal Conferences	EBC 12	Conferences
#9 March 1-3-5	Writing Formal Business Reports	EBC 12	Documentation MLA Style; Doing Research
#10 March 8-10-12	Completing Formal Business Reports	EBC 12 &  B	Interviews; Works Cited
#11 March 15-17-19	SPRING	BREAK	No Class All Week
#12 March 22-24-26	Writing Formal Reports	None	Research, report covers & example of formal report; Sample 1st Paragraphs
#13 March 29-31 & April 2	First Draft of Formal Report Conferences	None	(Early Registration for Summer and Fall semesters 2004 runs all week); First Draft Conferences to discuss progress (final draft due 4/16)
#14 April 5-7-9	Formal Report Revision Conferences	None	Revision Conferences (due 4/16)
#15 April 12-14-16	Formal Report Conferences Employment Communication	EBC 14	Formal Report Conferences; Functional Resume (due 4/26); Review rough draft of resume at Resume Draft Conference next week
#16 April 19-21-23	Resume Draft Conferences	None	Review draft of Functional Resume (due 4/26)
#17 April 26	Review	None	Functional Resume due
May 3 (Monday)	Final Exam		0800-1030

Required Textbooks

Thill, John V. and Courtland L. Bovee. Excellence in Business Communication. 5th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2001.

• General Remarks
• Format Standards
• Late Assignments
• Submitting Assignments
• Summary of Assignments

General Remarks

Please notice that your fees for this semester include a Computer & Technology Fee, which entitles you to any empty seat at most of the computer labs located around campus. Although some labs are restricted (the BVTE Lab is reserved for BVTE students, the Writing Lab is reserved for freshman composition students, etc.), most students use the lab in Austin. For an up-to-date list of lab locations, visit http://www.ecu.edu/itc/lab/.

Also, it's a pretty good idea to keep a backup copy of everything you write. You'll need a 3.5" DS/DD (720 KB) or DS/HD (1.44 MB) "floppy," and these are available at the bookstores.

Format Standards

A professional appearance establishes any writer's credibility and improves reader understanding; thus, all written work submitted for evaluation should follow the criteria below:

• Use 20 lb., white, bond paper (or whatever paper is available for printers in the various campus writing labs)--avoid onion skin or erasable paper.
• Maintain a 1-inch margin (top, bottom, left, and right margins).
• Printed text should be dark and clear but without smears and smudges (if a dot matrix printer is used, make sure to print in the letter-quality mode).

Late Assignments

Submitting Assignments

• Turning it in at the end of the class when it is due, or
• Delivering to the instructor (or his office) by the end of the day the assignment is due; actually if it's in the box by my door by the beginning of the next class day, that'll be okay, too (but remember that I get here around 7:00 a.m.).

 

Table 2: Grades and What They Mean
Letter Grade	What the Grade Means
A (100 - 90)	Your boss would be impressed and remember you at promotion time.
B (89-80)	Your boss would be satisfied with the job but not over impressed.
C (79-70)	Your boss would be disappointed and ask you to revise before others saw it.
D	(This grade is rarely given because your work is either acceptable or unacceptable.)
F (69-0)	Your boss would start looking for someone to replace you!

Course Description

This course is designed to give students practical experience in developing the skills they will need to practice effective business communication. In doing this, students write various types of correspondence including letters, memorandums, and reports.

Policies

• Attendance
• Participation
• Plagiarism

Attendance

Although "life's little problems" often come up at the darnednest times, students are expected to be in class on time, every time, for all the time allotted to this course because it is in the classroom that information essential for the successful completion of this course is presented. However, if circumstances require your presence elsewhere, you are still responsible for material presented in class. If you anticipate any absences, please see me before hand.

Students will be rewarded for their studentship, which includes appropriate attendance, meeting for conferences, and active participation.

Participation

• Participate in class discussions and honor the Honor Code (read: Don't Plagiarize!).
• Develop and maintain a sense of professionalism and decorum at all times (by now, students should be serious about developing some degree of professionalism).
• Be honest--don't try to B. S. me.

Plagiarism

Know this: such action violates the university's Honor Code and does a disservice to students who "copy the 'right' solution" from past assignments. Although former students have thought they'd help their friends, they have really harmed them (by robbing students of the opportunity to learn from their mistakes). The "real world" doesn't follow this unethical practice, and if I find that any of my students (either present or former) participate in this form of plagiarism (by either copying a completed assignment of a former students or by providing an assignment for you to copy) both students will be prosecuted to the fullest of my ability. This is not a warning; it's a promise.

Portfolio

The portfolio is not longer required.

 

Course Objectives

During this course, students will have the opportunity to:

• Compose a letter of introduction and write various business letters and reports and a resume.
• Plan, propose, research, analyze, draft, revise, and report on a topic that is technical (as opposed to literary) in nature.
• Master grammar, rhetoric, and usage of the American English language.

• Organize their correspondence in an appropriate manner.
• Analyze each writing situation for its purpose, audience, and goodwill implications.
• Properly integrate graphics into a formal report.
• Recognize proper business writing and develop an effective writing style.

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Created May 1, 2000  Updated March 22, 2004