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This class meets in GCB 2018 MWF (sec 012 at 1100;
sec 013 at 1300)
|
Date |
Topic |
Reading |
Remarks/Assignments |
| #1 Jan. 11-13-15 |
Introduction & Overview |
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| #2 Jan. 20-22 |
Introduction (continued); Foundations of Business Comm | Ch 1 & 2 + Appendix C in EBC; | Analyze & revise document on pp. 37-38 |
| #3 Jan. 25-27-29 |
The Writing Process | Ch 5, 6 & 7 in EBC | Review exercises 6.B & 7.A in class |
| #4 Feb. 1-3-5 |
Letters, Memos & Other Brief Messages | Ch 8 & 9 in EBC; CP 9-10 | Review exercises in class; revise routine letter, doc 9.B (due 2/8) |
| #5 Feb. 8-10-12 |
Letters & Memos (continued); | Ch 10 & 11 in EBC; CP 11-19 | Review exercises in class; revise negative letter, doc 10.C and sales letter, doc 11.B (both due 2/15) |
| #6 Feb. 15-17-19 |
Reports & Proposals | Ch 12in EBC; CP 21-23 | Justification report (due 2/22) |
| #7 Feb. 22-24-26 |
Planning Long Reports | Ch 13 in EBC | Tentative Work Plan (due at Proposal Conference); Formal Report (due 4/21) |
| #8 Mar. 1-3-5 |
Proposal Conferences | Review Ch 13 in EBC | Tentative Work Plan (due at conference) |
| #9 Mar. 8-10-12 |
Long Reports | Ch 14 & Appendix B in EBC; CP 21-35 | Visit Career Services; First Formal Report Conference (final draft due 4/21) |
| #10; Mar. 15-17-19 |
No Class All Week (Spring Break) |
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| #11 Mar. 22-24-26 |
Long Reports (continued) | Review Ch 14 & Appendix C in EBC; CP 21-35 | Formal Report Conferences to discuss progress (final draft due 4/21) |
| #12 Mar. 29-31 |
Long Reports (continued) | Review Ch 14 & Appendix C in EBC; CP 21-35 | (Early Registration for Spring 1999 runs all week) Research No Class on April 2 (State Holiday) |
| #13 Apr. 5-7-9 |
Reports (continued) | None | |
| #14 Apr. 12-14-16 |
Reports (continued) | None | Formal Report (for Open Options client) conferences (due 4/21) |
| #15 Apr. 19-21-23 |
Employment Communication | Ch 18 & 19 in BAC; CP 37-56 | Resume & Cover Letter (due 5/3) |
| #16 Apr. 26-28-30 |
Employment Communication (cont'd) | Review Ch 18 & 19 in BAC; CP 37-56 | Review rough draft of resume at conference; Resume & Cover Letter (due 5/2) |
| #17 May 3 |
Review | None. | Resume & Cover Letter (due 5/3) |
| May 7 (Friday) May 11 (Tuesday) |
Final Exam |
0800-1000 (section 012) 0800-1000 (section 013) |
|
Required
Thill, John V. and Courtland L. Bovee. Excellence in Business Communication. 4th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1999.
CoursePak English 3880: Writing for Business & Industry. Spring 1999.
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.
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.
A professional appearance establishes any writer's credibility and improves reader understanding; thus, all written work submitted for evaluation should follow the criteria below:
If you should discover one or two typing errors (typos), neatly correct the mistake(s) by crossing
out the error(s)d writing the correction(s) above (three or more errors require both correction and reprinting).
There aren't any, but if an assignment is submitted after a deadline has passed, 10 points per class meeting will be deducted for the grade awarded.
Assignments are submitted in either of two ways:
Table 1: Summary of Assignments & Percentage of Final Grade |
|
|
Letter Series (4) |
30% |
| Letter of Introduction |
05% |
| Positive Message |
05% |
| Negative Message |
10% |
| Persuasive Message |
10% |
|
Reports (3) |
55% |
| Justification Report |
15% |
| Tentative Work Plan |
05% |
| Formal Report |
35% |
|
Employment Correspondence (2) |
15% |
| Letter of Application |
05% |
| Resume |
10% |
|
Total |
100% |
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Note: Add one point to your final grade for perfect attendance; deduct 10 points for no portfolio |
|
Table 2: Grades and What They Mean |
|
Letter Grade |
What the Grade Means |
|
A (100 - 92) |
Your boss would be impressed and remember you at promotion time. |
|
B (91-83) |
Your boss would be satisfied with the job but not over impressed. |
|
C (82-70) |
Your boss would be disappointed and ask you to revise before others saw it. |
|
D |
(That animal lives somewhere else.) |
|
F (69-0) |
Your boss would start looking for someone to replace you! |
This course is designed to help students develop skills and techniques for editing material that is technical in nature, especially material that has been written by another author. In order to achieve this, this course stresses copymarking, copyediting, and proofreading. Of course, the mechanics (spelling, abbreviations, and capitalization), grammar and usage, and punctuation are properly emphasized.
Because this course is built on a building-block format, in which each assignment builds upon the one before and prepares students for the assignment to follow, attendance is essential.
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.
As an incentive to help motivate students with their attendance, those who have perfect attendance
will be rewarded by having one point added to their final grade average (additional points are not available to
"give" to any students; students must get their grades the "old fashioned" way: they earn them!).
Class participation is an important element of the learning process, and students are expected to feel free to freely and openly discuss the subject at hand. Since participation demonstrates (at least in part) your preparedness for each class, you are expected to:
In the past, I have encouraged students to review their assignments as they prepare for future assignments. In order to do this, students necessarily have to have each assignment returned to them. Some students have allowed their friends (fellow members of clubs, fraternities, or sororities, not to mention those they are dating or their best bud) to make photocopies of their assignments (or worse yet) place their original, corrected copy in club/fraternity/sorority file).
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.
On the last day of scheduled class, students are expected to submit the following
To help keep your material from getting mixed up with the work of other students, please place all graded material (as well as drafts, but not an assignments that may be due on the last day of class) inside a 10" x 13" envelope, and secure it by opening its clasps (please don't lick the glue and seal your envelope; the glue tastes ucky, and glued envelopes are darn hard to open). Envelopes are available at most bookstores for about 20 cents. In the upper left-hand corner of the envelope, label as follows:
ENGL 3880-012 (or 013)
Spring 1998
Students who fail to submit their portfolio of work will lose 10 points when their final grades are computed.
Packets may be picked up anytime after the start of Fall Semester 199; any packets not picked up by Labor Day will be disposed of in an ecologically safe manner #};=).
During this course, students will have the opportunity to:
In order to do this, students are expected to acquire the ability to:
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Created May 1, 1998 |
