English

3100:
Business
Writing
Course Syllabus

Institution: Appalachian State University

Instructor: Lori Beth De Hertogh

Semester: Fall 2014
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Course Description....2

Course Objectives..3

Required Texts & Materials.3

Important Note for Online Courses.4

Instructor Interaction..4

Attendance Policy..4

Online Course Resources.....5

Course Assignments....6

Coursework Overview....7

Grade Scale....9

Assignment Handouts......9

Late Work Policy9

Accepted File Formats..9

Conferences.10

Course Etiquette.....10

Plagiarism.10

Religious Observances...10

Disability Accommodations....10

Writing Center..11

Tentative Schedule...11

Note....11
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COURSE DESCRIPTION
Throughout our time together, we will study the rhetorical principles and writing
practices necessary for producing effective professional documents such as letters,
memos, reports, and collaborative projects in web- and print-based environments. The
curriculum is informed by current research in rhetoric and professional writing and is
guided by the needs and practices of business, industry, and society at large.

A major goal of this class is to teach you how to work effectively and professionally in
collaborative settings. Graduates from professional fields must be prepared to spend a
significant portion of their working hours reading, drafting, and revising formal and
informal communications both individually and collaboratively. The reading and writing
assignments in this course are intended to help prepare you for this type of workload.

In addition, this course is designed to introduce you to issues related to workplace
equality (you might even call this the course theme) in an effort to bring critical
awareness to issues and challenges affecting groups and individuals in todays global
workforce. We will approach these issues through course readings, research, and by
creating individual and team-based projects.

Finally, because this is an online course, we will work to establish community and
professionalism in electronic environments. You will also learn how to use a range of
technologies to communicate in professional and interpersonal contexts.






INSTRUCTOR INFORMATION

Instructor: Lori Beth De Hertogh
Online Office Hours: Tuesday 1:15-
2:15 & by appointment
Email: [email protected] or
[email protected]




COURSE INFORMATION

Course: Business Writing (Online)
Term: Fall 2014
Days/time: Tuesdays 12:00-1:15
Section: 114


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COURSE OBJECTIVES

Upon successful completion of this course, you should be able to:

Identify, analyze, and apply rhetorical strategies to professional/workplace writing
Understand ethical and legal considerations
Compose and revise a variety of professional documents
Develop advanced information literacy skills
Communicate through professional presentations
Work individually and collaboratively
Use various technologies for information design and distribution
Identify and analyze socio-economic issues in workplace environments


REQUIRED TEXTS & MATERIALS
















Business Communication Today. 11th edition, Bove and Thill (rental)
Microsoft Word & PowerPoint 2007 or later
Jing account
Reliable method of backing up work
Adobe Acrobat Reader
Microphone headset (recommended)


Daily access to the internet, microphone, and webcam
Distraction-free environment with ability to speak aloud and reliable
internet connectivity for online meetings (Note that former students
have had difficulty using mobile devices to attend class.)
Note: All students enrolled in this class are expected to have reliable
access to the technological tools and materials outlined in this syllabus.

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IMPORTANT NOTE FOR ONLINE COURSES

Online courses can be a dynamic and rewarding way to take college classes. That said,
some students find that online courses do not suit their learning needs as they do not
offer the same structure or social nature as face-to-face classes. Moreover, online
courses require you to be independent, organized, and able to understand and analyze
course materials on your own. You must also have the ability to navigate and use
multiple electronic interfaces. Please consider carefully whether or not your learning
style is suited to the online version of this course. To help you determine this, I
recommend reviewing this tutorial on online learning.


INSTRUCTOR INTERACTION

Instructor Availability
I am available most weekdays and regularly check my email multiple times each day
throughout the week. I reserve Friday evenings and Saturdays to travel and spend time
with my family.

The fastest and most effective way to reach me is via email and the Ask it Basket on
ASULearn, so please use these resources as your primary means of communication. If
you post a question to the Ask it Basket, I will respond to you the next time I check
into class, with the goal of responding to you within 48 hours. Note that if another
student knows the answer and responds, I will not follow-up on a correctly answered
question.

Online Discussion Forums
Most of the interaction in our online discussion forums will be generated by you and
your peers. I will, however, occasionally post follow-up questions, commentary on
interesting ideas that have emerged, food for thought, etc.

Feedback
My goal is to return all assignments to you within ten working days of submission, if not
sooner. If you ever have questions about my feedback or a grade, do not hesitate to ask.


ATTENDANCE POLICY

This course meets synchronously online only once per week, so attendance is crucial.
You are therefore permitted three absences. If you miss more than the allotted amount,
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your final letter grade may be reduced by 1/3 for each absence, unless there are
extenuating circumstances. If you miss more than six classes, you will fail the course.

Please note that weekly discussion and participation posts count toward class
attendance. In other words, if you do not post a discussion response and follow-up
participation post, you will lose credit for the responses and be marked absent.
In addition, you will be counted absent if you:

Arrive more than 5 minutes late
Leave early
Read outside materials or do work for another class
Disrupt class
Do not have access to required technological equipment/materials

I do not differentiate between excused and unexcused absences. University-sponsored
absences, illness, and planned absences will count toward your allotted class absences.
Once you are tardy 2 times, it will count as one class absence. You are tardy after class
has begun. If you come in late, please notify me or you may be marked as absent
instead of tardy.

If for some reason you experience an extreme illness or extenuating circumstances,
please get in touch with me right away so we can discuss ways to accommodate your
needs.


ONLINE COURSE RESOURCES

We will use three online resources for this class:

1. Course website
2. ASULearn
3. Blackboard Collaborate

The course website will be your primary resource for this class. Here you will find the
course syllabus, assignment handouts, schedule, etc. Check the course website often to
ensure you are up to speed on class assignments and due dates.

In addition to our course website, you will use ASULearn. This is where you will submit
course assignments as well as complete peer workshops and discussion posts. I will also
use ASULearn to record grades, class attendance, and to set up conference and
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presentation times. Never share your ASULearn login username or password with a third
party or have another student submit work for you using your account.

We will also use the platform Blackboard Collaborate for our weekly online class
meetings, which you will access through ASULearn. In order to use this program, you
need reliable internet access as well as a microphone and webcam. You also need to be
in a quiet, distraction-free environment and be able to speak aloud. (i.e. avoid meeting
in a coffee shop or other public space) Remember that you are learning communication
skills with these media to take into the workplace; don't miss the opportunity to get
comfortable with them as this is an important takeaway of this course.


COURSE ASSIGNMENTS
Below is an overview of major assignments you will complete for the course.




Assignments Points
Unit One
Memo of Introduction 3
Email Message 5
Infographic 8
Unit Two
Jobs Portfolio 10
Unit ThreeTeam Project
Work Plan 5
Annotated Bibliography 7
Informational Report 10
Unit Four
Self-Directed Proposal Project 15
Other
Individual Presentations 5
Final Self-Evaluation Report 5
Drafts 12
Discussion Posts 15
Final Portfolio
Total 100
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COURSEWORK OVERVIEW
Below is a brief overview of major assignments you will complete for the course.
All assignments must follow the guidelines of the assignment in regards to length,
content, and focus to be considered for credit. Assignments must also be submitted in
the designated format and to the appropriate location to be considered for credit.

Unit One

Memo of Introduction: Your first assignment is to create a memo of
introduction. The purpose of the memo is to introduce yourself to the class.
Consider, if you will, the class as a professional organization and yourself as a
new member in a highly visible position.

Email Message: For this assignment, your goal is to summarize and synthesize
information you find in two articles in a professional email message. To
successfully complete the assignment, your email should demonstrate an
awareness of genre and audience.

Infographic: This assignment asks you to use basic design principals to create
an infographic. You will later use the skills you develop in creating this project to
design your resume, informational report, and proposal.

Unit Two

Jobs Portfolio: This is pretty straight forwardwe will dedicate this portion of
the class to developing job-seeking strategies and documents.

Unit Three

Team Project: Your third assignment is a team project which consists of three
components: 1) a team work plan, 2) an annotated bibliography, and 3) an
informational report. Your team project will be based on an issue related to
workplace equality. Your group will determine which issue you want to explore.

Unit Four

Self-Directed Proposal Project: For this assignment, your task is to create a
professional proposal using an approach and mode of your choosing. (i.e. You
might create a classic business proposal, kickstarter video, series of promotional
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materials, etc.) I encourage you to choose an approach that best suits the type of
writing, research, and designing you see yourself doing in your field. The project
can be associated with your profession, community, or school, but must address
the course theme of workplace equality. You are also welcome to incorporate
research and materials from previous class assignments into your final project.
Well talk more about which project you might choose and ways to go about
preparing for it after mid-terms.

Other

Discussion Posts: Each week, you are required to respond to a discussion
prompt and to respond to your classmates posts. These posts give you a chance
to analyze and reflect on our course reading materials, to ask questions, and to
talk with your classmates and me. Please note that weekly discussion and
participation posts count toward class attendance. In other words, if you do not
post a discussion response and follow-up participation post, you will lose credit
for the response as well as be marked absent. (See course attendance policy for
details.)

Final Self-Evaluation Report: For this assignment, you will write a reflective
report in which you discuss your personal writing experiences throughout the
class. Your reflection will focus on the writing process (drafting, outlines, work
plans, etc.), what you have learned from it, and how it has shaped you as a
professional communicator.

Drafts: For each major assignment, you will complete one draft which is worth 2
points. You will also complete a peer workshop for the majority of drafts you
submit.

Individual Presentations: At some point during the semester, you will use the
screen capture program Jing to create a video presentation which you will share
with the class. I will provide an electronic sign-up sheet for presentations on
ASULearn.

Final Portfolio: You have the option to submit up to three substantively revised
assignments for a higher grade. Only individual, major course projects which have
been previously graded are eligible for the final portfolio.



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GRADE SCALE
Grades are based on a 100 point scale.


Note that a C or higher is required for acceptance or continued standing in the ASU
Walker College of Business.


ASSIGNMENT HANDOUTS
I will provide a handout for each assignment specifying the general focus of the
assignment, grading criteria, etc. Many students use the handout as a checklist to ensure
they have covered all aspects of the assignment.



LATE WORK POLICY
I do not accept late work unless there are extenuating circumstances. All work is due by
11:55 p.m. (Eastern time) on the day indicated in the course schedule. Not posting an
assignment to the correct location is the same thing as not posting the assignment at all
and it will be considered late. Please note that I do not generally consider technological
problems to be extenuating circumstances. I encourage you to work far enough in
advance that you are able to remedy technological issues if they arise.


ACCEPTED FILE FORMATS
Assignments must be posted in a Microsoft Word format such as .doc (Word 2003 or
before) or .docx (Word 2007, 2010, or 2013). I do not accept or grade files that are
attached in other formats such as .rtf, .wps, .pdf, .odt or .odf. Assignments posted in the
wrong format are considered late.
Points Grade Quality
93-100 A Exceptional
90-92 A- Outstanding
80-89 B- through B+ Praiseworthy
70-79 C- through C+ Satisfactory
60-69 D- through D+ Less than Satisfactory
0-59 F Inadequate
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CONFERENCES
We will meet once during the semester for a group conference to discuss your team
project. During our meeting we will talk about your writing, revision possibilities, and
additional concerns you may have about your project or the course. Missing a
conference will count as 2 absences. Conference times may not be made up. If you are
more than five minutes late for a conference, you are absent.


COURSE ETIQUETTE
Simply put, course etiquette means we should always be polite and respectful to one
another, whether we are interacting online or in person.

PLAGIARISM
As with all classes, you are required to adhere to the Student Academic Integrity Code
found at the following website: http://studentconduct.appstate.edu/. Plagiarism is
included in the Integrity Code and carries heavy penalties.

RELIGIOUS OBSERVANCES
You are allowed two absences for religious observances. You are responsible for
requesting these allowed absences in writing no later than three weeks after the first
class day of the term. For purposes of this policy, the term religious observances
includes religious holidays or holy days or similar observances that require absence from
class. Any work missed due to a previously arranged religious observance absence will
be accepted the class period following the day of religious observance, but no later.
Specific arrangements to make up work will be made on receipt of your written request.

DISABILITY ACCOMODATIONS
Appalachian State University is committed to making reasonable accommodations for
individuals with documented qualifying disabilities in accordance with the Americans
with Disabilities Act of 1990 and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Those
seeking accommodations based on a substantially limiting disability must contact and
register with The Office of Disability Services (ODS) at www.ods.appstate.edu or 828-
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262-3056. Once registration is complete, individuals will meet with ODS staff to discuss
eligibility and appropriate accommodations.


WRITING CENTER
If you struggle with work in this course, I am happy to help you out. The University
Writing Center (Room 008, lower level of Belk Library & Information Commons) is also a
good resource, where consultants can work with you one-on-one and provide
assistance with style, organization, content, voice, grammar, and documentation. In
addition to your draft and/or any pre-writing notes, take your assignment handout to
your session. For more information, visit www.writingcenter.appstate.edu; to make an
appointment, call 828-262-3144.

TENTATIVE SCHEDULE
Refer to the overall schedule on our course website as well as individual unit schedules
for information on class assignments, readings, and project due dates. Please note that
the online week runs Monday through Sunday. All work is due by 11:55 p.m. (Eastern
Time) on the assigned due date.


NOTE
The course syllabus and schedule are tentative. Every effort will be made to cover the
materials identified herein, but occasional changes may be made for educational
purposes or scheduling reasons.