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ENGLISH 3003: WRITING FOR THE PROFESSION

BUSINESS
SECTIONS 14/15
SPRING 2016
MWF 11-11:50 KENDALL HALL 140-SEC 15

Carlos D. Acosta-Ponce
Office: Zink Hall 339
Office hours: M/W 12pm-2pm
Email: carlos-acostaponce@utulsa.edu
Phone: 787-219-4513 (text M-F between 9am-9pm)
__________________________________________________________________________

Course Description

ENGL 3003-Business is a course designed to teach the student how to create professional
technical documents for academia and the future workplace. In addition to creating
documents, students will give at least three presentations to the class throughout the
semester.

Course Goals

1. To learn how to construct documents in professional settings

2. Write effectively with a clear purpose in mind
3. Communicate effectively to a specified audience
4. Develop valuable research skills
5. Overcome any anxieties you have about professional writing
6. Have insightful class discussions
7. Finish the course as more confident writers

Pre-requisite

Junior standing and English 1033.

Required Textbooks

Markel, M. (2010). Technical Communication. (11th ed.). New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s.

Jenkins, G. (2015) Student Guide to 3003-Business, 3rd Edition

Hacker, D. (2015) Rules for Writers. (8th ed.). New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s.
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The most important thing to remember:

Check your email daily for possible schedule or class changes, or even class cancellations
which will sometimes occur during inclement weather. If you come to class during a giant
ice storm and no one is there, I promise you will find that I have already sent an email
cancelling class. In addition I will frequently change due dates in your favor and will let you
know via email as well as in class (in case you missed class that day). Therefore, the moral
of this is: Topics and dates are subject to change at the instructor’s discretion.

Assignments

Your major assignments are as follows:

Assignment Value
Summary Report 5%
Informational Report 1 5%
Informational Report 2 5%
Analytical Report 5%
Oral Presentation 1 5%
Proposal for Oral Presentation 2 10%
Oral Presentation 2 5%
Recommendation Report 5%
Group Proposal for Research 5%
Individual Proposal for Research 5%
Individual Portion of Research Report 10%
Group Research Report 10%
Final Project Oral Presentation 10%
Class Participation 15%

Total: 100%

I will grade your work based on its merit and professionalism in a business setting. That is,
I will assess your work and grade it according to how I would respond if you submitted it in
the work place. When you are writing, ask yourself such questions as: Does this document
achieve all the objectives of the assignment? Is it polished enough to be submitted? Should
it be revised? To elaborate, here are some guidelines for my grading system:

A. Excellent work. This is a well-written, polished document that could be released in the
workplace immediately. The document fulfills all of the assigned tasks and purposes of the
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assignment, and it is formatted perfectly. It considers its audience, and employs

appropriate tone and stance towards each audience.

B. Good work. This document is written well, but could not be immediately released to the
workplace. A little more work is needed to make it presentable. This document contains
minor editing errors, awkwardly worded or ambiguous statements, or perhaps a
questionable tone. This document needs a more thorough revision process.

C. Average work. This document is a good draft, but it cannot be considered as a

completed document. It may have too many editing errors to appear to be written by a
professional, and/or the tone conveys the wrong message. The content may be incomplete
or so ambiguous as to cause serious problems for the document's recipient. This document
may not address the purpose of the assignment and needs to be heavily revised.

D. Below average work. This work is not up to basic standards of competence for writing
in English. Here, revision is neglected to the point that it seriously compromises the
reader’s ability to use the document. This is a rough draft that has not been properly
revisited to address content, design, or editing.

F. Failing work. This writing usually demonstrates virtually no effort to engage seriously
the subject matter within a given assignment. It is incoherent and filled with technical
errors. If any assignment is plagiarized, grossly incomplete, formatted improperly, or
late, it will automatically earn, at the least, an F and possibly a zero.

General Rules

In the majority of our classes we will be designing documents, templates for documents,
and outlines. While you may certainly produce these drafts by hand and type them up later,
I would encourage you to bring whatever device you want in order to facilitate drafting
documents. Laptops and tablets will help tremendously in creating professional work.
However, while I love technology as much as you do, I never want to see a student
texting during class (because this is extremely rude), nor do I want to see a student
engaging in other non-class internet activity during class (because this is also
extremely rude). I’m sure you get the point.

Instead of engaging in what some professors call “Peer Editing”, wherein hard copies
of documents are exchanged with your classmates and summarily “edited”, we will
conduct our Peer Editing by having each student pull up their document draft on the
computer in front of the class so that the entire class may view it at once and offer
constructive comments. In my experience, doing this for a few minutes provides
more effective, immediate and useful feedback.
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Respect is one of the most important aspects to academic learning; therefore, respecting
your fellow students will be expected of you. Concordantly, disrespect will not be
tolerated. Sometimes class discussion can lead us into some controversial topics, and you
may find that your classmates may have opinions that differ from your own. This type of
discussion, if done in a respectful manner, can be conducive to the formation of new ideas
and the advancement of academic learning. The classroom, therefore, is a place of sharing
and safety. No one in the classroom should ever feel threatened to express his or her
thoughts and opinions in the classroom. If at any point you are being disrespectful, you will
be dismissed. On the other hand, if you feel as if you have been treated poorly, by all means
let me know. The bottom line is you should never feel embarrassed or shy about expressing
your opinion.

Contacting me: You may email me or text me anytime between 9am-9pm, M-F. If you are
running late, or are sick, and/or cannot make it to class (note policy on absences below),
this is my preferred mode of communication (text or email).

Finally, KEEP ALL YOUR WORK UNTIL AFTER YOUR FINAL GRADE IS TURNED IN!!!
SAVE ELECTRONIC WORK IN MULTIPLE PLACES!!!

Attendance and Participation

Since this course is writing intensive, poor attendance will result in missing crucial
information and practice. Missing even one class can cause you to miss important
information and possibly put you behind. The University of Tulsa Writing Program’s policy
states that excessive unexcused absences will result in a lowering of your grade by the
following scale:

For a MWF class

10 percent is 4 absences – loss of one letter grade

15 percent is 6 absences – loss of two letter grades
20 percent is 8 absences – grounds for an F

If you are going to be absent for any reason, send me an email, text, or tell me personally.
Most absences such as work conflicts, class conflicts, unofficial campus activities
(sorority/fraternity or social clubs), and minor inconveniences are not considered excused
absences. However, official and documented absences will be excused. You are still
required to provide the proper documentation, such as permission from the athletics
department, the Center for Student Academic Support (CSAS), another university office, or
a doctor, within one week of the absence. If you do not provide the documentation within
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this time period, the absence will not be excused. Section 41 of the Student Handbook
explains how to obtain official permission from CSAS
(http://www.utulsa.edu/studentaffairs/).

No matter what the cause of the absences, you are responsible for finding out what
material was covered, getting notes, being prepared for class on the day you return, and
turning in subsequent assignments on time.

When you attend class, I expect you to be here when you are here. By this, I mean that you
should always come to class having read the material and being prepared to discuss it.
I also mean that you should not be on your phone, asleep, on a laptop (except for in-class
work), etc. Your choosing to attend tells me that you are here to learn, discuss, contribute,
and share.

Tardies

Just don’t be late. It is disruptive and disrespectful to me and your classmates.

Conferences and Office Hours

You will have a one-on-one conference with me at least twice this semester. Conferencing is
required by the Writing Program and, since I cancel classes to hold conferences, two
absences will be charged against you if you miss one. This policy should underscore
how important these conferences are—research shows that writing improves
tremendously with one-on-one feedback from instructors.

I also encourage you to meet with me in my office whenever you need to discuss your work
or your progress in this course. There’s an open door policy during office hours. You don’t
need an appointment; just stop by. If you can’t make it during office hours, let me know
and I will be happy to make an appointment with you for another time.

Please notify me in advance if you cannot make it to your individual conference or any
scheduled appointment. Text or email me, or ask the English Department Assistant, at
(918) 631-2557 to let me know if you can’t make it.

Points to Remember

All the written assignments listed above must be turned in before the end of the semester to
pass the course.
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All assignments should follow the formats shown in assignment examples and the
Markel textbook. For help, you may refer to examples in your textbook unless otherwise
noted on your assignment sheet. With the exception of some of the writing done in class,
you may assume that assignments should be typed in Times New Roman 12 font. Margins
should be 1 inch on all sides of the page (unless otherwise specified by a particular
template).

Since this is a professional writing course, I want to emphasize the importance of

proofreading. Typographical errors look very unprofessional to anyone reviewing your
documents. Spell check is indeed a modern marvel, but it cannot, and will not catch
everything.

Submit polished work. I will not proofread for grammatical errors. I will, however,
welcome any revision you wish to submit. I will hold an open revision policy until
the final deadline on the course schedule.

Plagiarism is defined in the University of Tulsa Student Handbook

(http://www.utulsa.edu/studentaffairs/) as:

Plagiarism is presenting as one's own efforts the work of

someone else without proper acknowledgment of that source.
Exact copying is to be enclosed in quotation marks with an
appropriate indication of its origin. [Unacknowledged]
paraphrasing, wherein the basic sentence structure,
phraseology, and unique language remain the same, is also
plagiarism. The failure to acknowledge unique, unusual, or new
ideas and facts not the product of one's own investigation or
creativity is plagiarism. When in doubt in a particular course
on these matters, it is the student's responsibility to seek
guidance from the instructor.

Plagiarism is grounds for failure of this (or any other) course and dismissal from the
University. Rules against plagiarism are meant to ensure that students are applying
themselves freshly to every assignment, that they are completing their own assignments,
and that they are respecting the intellectual property of others. In an environment where
writers work closely with one another, it is important to understand the boundaries
between collaboration and plagiarism. You are expected to present your own work,
properly documented. Keep all of your preparatory work (drafts, notes, and prewriting)
for each assignment. I may freely question you about work that does not seem to be your
own.
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As your course instructor I withhold the right to call you into my office ask you to
write any assignment I may find suspicious in regards to the institution’s Academic
Misconduct Policy.

Resources

The TU Writing Center, located on the third floor of the McFarlin Library, is a great place
to have a one-on-one consultation about your writing assignment. Consultation is free, so I
strongly encourage you to take advantage of this valuable resource. Call or email the
Writing Center to set up an appointment. The Writing Center is free for all TU students. For
more information on the Writing Center, see the Student Guide to the Writing Program at
the University of Tulsa.

The Center for Student Academic Support (CSAS) is here to provide services such as
tutoring, academic counseling, and developing study skills. If you have any special
educational or physical needs, please discuss them with me as soon as possible so you can
access accommodations. Students with disabilities should contact CSAS to identify their
needs in order to facilitate their rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Specifically, the Center offers support concerning issues such as test taking anxiety, time
management skills, overcoming procrastination, learning styles assessment, and academic
rebounding. You may, again, get official documentation for an excused absence from them
by bringing such evidence as hospital documents, obituaries, etc. Excused absences for
doctor’s visits for routine procedures or minor illnesses will be determined by me. The
Center provides confidential consultations to any student with academic concerns as well
as to students with disabilities and is located in Lorton Hall, Room 210.

McFarlin Library will be an invaluable tool when you begin to look for secondary
resources. A lot of students tend to be intimidated by the library, but, in order for you to
conduct research, you must become familiar with the stacks (believe it or not sometimes
the internet doesn’t have all the sources you need). It’s tall and intimidating, sure, but there
are some invaluable sources in book form. If you have any questions or concerns about
how to find and use what you need from the library, please ask me or check with a
reference librarian.

Use the feedback from your classmates during peer review. We will peer-review drafts
of most of your documents. Remember that your classmates’ comments are designed to
help, and I strongly advise you to take them to heart.
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Class Schedule will be forthcoming on a separate document.