English 204: Introduction to Professional Writing| Summer 2010

Dr. Colleen A. Reilly

• Email: reillyc@uncw.edu
• Office: MO 157
• Office phone: 962-7548
• Office hours:By appointment
• Course texts: Pearsall, Thomas E. (2010). The Elements of Technical Writing. New York: Longman.
  Articles accessed online or from electronic databases
  

Student learning outcomes

• develop strategies for analyzing organizational contexts, including audiences, purposes for writing, and organizational cultures
• design documents that meet the needs of your audiences and accomplish your goals
• construct arguments that appeal to several audiences at once and are based on evidence
• conduct research that can be used to support arguments
• conduct usability testing to support document/product analysis, design, and revision
• write for different media including print and electronic media
• design effective graphics for use in documents and presentations

Course policies

Attendance:
Because this is a summer course which meets for only one month, you are only allowed to miss 1 class without penalty. Each subsequent class missed will result in your final course grade being lowered one letter grade. There will be no exceptions to this policy. If you need to travel or work and do not have time to devote to this course, you should take it at a different time.

If you miss a class, for whatever reason, you are responsible for finding out from a classmate what material was covered and what homework was assigned. Do not email me concerning what you missed; consult the course schedule or speak with a classmate concerning what happened in class while you were gone. Additionally, you cannot submit assignments late because you missed the class period when the assignment was given.

Finally, if you miss class you cannot make up any in-class assignments or quizzes given during the class period that you did not attend.

Technological requirements and etiquette:
For this course, please use your UNCW email account so that we can take advantage of UNCW SeaPort/SeaNet, which allows me to email the class as a whole and allows class members to email one another. Please be vigilant about deleting email from your inbox, sent mail, and deleted items folders so that your mailbox does not become full. Test your email periodically to ensure that it is working.

Additionally, please back up all of your work to avoid losing important files. It is important to have multiple copies of all work and be able to provide a second copy of an assignment upon request. I strongly recommend that you purchase a USB/flash drive for use in transporting and backing up your work and bring it to every class.

Please be respectful of your fellow students by turning off your cell phone and all other electronic devices during class.

Late work:
No late work will be accepted without prior arrangements with me. To request an extension, please email me (reillyc@uncw.edu) at least twenty-four hours prior to the due date for the work. Please do not request extensions verbally. Back up all verbal requests with an appropriate email request; this will help me to be aware of when to expect the submission of your assignment.

When you email me to request an extension, please specify the time and date on which you will submit the work. In general, the extension requested should not exceed two business days. The option to request extensions is open to all students. Most correctly requested extension requests are granted without question.

Plagiarism:
You must do your own original work in this class and identify that portion of your work that is collaborative with others, borrowed from others, or is your own work from other contexts. Whenever you borrow graphics, quote passages, or use ideas from others, you are legally and ethically obliged to acknowledge that use and follow appropriate conventions for documenting your sources.

To borrow someone else's writing or other texts/graphics without acknowledging that use is an act of academic as well as professional dishonesty, whether you borrow an entire assignment or a single sentence. Additionally, submitting work for the course that you have submitted in another course will also be considered an act of academic dishonesty. Any plagiarized or academically dishonest work done for this class will receive a failing grade and may result in you receiving a failing grade for the course.

Please review UNCW's new Honor Code. As per the guidelines from the Office of the Dean of Students, any instances of plagiarism or other forms of academic dishonesty of which I become aware must and will be reported to the Dean of Students.

Accommodations for students with disabilities:
According to Disability Services at UNCW accommodations for disabilities are made based on the documentation supplied by the student.

To obtain accommodations the student should contact Disability Services and present their documentation to the Director for review and verification. When the documentation is verified and approved, the student will be supported in his/her request for academic accommodations. Academic Accommodation Letters are provided for the student to take to the professor to discuss specific needs. Please contact Disability Services to begin this process. Be sure to share your Accommodation Letter with me at the start of the semester so that I can assist you.

Assignments

• Employment documents (50 pts)
• Ethics case (25 pts)
• PowerPoint vs Prezi report (100 pts)
• Website usability analysis and report (100 pts)
• Announced applications quizzes; completed in class only ( 5pts each)
• Standing extra credit opportunity (5 pts each; can be repeated 2 times)

Grading

A 93-100%	B+ 87-89	C+ 77-79	D+ 68-69
A- 90-92%	B 83-86	C 73-76	D 66-67
	B- 80-82	C- 70-72	D- 65
			F <64