English
307, sections 5 & 6
Course Syllabus
Instructor:
David Menchaca
Office: CCIT #236, cubicle F
Offices Hours: W, 1-3
Office Phone: 626-2555
Engl Dept: ML 445, 621-1836 (leave msg)
Email: menchaca@email.arizona.edu
Web: www.ic.arizona.edu/~profcomm/menchaca
Section 5:
T, 2-3:15, HARV 105
R, 2-3:15, CCIT 319
Section 6:
T, 2-3:15, M LNG 502
R, 2-3:15, CCIT 319
Course Overview
Welcome to English 307.
What does "Professional Communication" mean? In a course focused
on Business Writing, professional communication is concerned with the language
practices used in professional settings. All settings
where humans conduct themselves with other humans tend to function through
language and practices based on common understandings. These practices are
specialized at various levels—for example, certain industries share common
communication practices, but even individual companies within an industry
might have even more specialized practices for internal communication.
Because there is no one way to communicate, but only communication practices that are appropriate for doing certain things at certain times, it would be impossible for a "business writing" course to teach you all of the possible ways you might need to communicate once you enter a profession. Regardless of the specifics of professional communication strategies, there are several important things you can learn that will enable you to understand professional communication, the technologies that shape and facilitate such communication, the effect of certain communication practices in actions, and, ideally, make appropriate choices for your own professional communication. Therefore, this course will focus on the analysis and practice of professional communication to achieve the following:
- Provide you with experience analyzing language practices from the professions enabling you to identify why certain practices are more appropriate in certain contexts.
- Provide you with experience utilizing professional communication practices in various forms to help you demonstrate your ability to apply rhetorical analyses to how you present yourself in professional communication.
- Provide you with experience analyzing and utilizing various technologies that shape professional communication to give you an awareness of the integral part technology increasingly plays in professional communication as well as practical skills with those technologies.
- Provide you with the opportunity to work individually or collaboratively with a group of colleagues on a professional communication project to give you experience with the implications of communication choices and the ability to follow through on a project from the initial to final stages.
To those ends, you will be doing many out of class written assignments (including the research and activities necessary to complete them), class activities, and group determined activities. See the course calendar for due dates.
A note about the use of technology in this class
While these particular sections of English 307 are structured as Profcomm courses, we will not be meeting online or using Workplace™. However, we will be meeting every Thursday in the CCIT 319 computer lab during our normally scheduled class time, and I have create two Caucus accounts--one for each class. Thus, the use of technology will be an integral part of our course work. One of our objectives in this class is to analyze communication practices, including the technologies--such as email and websites--which mediate those practices. We will be asking questions about how these technologies shape our ability to communicate in particular ways and with differing consequences. You will have hands on experience with the ways in which technology is reshaping the way we communicate.
A word of caution about electronic communication
One of the ramifications of certain communication technologies, such as email, is our increased expectation of immediate (or almost immediate) response. Although I welcome the opportunity to communicate with outside of class regarding your course work--either electronically or face-to-face--I also believe it is important for us all to be careful not to let "electronic availability" erase the boundaries between our working and non-working time. This is the long way of saying that, as an instructor, I will always reply to your emails. However, if I receive your email the midnight before an assignment is due, I may not be able to provide the extensive feedback a more timely request would afford.
Required Texts and Materials
Several computer floppy disks for saving your work.
Copies of your work as needed for class and group discussion.
The texts for this course are available online from the Profcomm website, or via the UofA library's Electroinc Reserves under English 307, sections 1-8. I will provide you with the password. You are expected to have completed all the readings by their due dates on the course calendar. We will be utilizing these readings throughout the course, and I will hold you responsible for having them read.
Assignment Overview
You can access all the general assignment sheets through the Profcomm website. The assignments, however, are contextualized specifically in this course according to a "professional communication scenario" based on The Profcomm Center.
You will be considered interns of The Profcomm Center for this course. As part of The Profcomm Center, our "division" has been given the assignment of examining professional communication technologies and practices. We are to investigate how communication technologies constrain and inform communication practices.
You will have some flexibility in your final projects. However, the project will result in an informative, analytical report and "online exhibit" about your focus area. You may focus on a specific field or organization, or you may focus an a more general history of the issue. For the project process, you will research the issue, write a formal proposal to do the project, complete the research, and produce both a project report and an exhibit. We will, of course, go over each of these steps in the process as the content of the class itself. However, to give you an idea of what kind of "exhibit" I have in mind for this Profcomm Center project, you might look at "On the Job: Design and the American Office" (http://www.nbm.org/Exhibits/New_On_The_Job_Text.html).
As interns for The Profcomm Center, your work for this course will contribute to the professional communication resources on the Profcomm website. If you do not want your materials published to this site, you will need to let me know.
Policies
Basically, I ask that you come to class, do the readings, participate in the discussions, invest yourself in the activities, work well with your group, and have a generally pleasant time in the course. Nonetheless, in as much as we are in an institution of higher learning, and I am held responsible for asking you to adhere to some more specific guidelines, you'll want to follow the link and read through the approved "Policies" of the composition program.
Course Calendar
Please see the calendar for due dates and specific activities. The calendar is always subject to change, so please check it regularly.
Grading
To complete this course
successfully, you must attend class and scheduled conferences, complete assignments
on time, and participate in class activities and discussions. Although the
writing assignments vary, I will evaluate your major assignments primarily
based on how effectively you have used appropriate rhetorical methods (both
document content and design) for the writing situation you are addressing.
If you have a question about your grade, please ask me about it. An important
thing to remember is that even if you feel you have done poorly on an assignment,
turn it in anyway! If you turn the assignment in, you will at least receive
some points that count towards your final grade. Otherwise, you will not receive
any points for the assignment.
Note: A word to the wise--keep copies of all of your assignments! Although
I don’t often lose things, it can happen. If you have a copy, we’ll
both be happier in the rare event that I misplace your paper.
The grades for the course will be determined according to the following scale:
|
Professional "Acceptance" Letter |
10% |
|
Memo of interests |
10% |
| Professional Biography Webpage | required, ungraded |
|
Project Proposal |
20% |
|
Final Project Report/Product |
20% |
|
Project Presentation |
10% |
|
Job Application Portfolio |
20% |
|
Informal Writing Assignments |
10% |
Assignment Format
In-class writing: These assignments can be hand-written or typed (if we are meeting in the computer lab)--the one requirement is that they are legible. These assignments will not be graded on grammar, spelling, or punctuation. (But here’s a hint: I will be less distracted and better able to focus on your insightful comments and ideas when I’m not distracted by major grammatical and spelling errors.)
All out of class assignments: All assignments that are turned in should be typed and formatted appropriately for the type of document you are writing. Occasionally, you will need multiple copies of your assignments for peer review.
If you are turning in an assignment electronically (either through email, diskette, or website), it is your responsibility to ensure that I have received the document and am able to access it. If I am unable to access your assignment electronically or if there is a problem with the file, I will notify you and you will then need to correct the problem and resubmit the assignment.
Be sure to keep the graded version of all of your assignments as you will be turning in a portfolio at the end of the semester.
Late Assignments: Late assignments are, well, late. Unless you have spoken with me beforehand to arrange for an extension, I will subtract 10 points from the assignment grade for each day the paper is late. I will not grant extensions just for any old reason, but if you absolutely cannot meet the deadline because of something unavoidable, contact me as soon as possible so we can discuss the situation. Computer problems are not an acceptable excuse for a late assignment--with the variety of resources on campus, you should have ample opportunity to complete your assignments on time. Backup your work more than once.