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BUSINESS COMMUNICATION 305

Course Syllabus

Description: Business Communication 305 is concerned with improving your communication skills--both oral and written. The focus of the course is on the adaptation of language when communicating in a business environment.

You will be assigned a variety of problems to learn to apply your knowledge and

experience. Specifically, the course is divided into three broad categories: (1) language skills, (2) business correspondence, and (3) interpersonal communica-tion.

Text: Materials to study for BSCM 305 will be posted on Moodle. Prerequisites: English 102, proficiency with and computer access to a word processing software

package, and computer access to Moodle. Course The primary objectives of the course are designed to provide you with the Objectives: opportunity to develop 1. a competency in basic writing skills and

2. an ability to compose business communications in solving different types of

business problems. Course Reading assignments will be given on a regular basis (please reference Require- Moodle where these assignments may be accessed). ments:

It will be necessary that you have access to a computer that will enable you to either download or access Moodle . Required handouts and reading assignments will be “posted” via Moodle, and you should be able to print these handouts and assignments on a daily basis. Typewritten/printed assignments will be required in the course. (Note: It is important that all written assignments be turned in by the date on which the assignment is due.) A penalty of one letter grade will be assessed for a written assignment that is up to one week late. A penalty of two letter grades will be assessed for a written assignment that is up to two weeks late, and a penalty of three letter grades will be assessed for a written assignment that is over two weeks late. WARNING: Always submit a “hard copy” of any transmitted e-mail attachment during the class period immediately following your e-mail transmission. The e-mail transmission will be used to determine your “late submission” date for your grade reduction (if any). Save a copy of your e-mail and attachment for “proof of submission” date. It is the hard copy personally submitted to Dr. Pullis, however, that is graded. Should a class absence be

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unavoidable (illness, death in the family, TDY, etc.), I will be reasonable in assisting you in making up your homework assignments. A midterm and a final examination will be administered to all students enrolled for credit in BSCM 305.

Attendance: Punctual and regular class attendance is expected. Should a class absence be

unavoidable, please arrange with a classmate to obtain for you copies of any handouts you may have missed. Also, arrange for your classmate to turn in any homework for you that is due on the date you will be unable to attend a class session. As was noted in the discussion of course requirements, should a class absence be unavoidable (illness, death in the family, TDY, etc.), I will be reasonable in assisting you in making up the homework assignments without penalty. A missed spelling/multitasking test, a missed weekly writing quiz, or a missed in-class or out-of-class writing assignment (up to a maximum of two) will be made up at a designated time during the quarter. A missed midterm exam will be made up during (i.e., immediately following) the next class period.

Remember: A late assignment that is submitted up to one week after the original due date will be penalized one letter grade. A late assignment that is submitted up to two weeks following the original due date will be penalized two letter grades. A late assignment that is submitted over two weeks after the original due date will be penalized three letter grades (see Course Requirements).

You should always submit a “Late Assignment Submission Form” with any late assignment submission.

Class absences exceeding 20% of the total class meetings, regardless of the reason

for the absences, are considered to be excessive. Special If you are officially registered (and have a letter/memorandum to that effect) from Accommo- the Office of Disabled Student Services and are requesting special accommoda- dations: tions for this class, please explain privately to Dr. Pullis early in the quarter what

accommodations are necessary in order that appropriate arrangements can be made. Students needing testing or classroom accommodations based on a dis-

ability are encouraged to discuss those needs with me as soon as possible. Grading: Two major objective examinations (a midterm examination and a final

examination) will be given in the course. The midterm examination will represent 25% of your overall grade, and the final examination will constitute 25% of your overall grade. In-class and out-of-class writing assignments and daily/weekly writing tests and spelling/multitasking/diligence tests will constitute 50% of your grade. The "weight" given to each writing assignment will be a function of the difficulty of the assignment. For example, should a writing assignment receive a grade of 9/10, you would have received 90% on a writing assignment weighted ten points. Should you receive a 14/20 on the next writing assignment, you would have received 70% on a writing assignment weighted twenty points. Your "grade average" on the first two writing assignments would be 23/30, or 77% (C+). A grading scale of 60, 70, 80, and 90 is used for letter grades of D, C, B, and A, respectively. A grade of A represents outstanding performance; a grade of B

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represents excellent performance; a grade of C represents good performance; a grade of D represents fair (marginally acceptable) performance; and a grade of F represents poor (unacceptable) performance.

Calculating a "weighted" course average: If calculating a "weighted" course

average is "old hat" to you, fill free to skip this section. If calculating a "weighted" course average is a new concept to you, please read this

section very carefully. For illustrative purposes, let us assume that a student has an in-class and out-of-

class writing and daily test average of 90, a midterm exam score of 60, and a final exam score of 50. The student's course average would be 73. (90 * .50) + (60 * .25) + (50 * .25) = 73.

Do not "pool" all of your grades together without first calculating your average on

each of the three major components (in-class and out-of-class writing and daily test average [50%], midterm exam [25%], and final exam [25%]) and then applying the appropriate "weight" to that specific component average. Again, the "weight" being assigned in BSCM 305 to each of the three major components is as follows: in-class and out-of-class writing and daily test average = 50%; midterm exam = 25%; and the final exam = 25%.

Instructors: Dr. Joe M. Pullis Office Phone: 257-2368 Box 3027 Tech Station Office: CoBB 335 Ruston, LA 71272 Home Phone: 318-255-8830 pullis@latech.edu Dr. Robert M. Pullis Office Phone: 257-2241 Box 3027 Tech Station Office: CoBB 207 Ruston, LA 71272 Home Phone: 281-797-3268 rpullis@latech.edu Business Communication 305 is team taught by Dr. Joe M. Pullis and by Dr. Robert M. Pullis. Do not be reluctant to phone Dr. Joe Pullis at home (1-318-255-8830) between 6:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. on weekdays or at any time on weekends. The Tech e-

mail address for Dr. Joe Pullis is pullis@latech.edu Do not be reluctant to phone Dr. Rob Pullis at home (1-281-797-3268) between

7:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. on weekdays. The Tech e-mail address for Dr. Rob Pullis is rpullis@latech.edu

The home e-mail address for Dr. Rob Pullis is robertpullis@yahoo.com

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Should you send Dr. Joe Pullis or Dr. Rob Pullis an e-mail message, please use the following subject line: BSCM 305 Also, be sure to "type your name" at the end of the e-mail message.

When sending either Dr. Joe Pullis or Dr. Rob Pullis an e-mail message, please

use both of the following email address(s) in your email. pullis@latech.edu, rpullis@latech.edu Always indicate your first and last name in any e-mail message. Also, if you

are including an attachment to your e-mail, please indicate in your message that you have included an attachment.

Reminder: You will need computer access to Moodle in order to access and print

your assignments in Business Communication 305. Please “fill in” the appropriate dates corresponding to the class meetings for the

following lectures (if not already "inserted"). Office Hours: Office hours for any given quarter will always be posted on my office door

(College of Business Building 335 for Dr. Joe Pullis and College of Business Building 207 for Dr. Rob Pullis) as well as presented in class. If my office hours are not convenient for you, we can arrange a time that works best with your schedule. NEVER be reluctant to visit with me regarding any course-related matter. If possible, I will try to always be available after class to discuss any course-related topic with you.

Honor Code: Business Communication 305 will adhere to the Louisiana Tech University Honor Code (http://www.latech.edu/administration/policies-and-procedures/2207.shtml). In accordance with the Academic Honor Code, students pledge the following: "Being a student of higher standards, I pledge to embody the principles of academic integrity." Also, Louisiana Tech University adheres to the equal opportunity provisions of federal and civil rights laws and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, or disability. The Title IX Coordinator is Mrs. Carrie Flournoy, President's Office, P. O. Box 3168; phone: (318) 257-3785; E-mail: flournoy@latech.edu The Section 504 Coordinator is Dr. Linda D. Griffin, 305 Keeney Hall; phone: (318) 257-2445; E-mail: lgriffin@latech.edu Emergency All Louisiana Tech students are strongly encouraged to enroll and update their Notification contact information in the Emergency Notification System. It takes just a few System: seconds to ensure you're able to receive important text and voice alerts in the event of a campus emergency. For more information on the Emergency Notifi- cation System, please visit http://ert.latech.edu Attachments (2): Business Communication 305 Reading Assignments Late Assignment Submission Form BC 305 Syllabus Winter 2015 T-R (21) JMP & RMP v.14.09.04

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BUSINESS COMMUNICATION 305 READING ASSIGNMENTS

(Tentative)

Lecture Period 1 Wednesday, December 3, 2014 Introduction: Writing Mechanics Overview

Mechanics of Writing

Lecture Period 2 Monday, December 8, 2014

Mechanics of Writing

Periods, Question Marks, and Exclamation Points Commas Semicolons, Colons, Dashes, and Hyphens Quotation Marks, Parentheses, Underscores, and Apostrophes

Abbreviations Capitalization Number Expression

Lecture Period 3 Wednesday, December 10, 2014 Theme Formatting Writing Letters to Your Clients and Customers Selecting Order and Formatting Your Letters Writing Letters with a Neutral or Positive Message Writing Letters with a Negative Message Spelling/Multitasking/Diligence Test #1

Lecture Period 4 Monday, December 15, 2014 Letters and Memoranda Formatting Distinguishing a Theme from a Report from a Research Paper Sentence Punctuation and Evaluation Test #1

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Lecture Period 5 Wednesday, December 17, 2014 Writing with Style Planning and Organizing Messages Choosing Words Creating Vigorous Sentences Building Strong Paragraphs Editing and Proofreading Messages Spelling/Multitasking/Diligence Test #2 Lecture Period 6 Monday, January 5, 2015 Writing Memos and E-mail Uses of Internal Documents Formatting and Writing Effective Internal Documents Abuses of Internal Documents Writing Meeting Communications Sentence Punctuation and Evaluation Test #2 Lecture Period 7 Wednesday, January 7, 2015 Technical Communication Writing to Instruct Writing to Describe Writing to Persuade Spelling/Multitasking/Diligence Test #3 Lecture Period 8 Monday, January 12, 2015

Getting Your Job Analyzing Yourself and the Market Writing Your Resume Composing Your Letter of Application and Completing the Application Form

Interviewing Well and Writing the Follow-up Letter Sentence Punctuation and Evaluation Test #3

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Lecture Period 9 Wednesday, January 14, 2015 Review & Practice Test Spelling/Multitasking/Diligence Test # 4 Lecture Period 10 Wednesday, January 21, 2015 Review Sentence Punctuation and Evaluation Test #4 Lecture Period 11 Monday, January 26 2015 Midterm Exam – (Please bring a pencil.) Lecture Period 12 Wednesday, January 28, 2015 Language Foundations Review Parts of Speech Nouns Pronouns Pronoun-Noun Agreement Lecture Period 13 Monday, February 2, 2015 Language Foundations Review (Continued) Verbs Subject-Verb Agreement Adjectives Adverbs Prepositions Conjunctions and Interjections Language Foundations Review (Continued) Spelling/Multitasking/Diligence Test #5

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Lecture Period 14 Wednesday, February 4, 2015 Language Foundations Review (Continued) Sentence Punctuation and Evaluation Test #5 Lecture Period 15 Monday, February 9 2015 Nonverbal Communication: A Key to Accurate Communication Listening: An Important Interpersonal Skill Presentations and Meetings Oral Presentations Effective Meetings Spelling/Multitasking/Diligence Test #6 Lecture Period 16 Wednesday, February 11, 2015 Descriptive Language Sentence Punctuation and Evaluation Test #6 Lecture Period 17 Wednesday, February 18, 2015

Descriptive Language

Lecture Period 18 Monday, February 23, 2015 Descriptive Language Review for Final Exam

Lecture Period 19 Wednesday, February 25, 2015 Final Exam for Graduating Seniors – (Plese bring a pencil.)

Make-up Weekly Spelling/Multitasking/diligence Tests and Weekly Sentence Punctuation and Evaluation Test

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Lecture Period 20 Monday, March 2, 2015 Final Exam – (Please bring a pencil.) Please note the following "Late Assignment Submission Form." BC 305 Syllabus Winter 2015 M-W (20) JMP & RMP v14.09.04

Name ______________________________________________________ BSCM 305 Section _____ Row _____ Seat _____

LATE ASSIGNMENT SUBMISSION FORM

Complete this form and submit it with your late assignment.

The date on which this assignment was originally due was Was the late submission of this assignment due to a class absence? YES NO If the late submission of this assignment was due to a class absence, how many class absences including this absence have you incurred so far during this quarter in this course? 1 2 3 4 _____ 5 _____ 6 ____ 6+ [Class absences exceeding 20% of the total number of class meetings, regardless of the reason for the class absence, are considered to be excessive.] The reason this assignment could not be submitted on time (either in person, by a classmate, by e-mail, or by snail mail) is as follows: Brief Description of Assignment: _________________________________________________ The grade deduction for this late assignment should be 1 letter grade 2 letter grades 3 letter grades Assignments that are up to one week late receive a one-letter-grade deduction. Assignments that are up to two weeks late receive a two-letter-grade deduction, and assignments that are over two weeks late receive a three-letter-grade deduction. Remember that if you are absent from class, you may have a class partner submit your assignment, or you may e-mail your assignment to me as an e-mail attachment. If you e-mail your assignment to me as an e-mail attachment (pullis@cab.latech.edu), you must also provide me with a “hard copy” of the assignment during the next class period. The number of late assignments, including this assignment, you have submitted in this course is 1 2 3 3+

Date Print Student’s Name BC 305 Syllabus Winter 2015 M-W (20) JMP & RMP v14.09.04 Student’s Signature