UWP 104A-3 —
Business Reports and Technical Communication
Instructor: Andy Jones
Email: aojones@ucdavis.edu
Twitter: @andyojones (for immediate responses)
Office Hours: T, 11-12, Th, 2-3, & by appointment
Office: 353 Voorhies
CRN 81291 / 1 Olson / MW 10:30-11:50
Attendance Mandatory
Required Materials
- Alred, Brusaw, and Oliu, Handbook of Technical Writing, 9th edition (ISBN 0312575122)
- Harty, Strategies for Business and Technical Writing, 7th edition (ISBN 0205741916)
- Computer and internet access, and the ability to save docs in .doc or .rtf format
Course Goals
UWP 104A aims to prepare students to be effective communicators and writers in their future professional careers. Our class will help students to develop workplace writing skills and to understand and ultimately apply the technical and rhetorical principles guiding and underlying workplace writing practices. The course will introduce students to some of the basic issues, elements, and genres of business and technical communication:
- Differentiating academic and professional writing
- Analyzing contexts, purposes, and audiences to determine appropriate writing and design choices
- Employing writing as a process, including research, drafting, testing, revising, and editing
- Learning effective collaboration and project-management strategies
- Developing an effective professional tone and style
- Writing clear, concise, consistent, and accurate prose
- Employing rhetorical strategies for effective graphic and document design
- Becoming familiar with report genres of business and technical communication
- Gaining proficiency in using computer-mediated communications
- Learning incidentally about leadership, innovative and creative thinking, and networking
Our section of UWP 104A will focus on these themes: Participation, Originality, Leadership, Innovation, Technology, Independent Discoveries, Collaboration and Social Networking.
Prerequisites
To enroll in UWP 104A, you must have completed UWP 1 or ENL 3 or the equivalent, and have upper division standing. You should have also completed 84 units (College of Letters & Science) or 70 units (Engineering) before enrolling. UWP 104A can help fulfill required classwork for the Minor in Writing.
Add Policy
Students who are registered and present on the first day of class have priority. Registered students who are not present for any part of the first or second day of class will be asked to drop the course (unless the student has a valid excuse). When a student drops, a waitlisted student will be automatically added by SisWeb. If you are near the top of the waitlist, I encourage you to participate in and come to class prepared, as some registered students will drop. Instructors have no way of dropping absentee students. Permission to Add (PTA) numbers will be given out only on the last add day if there is room in the class. However, you will not be added if the class is already at 25, even if you have been attending.
Evaluation Standards
Each assignment will have specific evaluation criteria, which I will explain in class both orally and in written instructions. Generally, however, your grade on a writing assignment will reflect the quality of writing and research, not the time and effort expended, and will be based on how you will be expected to write in a business context. Failure to turn in early drafts or to respond to peers appropriately and on time will reduce your final grade by one letter or more and will result in a participation grade penalty. Grading standards are as follows (grades to be determined at the discretion of the instructor):
- A = Outstanding work: full, active, cooperative, and imaginative participation in all activities, exercises, and projects of the course; prose that consistently demonstrates the principles of effective business/technical writing, as outlined in the core texts.
- B = Very good work: full, active, and cooperative participation in all activities, exercises, and projects; prose that almost always demonstrates the principles of effective business/technical writing, with a few weaknesses.
- C = Satisfactory work: full, cooperative participation in all activities, exercises, and projects; prose that generally demonstrates the principles of effective business/technical writing, with a few weaknesses that compromise communication.
- D = Almost satisfactory work: almost full, usually cooperative participation in all activities, exercises, and projects: prose that sometimes demonstrates the principles of effective business/technical writing and/or that has significant weaknesses that compromise communication.
- F = Unsatisfactory work: inconsistent participation in activities, exercises, and projects; or prose that fails to demonstrate consistent application of the principles of effective business/technical writing and/or has weaknesses that severely compromise communication.
Please note: A grade of C- or better in the class is required to fulfill the university writing requirement.
Grading Policy
Your grade for the course will be based primarily upon (1) major assignments, (2) the collaborative research project, and (3) class participation, which includes quizzes on lectures/reading assignments, editorial reviews, attendance, in-class individual and team work, take-home activities, and team evaluations of your individual contribution to the collaborative project. Participation is a crucial part of the class and your grade. If you are not willing to engage in collaborative projects, you don’t want to take this course; non-participation is not an option. This focus on collaboration is a deliberate aspect of the course since so much professional writing is collaborative.
A passing grade for all the assignments is prerequisite to, but not a guarantee for, passing the course. Observe the following rules closely:
- Periodic quizzes will be given at the beginning of class. Being late or missing a quiz will hurt your final quiz grade, as quizzes cannot be made up. If you walk into class during a quiz, you will have only the class time remaining for the quiz to complete the quiz.
- You must complete all the assigned written work in order to pass the course. Assignments are due at the beginning of class on the day due. They are considered late thereafter. I will grant extensions only under serious circumstances, and only if you contact me prior to the due date.
- Submit your work on time. Your writing assignments will be docked a third of a letter grade for each business day that they are late. Thus, an assignment handed in two days late (submitted Wednesday when due on Monday) would be dropped from an A to a B+. An assignment due on Wednesday but handed in the following Monday would be given a C if it is “B” work. Your writing assignments will also be docked points if they are not accompanied by an “Editorial Response Sheet.”
- If you miss class, consider it your responsibility to access and complete any assignments that you missed. Assignments and handouts will be available on our course SmartSite immediately following each scheduled class. An absence, regardless of why you missed class, will not get you off the hook for a late assignment. I will take off points for all late work, regardless of whether or not you were in class the day an assignment was due. I will accept assignments as email attachments only under special circumstances and only if you have arranged to submit the assignment by email prior to the due date.
- Computer, printer, or disk failure is generally not a legitimate excuse for a late assignment. Complete all work in advance of the due date for a security margin. Save your work frequently.
Grading Scale
Grading for all assignments will be based on the following scale:
A = 94-100%
A- = 90-93%
B+ = 87-89%
B = 84-86%
B- = 80-83%
C+ = 77-79%
C = 74-76%
C- = 70-73%
D+ = 67-69%
D = 64-66%
D- = 60-63%
F = Below 60%
Absences
Unlike some of your classes, this course is skills-based. Consequently, the effects of this course are cumulative, and frequent absences will affect your progress and success dramatically. Instruction during class is largely based on our discussions, so it is impossible to offer a recap of what transpired. This is not a course where you can catch up on what happens during class. If you fall behind, you will stay behind.
If you miss more than two class periods, your participation grade will suffer. If you are absent, it is your responsibility to make yourself aware of all material you may have missed. I will post new assignments on SmartSite immediately following class (if not before via the andysclasses.com website). However, I will not recap on an website what we covered in class, nor will I post lecture notes. If you are absent, you need to contact one of your classmates to find out what we covered in class and what you need to do to prepare for the next class.
Tardies
Punctuality is an important attribute that you should maintain in both your academic and professional work. You will be considered tardy if you enter the classroom after I have started the class, and I typically begin at the scheduled time. You will be counted absent if you are more than 20 minutes late for class. I count every third tardy as an absence. Leaving class early is just as disruptive as arriving late; thus, if you leave class more than 20 minutes early, you will be marked as absent.
Plagiarism
Plagiarism is cause for a failing grade on an assignment, failure of the course, and possible expulsion from the university. Academic integrity is vital to this course. Plagiarism means representing the work (wording, organization, ideas) of someone else as your own without careful and accurate acknowledgment. Please be extremely careful to avoid copying material from electronic sources, whether purposefully or inadvertently. All material from electronic and print sources must be clearly and carefully documented.
If you are unsure as to what constitutes acceptable use of material from sources, or what kind of collaboration or outside help is acceptable, please do not hesitate to ask me. You can also access the Student Judicial Affairs website at http://sja.ucdavis.edu or contact them at 752-1128.
Academic Senate policy requires all instructors to refer cases of suspected misconduct to Student Judicial Affairs (SJA), which has the sole responsibility for adjudicating cases and determining penalties within guidelines consistent with UWP policies. If SJA determines that the paper has been plagiarized, the paper will receive a grade of “F”.
Regarding acknowledging one’s sources, my friend and colleague Rebekka Anderson deserves thanks for her 104A inspiration and help.
Disability Accommodations
If you have a disability and will require accommodations, please contact the Student Disability Center (drc.ucdavis.edu) as soon as possible to arrange for appropriate accommodations. Please also notify me during the first week of class of any accommodations needed.
Office Hours
I encourage you to stop by during my office hours if you have questions about your progress in the course, work we are doing, or if you have any other concerns. I will give only short answers to email questions. If you cannot make my office hours, please contact me to make an appointment. However, please don’t ask at the last minute. Plan your time accordingly. Also, ask me about Crepeville Sundays.
Final Note: Remaining in this course after you have received and read the course policies means that you understand the policies and agree to abide by them for the duration of the course.
