About the Class

Class Location: Online in iCollege

Class Meetings: Mondays and Wednesdays, 3:15 pm – 4:30 pm

Office Hours: Wednesdays, 3:30 – 4:30, and by appointment via WebEx

Course Description

ENGL 3130: Business Writing applies advanced composition to business writing techniques and problems. It is specific in both content and approach, as it focuses on the development of strong, practical communication skills. The ability to effectively communicate is highly desired in the business world—in fact, it’s one of the skillsets employers value most.  Good business writing communicates in an efficient and effective manner, relying on a strong awareness of audience and tone.

This course offers an introduction to the techniques and types of professional writing, including correspondence and reports. It is designed to help strengthen skills of effective business and professional communication in both oral and written modes. After successful completion of this course, students will have the skills necessary to communicate effectively in a variety of professional situations.

Course Goals

• To foster a view of writing as situated action
• To foster writing practice that demands a consideration of ethics
• To create real and relevant contexts for writing within a business setting
• To nurture critical thinking about how language and technology contribute to business practices
• To support students as they professionalize in their careers

Course Outcomes 

Upon successful completion of this course, students should be able to:

• Analyze written and verbal communications and evaluate their usefulness, relevance, rhetorical components, and stylistic elements
• Think critically about rhetorical choices and audience awareness
• Compose effective and persuasive written, visual, and oral texts for diverse audiences
• Recognize and implement the qualities associated with effective business writing, particularly the hallmarks of correctness, conciseness, coherence, and clarity
• Design visually attractive documents with informative and eye-catching visual elements
• Use technology to effectively present your messages
• Conduct research using a broad range of sources, synthesizing and judging the quality of collected information
• Communicate ethically
• Write in a variety of workplace genres including resumes, letters, emails, memos, and reports

Course Texts

 

Textbook: Business Writing Today: A Practical Guide, 3rd. Ed., SAGE Publishing, 2019.

by Natalie Canavor

Additional Texts: Available on iCollege

 

Policies and Procedures

(for a complete list of policies and procedures, please consult the downloadable syllabus)

Attendance and Participation

Punctuality is important in business – it demonstrates both commitment and respect. While we are not meeting face-to-face this semester, you will still be asked to pay attention to any relevant due dates and attend any synchronous meetings, including peer reviews. Missed peer reviews cannot be made up, so please mark them according to the agenda.

iCollege

Our class will be delivered on iCollege, solely; consider it our classroom. Using the Content tab, you can find our weekly assignments, discussion boards, additional readings and interactive calendar. You will also find a deconstructed version of this syllabus. Most importantly, iCollege is where you will submit all of your assignments and where I will deliver feedback and grades. Log on each week to read the weekly class announcement. I will also post any updates or changes to the Announcements page.

Academic Honesty/Plagiarism

Your word and reputation are integral to business success, which is based on trust. Plagiarism, which violates trust, is a form of academic dishonesty. Note that plagiarism is not defined by your intent– whether on purpose or by accident, uncredited use of another’s work is plagiarism. We will discuss plagiarism and tactics for avoiding it, but please familiarize yourself with Georgia State’s policy on Academic Honesty, which applies to every course you take at Georgia State and refers to all writing you do — drafts, responses, and final papers. Any submitted work that is plagiarized or violates the university academic honesty policy will receive an automatic zero for the assignment grade. If you are ever unsure in your own work, please do not hesitate to ask me: https://codeofconduct.gsu.edu/files/2019/07/2019_7_3_Academic_Honesty.pdf

The Work

Our semester is being delivered largely online and is project-forward, which means grades will be connected chiefly to major assignments. However, there will still be weekly assignments, like discussion posts and collaborative activities.

 

Note: This course is by its very nature writing-intensive. For your own sanity, plan for the workload. This syllabus reflects a plan for the course. Deviations from this plan may become necessary as the semester progresses. You are responsible for taking note of any changes that occur.

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Blog Posts

Throughout the semester, you will have a total of (4) blog posts due. The blog entry topics I leave to your discretion, but they should tie to your field. Is something new in the music industry? Did you attend a fascinating workshop or lecture by someone in your area of study? Is there a news item you’d like to respond to? You will submit each post link to iCollege individually. Although it may sound like a daunting amount of writing, it’s an inescapable fact that writing improves through practice, and these blogs are a chance to try out different genres, modes, and tones. 

Interoffice Correspondence Package (ICP)

Email, Interoffice memo, business letter. The Interoffice Writing Package will help you develop a consistent set of internal writing protocols.

Social Media Package (SMP)

A brief summary of three (3) Social Media platform plus three posts that tie into your professional web presence. You will choose the platforms from a list.

Job Market Package (JMP)

In the JMP, you will build professional materials you can take with you as you seek out jobs, internships, scholarships, or graduate programs. Includes the resume/ CV, cover letter, and LinkedIn profile.

Professional Website

Your website should illustrate the principles of good writing and design that we discuss throughout the semester. It also hosts your blog posts as well as your job market materials and links to your social media package. You can update this throughout the semester, but the final version will be due as our calendar notes.

Presentations

Two presentations. The first presentation will be a developed PowerPoint that critiques the social media presence of a company or individual and . The second presentation will be a 1 to 2-minute elevator pitch accompanied by a proposal memo—you may pitch a new product, service, or yourself. This second presentation may also be a video project or narrated ppt and will be published on your website.