Course Syllabus

NORTHWOOD UNIVERSITY COURSE SYLLABUS
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INSTRUCTOR:          Dr. Geoffrey A. Grimes
PHONE:                     972-740-3125          
E-MAIL:                      grimesg@northwood.edu   
WEB SITE:                http://www.distancelearningassociates.com
OFFICE:                     By arrangement
OFFICE HOURS:      By appointment

 TEXT: Means, T. (2001). Communication for the Workplace. Cincinnati: Southwestern.

REQUIRED EQUIPMENT/MATERIALS: E-Mail Address, access to Microsoft Word (ONLY!) 

OMNIQUEST:  (To be announced)

CLASS TIME & LOCATION: Hopkins/Room 110, 6:00 – 9:30 p.m. on Wednesdays: November 30, January 22; 2:00 – 4:00 p.m. Wednesday, February 22. 
Conferences by arrangement;
Instruction online at http://www.distancelearningassociates.com/Eng260/index.htm

COURSE DESCRIPTION: This course deals with the techniques and psychology of effective business communication, with emphasis on business letters, reports and memoranda
Prerequisite: ENG 123

GOALS AND OBJECTIVES: By the end of this course, Northwood wants students to:

1.      Be able to set up business correspondence in appropriate business formats.

2.      Be able to write balanced, clear, concise, positive business correspondence.

3.      Have cultivated adaptation and empathy skills.

4.      Be able to subordinate bad news into non-threatening messages.

5.      Have practiced writing upward (to superiors) and downward (to subordinates) communication.

6.      Possess confidence and success consciousness in tone and style.

7.      Understand the legal ramifications of business correspondence.

8.      Have mastered and be able to employ the skills and techniques of effective business letters, reports and memoranda.

9.      Understand the psychology of the effects of written business communications.

ATTENDANCE POLICY:

Absence Policy
Northwood University expects students to attend all classes because of the adverse effects of absences on overall course achievement. Instructors take roll to be able to determine excessive absence patterns and to counsel with those students having excessive absence patterns. The administration provides faculty with information concerning field trip participation and other university-related activities that take students from class so that faculty can make judgments about the nature of student absences.  Students themselves furnish information to faculty about the nature of their absences. Students must assume full responsibility for work missed when they are absent.  This responsibility will be stressed during Freshman and Transfer Student Orientations.  Absences do not automatically lower a student’s earned grades by any universal formula.  Each faculty person clearly states the absence policy in effect for each class.  An excessive absence pattern may be an important factor in determining quiz, assignment, and test makeups as well as in averaging borderline letter grades. The absence policy for this course is as follows: More than three unexcused absences may lead to a failing grade for the course. 

NORTHWOOD ACADEMIC LAB: The Northwood Academic Lab, on all campuses, is available to help students facing writing and math challenges, and provides tutoring services for other courses.  The lab is also used for make-up testing as directed by the instructor.

ADA STATEMENT: If you are a student with a disability and/or special needs requiring ADA accommodation, please notify the Academic Dean, in writing, explaining your particular requirements.

RELIGIOUS HOLIDAY STATEMENT: Students who will be absent from class for the observance of a religious holiday must notify the instructor in advance.

WITHDRAWAL STATEMENT:  Anyone may withdraw through week 7 with a W.  Sometimes students withdraw from a course when help is available. Please consult with your instructor before withdrawing from this class.

OTHER COURSE POLICIES: Cell phones must be turned off during all class sessions. Students must exchange contact information for team communication. The Wall Street Journal may be used on occasion when appropriate. This course contains an Internet component which may, on occasion, substitute for traditional class meetings. All reading assignments must be completed before class on Tuesday of each week.

COURSE COMMUNICATION: The official e-mail communications channel for this course is the Northwood University E-Mail Account of each student and professor. For the purposes of this course, no other e-mail account is acceptable.

PLAGIARISM: A student guilty of plagiarism and/or cheating will receive a grade of F in the course involved and the grade will be so recorded on the transcript.  Students giving and receiving assistance in any unauthorized fashion during an examination subject themselves to this cheating policy.  A pattern of cheating will result in suspension.

GRADED MATERIAL & RELATIVE WEIGHT:

Your grade will be determined by a simple average of each of the exercises submitted.  These exercises will include a brochure produced for a real non-profit organization in the Northwood University service area (see Exercise 10).

GRADING SCALE:

Week 1        General Introduction (Chapters 1 - 3)

                     Chapter 4 “The Writing Process”

                     Complete Exercise 1

Week 2        Chapter 5,   “Writing Memos and E-Mails”

                      Complete Exercise 2

Week 3        Chapter 6, "Writing Letters to Your Clients and Customers

                     Complete Exercise 3

Week 4       Chapter 7, "Researching and Using Information"

                     Complete Exercise 4

Week 5        Chapter 8, "Developing and Using Graphic Aids"

                     Complete Exercise 5

Week 6        Chapter 9,   “Writing Routine Reports”

                     Complete Exercise 6

Week 7        Chapter 10,  "Writing Specialized Reports"

                     Complete Exercise 7

Week 8        Chapter 11,  "Technical Communication"

                     Complete Exercise 8

Week 9       Chapter 14,  "Employment Communication"

                     Complete Exercise 9

Week 10     Chapter 15, “Job Application and Interviewing Skills”

                     Complete Exercise 10
 

                     Final Exam – Objective Exam over major concepts of business correspondence; the exam will be delivered on
                     campus from 2 - 4 p.m. on Wednesday, February 22^nd.

Grading System
Your course grade will be determined by an average of the grades assigned on each of the exercises plus the grade on the final exam.  The exercise grades will be worth 75% of the final grade and the final exam grade will be worth 25% of the final grade.

NORTHWOOD UNIVERSITY MISSION STATEMENT

The mission of Northwood University is to prepare qualified undergraduate and graduate learners of any age or location with the tools, skills, and intellectual capacities for productive leadership careers in a global economic network of free markets and private enterprise. The University emphasizes experiential learning and innovation at graduate and undergraduate levels for both traditional and non-traditional students. Through general education and focused discipline study, learners are prepared for varied management careers. Additionally, our programs emphasize:

 ·      the dynamics of a free enterprise society in which management and entrepreneurial skills predominate and where individuals can take risk for individual and common good and gain,

·      the aesthetic, creative, and spiritual elements of life and their relative importance to living in the fullest sense, and

·      the global, diverse, and multi-cultural nature of enterprise. 

OUTCOMES

We measure our success by the outcomes our students achieve.  Our graduates:

1.      Understand the tradition of freedom.

2.      Have a broad practical understanding of their chosen field.

3.      Are familiar with the ideas driving enterprise leaders.

4.      Communicate effectively in speech and writing.

5.      Understand complex global issues.

6.      Have a constant attraction to new ideas.

7.      Can explain their personal values.

8.      Understand the aesthetic, creative and spiritual elements of life.

9.      Are effective self-evaluators.

10. Are action oriented.

11. Are skilled at detecting and solving problems.

12. Seek lifelong education

Students will be evaluated both objectively and subjectively.

Northwood University Code of Ethics

The community of students, faculty, and staff of Northwood University affirms this code of ethics as the behaviors that advance our shared values:

Integrity

In all our actions we shall be guided by a code of behavior which reflects our values, unimpeded by circumstance, personal gain, public pressure, or private temptation.

Respect

We will treat all others with consideration for their circumstances and with thoughtful regard for their value as human beings.

Honesty

We will embrace truthfulness, fairness, probity, and demand the absence of fraud or deceit in ourselves and others with whom we act.

Responsibility

We will be accountable for the care and welfare of others and responsible for the intended and unintended consequences of our actions.

Freedom

We will exercise personal freedom while insuring others be immune from arbitrary interference on account of condition or circumstance, insuring that freedom will be constrained only by our responsibility for its consequences.

Empathy

We will endeavor to understand the feelings, thoughts, and notions of others in order that compassion and fairness of our actions may result.

Spirituality

We will seek the spiritual development necessary for our happiness and growth and encourage an environment that supports this growth for all.

Achievement

We will exercise our skills to create high achievement and applaud the high achievement of others.

This page was last modified on December 4, 2004,
and is maintained by Dr. Geoffrey Grimes.