Department of English, Foreign Languages and Journalism
MWSU, Division of Liberal Arts & Sciences
Fall 2009

ETC 200: Introduction to Technical Communication
2:00 TR 119 Murphy

Schedule of Assignments

Professor: Dr. Kaye Adkins
Office: 222J Eder
Office Hours:9:00-10:45 TR, 10:00-12:00 W, by appointment
Email (my preferred method of communication): kadkins@missouriwestern.edu

Required texts and materials:
•    Pfeiffer and Adkins, Technical Communication: A Practical Approach, 7th ed.
•    Any good handbook of grammar and style
•    Jump drive for use in classroom and for transferring files
•    Knowledge of how to use the Missouri Western O and P drives to save paper, toner, and ink.  Whenever possible, save materials from the O drive to your P drive or a flash drive.  Save your papers to your P drive so that you always have access to them on campus.  You may also be asked to use your public_html folder for some of your shorter assignments and homework.
•    Plan to pay for additional printing charges once your free campus copies are used, or have access to your own printer and supplies.  Because this is a writing class, you will be asked to print a significant number of pages for your regular assignments and class materials.

Recommended (for English/Technical Communication majors):
•    Alred, Brusaw, and Oliu, Handbook of Technical Writing
•    Membership in Society for Technical Communication, MWSU chapter

Recommended (for all other students):
•    Brusaw, Alred, and Oliu, The Business Writer’s Handbook

Resources:
•    Society for Technical Communication <www.stc.org>
•    Jones, Dan. Technical Writing Style. Allyn Bacon, 1998
•    Eserver Technical Communication library 
•    Dr. Adkins’ Guide to Technical Communications resources on the Web 

Course Objectives:  This course will introduce you to the field of Technical Communication and to  opportunities for professional technical communicators. The course will include an overview of  issues in technical communication and an introduction to the genres of technical writing. Through short writing assignments, you will practice clear and concise written communication. This course will
•    Give you practice in analyzing rhetorical situations and responding to them in well-written documents
•    Give you practice in a clear, readable style that is effective in most writing situations
•    Familiarize you with the basic genres of technical communication
•    Help you understand how context and convention have influenced those genres
•    Give you practice in effective strategies for short forms of technical communication
•    Introduce you to the range of career opportunities in technical communication
•    Give you practice in using electronic tools for writing

Assignments: You should come to class prepared to discuss the assigned readings. Writing assignments will include short in-class writings and homework, a short analytical report, documents that respond to assigned situations, a portfolio of several documents that represent a variety of technical communication genres, and a proposal that addresses a real-world situation.
 
Portfolio materials: English majors with an emphasis in Technical Communication, Journalism, or Public Relations Writing are required to complete a graduation portfolio during their final semester at Western (EPR/ETC/JOU 401). From this class, I recommend that you consider using the analytical report, the proposal, or the portfolio of sample genres for your portfolio.
 
Grading: In business, there is no tolerance for grammar and spelling errors. When you put something on paper, you have provided a concrete representation of yourself. Your professionalism is in black and white, in someone's file, for future reference. Therefore, I will expect all work that you turn in to me to meet the highest standards of professional writing. All assignments should be typed or printed in letter quality, and formatted as indicated in your textbook and the Handbook. Grades will be weighted as follows:
Daily work and class participation
Major assignments     
Genres portfolio    
Analytical report    
Proposal    		 20%
20%
20%
20%
20%

Communication: I welcome the opportunity to talk to students about reading or writing assignments during my office hours.  You don’t need an appointment.  If you can’t drop by during my office hours, please make an appointment.  
     
Email is the official medium for communication at Missouri Western.  You should check your Missouri Western email account at least every other day.  This is how professors will contact you if they need to, and it is how you will receive information about campus events, scholarship and financial aid opportunities, and other important campus information. Some departments have student listservs to announce special events (like speakers or conference opportunities), scholarship deadlines, and the like. When you send an email to a professor or office on campus, you should send it from you Western email account, so that we know it is campus business.

A note on email etiquette: When you write an email to a professor, approach it as correspondence in a professional setting.  This means including an informative subject line (at the very least, the course number), complete sentences, correct grammar, punctuation, and spelling, a salutation, and a signature.  If you are including an attachment, you should tell the recipient what it is.

Civility and Cooperation:  Missouri Western requires all students to help us maintain good conditions for teaching and learning.  All students will treat their classmates, teachers, and student assistants with civility and respect, both inside and outside the classroom.  Students who violate this policy may, among other penalties, be counted absent and asked to leave.  You should review your Missouri Western student handbook, specifically sections of Community Expectations and Code of Conduct and Procedures, available at http://www.missouriwestern.edu/StudentDev/CommExpCodeofConduct.pdf,  for further information.
Absences: In order to improve student learning as well as to achieve compliance with federal financial aid policies, Western has a mandatory attendance policy for all 100- and 200-level courses. You will be given an excused absence when acting as an official representative of the university, provided you give prior written verification from the faculty/staff supervisor of the event.  All other absences will be deemed unexcused.  The maximum number of unexcused absences allowed for this class before the midterm report, October 16 is 3. Thus, when you have 4 unexcused absences you will be reported to the Registrar’s Office, who will automatically withdraw you from this class.  The Financial Aid Office will reduce financial aid as appropriate.

Students missing three class periods will have their semester grade lowered one letter grade.  If you miss class, check with your classmates (especially your workshop members) to find out what short assignments you missed.  You can also find the Schedule of Assignments on line (see below).  If you must be absent for a number of class sessions and you know in advance, please talk to me about it; otherwise, talk to me when you return.  I understand that many of you have work and family responsibilities, but you should make success in your college courses your priority. Your education is your most important job, so you should arrange your schedule accordingly.

Academic honesty: Academic honesty is required in all academic endeavors.  Violations of academic honesty include any instance of plagiarism, cheating, seeking credit for another’s work, falsifying documents or academic records, or any other fraudulent activity.  Violations of academic honesty may result in a failing grade on the assignment, failure in the course, or expulsion from the University.  When a student’s grade has been affected, violations of academic honesty will be reported to the Provost or designated representative on the Academic Honesty Violation Report forms.

Please see the 2009-10 Student Handbook and Calendar for specific activities identified as violations of this policy and the student due process procedure. This handbook is also available online at <http://www.missouriwestern.edu/handbook/index.pdf>.

Papers that have been plagiarized will receive no credit, and the student who submits such a paper will have to meet with me before any other work will be accepted.
 
Disabilities: Please let me know during the first week of class about any physical handicap or learning disability if you need special help or accommodation in order to do your best work.
 
Schedule: I try to adapt each of my classes to the needs and interests of the students.  This means that the Schedule of Assignments may change.