First Day - Syllabus and Course Intro

Course Logistics and Communication Protocols

• Course Identification: The course is English $20401$, section $103$, titled "Writing for the Workplace."

• Instructor Profile and Contact Information:

  • Office Location: The instructor's office is located on the $3rd$ floor, room $306$, directly across from the English department.

  • Communication Policy: Students should use regular email for all correspondence. Blackboard email is not checked frequently and may result in a response delay of several days.

  • Office Hours: The instructor's specific office hours are listed on the syllabus, and he is available to discuss assignments or course-related questions.

  • Addressing the instructor: The instructor has a long, compound first and last name. For email communication, students may address him using only the first word of his last name.

• Digital Infrastructure:

  • Blackboard: The Blackboard shell will be populated with folders by the end of the first day. Materials will be added to these folders incrementally throughout the semester. A PDF copy of the syllabus is available on the platform.

  • Electronic Textbook: The course utilizes a free e-book written by Hamlin. Hyperlinks to the text are available within the syllabus PDF on Blackboard.

Instructor Background and Personal Details

• Origin and Geography: The instructor and his wife were born in Morocco, located in North Africa. He highlights a fun fact: Morocco was the first country in the world to recognize the independence of the United States in $1777$.

• Geographic Proximity: Morocco is located approximately $10$ miles across the Mediterranean Sea from Spain. A ferry ride between the two countries takes approximately $40$ minutes. He mentions a historical event from $13$ years ago where a female athlete from the swimming team successfully swam across the strait from Morocco to Spain (Africa to Europe) in a couple of hours.

• Educational Background: The instructor holds three degrees in the following fields:

  • English.

  • Political Science.

  • Leadership Studies.

• Work Experience:

  • Current Role: Teaching.

  • Most Difficult Past Job: Approximately $17$ years ago during graduate school, he worked at a call center conducting surveys related to sports and politics. The job was difficult because people would frequently hang up or use profanity.

• Interests and Preferences:

  • Television: Enjoys late-night talk shows.

  • Sports: Watched the soccer World Cup during the summer; Morocco reached the quarterfinals but lost to France with a score of $2$ to $0$.

  • Travel: Has visited Morocco, the United States, Canada, Spain, Belgium, France, and England. Spain is his favorite due to its proximity to his home country.

  • Favorite Business: The Cheesecake Factory. He notes there isn't one in West Virginia, with the closest locations being in Columbus or Lexington (a $2$-hour drive).

  • Dream Jobs: If money were not a factor, he would want to work at the Moroccan pavilion at EPCOT in Disneyland or at an airport due to the atmosphere of travel.

Course Philosophy and Comparison to Academic Writing

• Practical Focus: This course differs significantly from English $101$ and English $201$. While those are academic writing courses, this is a technical writing course tailored for business students (Accounting, Management, Marketing, etc.).

• Document Nature:

  • Workplace writing focuses on styles and forms used in professional environments.

  • Technical documents are typically shorter (one-page) compared to long academic research papers (which can reach $8$ to $10$ pages).

  • The primary goal is to be direct, concise, and formal, avoiding unnecessary "fluff."

  • Writing shorter documents can be more challenging because they require high precision and clarity.

Grading and Assessment Structure

• Evaluation Method: The course uses a percentage-based grading system rather than a cumulative point total.

• Assignment Weighting:

  • Lower Weight ($5\%\text{-}10\%$): Emails ($10\%$), Personal Bio ($5\%$), and Business Case Readings ($5\%$).

  • Higher Weight ($20\%\text{-}25\%$): The Revision Portfolio is worth $20\%$ of the final grade.

  • Individual Assignment Grading: Every assignment is initially graded out of $10$ points, then weighted according to its percentage in the final grade calculation.

• Exam Policy: There are no quizzes, no midterm exams, and no final exams.

Assignments and Deliverables

• Emails: Students will generate $2$ professional emails.

• Business Letters: Students will write $2$ formal letters.

• Memos: There are $3$ memos in total. The third memo serves as a precursor/proposal for the final project.

• Personal Bio Essay: A non-technical document due by the end of Wednesday of the second week. It allows the instructor to understand students' majors and backgrounds.

• Formal Business Proposal: The final project of the semester, spanning $5$ to $7$ pages.

• Final Presentation: Based on the formal business proposal.

• Revision Portfolio: A collection of revised, polished drafts of all semester assignments, submitted at the end of the term.

The Drafting and Revision Cycle

• The "Tuesday/Wednesday" Cycle:

  • Tuesday: First drafts are due in class. Students should bring their drafts on a laptop.

  • In-Class Activity: Students perform "Self-Revision" (not peer revision). The instructor provides revision prompts on the big screen. Students add "embedded comments" to their own drafts indicating where they need to add detail or make changes.

  • Wednesday: The revised draft is due on Blackboard by the end of the night.

  • Submission Requirements: Students must upload two files: the first draft (with embedded comments) and the revised draft (with changes applied and comments removed).

• Office Conferences: Toward the end of the semester, normal classes are cancelled for four sessions. Instead, the instructor meets with each student individually for $15$ minutes in his office to review the first draft of the final project.

Classroom Policies and Expectations

• AI Policy: The instructor adopts a moderate stance. AI can be used for brainstorming and grammar checks, but it should not be used to generate the actual copy of the emails, letters, or assignments.

• Attendance and Late Work: Students must email the instructor ahead of time if they must miss class. Specific policies on late work and plagiarism are detailed in the syllabus.

• Beginner Level Course: The instructor emphasizes that this is a beginner-level course. It covers the basic conventions and mechanics of workplace communication. While some students may find the basics (like salutations or "thank you" notes) simple, they are essential for professional communication.

• Reading Assignments: Readings are listed on the schedule (e.g., Hamlin $1.2$ or $1.5$). Students are expected to complete the reading and bring a few handwritten notes to class for discussion. These notes do not need to be typed or formatted.

Semester Schedule and Significant Breaks

• October Break: No class on October $8$.

• Week $13$: No regular classes held due to individual office conferences.

• November $6$ (Thursday): No class due to office conferences.

• Thanksgiving Break: Normal break schedule applies.

• Final Presentations: These begin the week before Thanksgiving. If the instructor travels overseas on November $19$ (Week $14$), presentations may be shifted to Week $17$ (Finals Week).

• Week $17$: Typically no class as there is no final exam, unless needed for overflow presentations.

Peer Introduction Activity (Icebreaker)

Students interviewed partners and shared the following information:

• Caroline & Marley: Marley is from Hurricane, majoring in Sport Business.

• Elijah & AJ: AJ is from Columbus, Ohio, majoring in Business Entrepreneurship; works at Texas Roadhouse; formerly worked at Friendship Kitchen; favorite show is Slip O; wants to be a restaurant owner.

• Partner & Blake: Blake is from Walton, WV (Roan County), majoring in Accounting; worst job was summer camp counselor; performed at a brewery; wants to visit Ireland; dream job is Paleontology.

• Rafe & Talina: Talina is from South Charleston, WV, majoring in Marketing/Management; current SI leader; favorite show is The Mindy Project; visited The Vatican; dream job is Filmmaker at Netflix.

• Eli & Brendan: Brendan is from Ashland, KY, majoring in Accounting; works at Lowe's; struggled with the difficulty of TurboTax during tax season; dream job is owning a law firm.

• Brendan & Eli: Eli is from Winfield, WV, majoring in Marketing; works as a boot salesman; worst job was lifeguarding; recently got married; has visited Austria, Mexico, Aruba; dream job is sailor or classical pianist.

• Ian: From Wayne, WV, majoring in Management; works at Walmart; worst job was laying plastic in a crawl space; favorite show is Cobra Kai; dream job is guitar tech.

• Connor & Logan: Logan is from Parkersburg, majoring in Accounting.

• Mallie & Ethan: Ethan is from Huntington, majoring in Finance; does junk removal/mowing; visited Tokyo and Seoul during study abroad with Timothy Bryan; wants to be a CFO.

• Ethan & Mallie: Mallie is from Huntington, majoring in Music Industry; works at Bath and Body Works; favorite show is Suits; has visited Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Argentina, Brazil, and Haiti.

In-Class Writing Exercise

• Scenario: A student applies for a job $4$ weeks ago. The posting promised a response within $2$ weeks. No contact has been made by the employer.

• Task: Students had $5$ minutes to write a short, professional email to the employer inquiring about the status of their application. These were collected at the end of class along with a sign-out sheet for attendance.