The mission of the Alamogordo Branch of New Mexico State University, a comprehensive community college is to

1. provide quality education that includes academic, technical, vocational, developmental, and career-oriented skills;
2. promote student competence, confidence, and success by providing personal enrichment programs through continued response to the cultural, intelectual, and economic needs of the community;
3. maintain active ties and continuity with the main campus; and
4. afford equal opportunity for individuals who meet admission criteria to receive educational services within the community without regard to age, ancestry, color, disability, gender, national origin, race, religion, sexual orientation, or veteran status.

Prerequisite: Credit for English 111G

Catalogue Description: Effective writing for courses and careers in business, law, government, and other professions. Strategies for researching and writing correspondence and reports, with an emphasis on understanding and responding to a variety of communication tasks with a strong purpose, clear organization, and vigorous professional style.

Background: In the past, many business and accounting students at NMSU-A have found that the course English 218G, Scientific and Technical Communication fits--or is accepted--in their degree plans, including business degree plans. There will still be some overlap of rhetorical information and communication skill development between English 218G and English 203G. But, in order to better prepare students for specific disciplinary demands and work place demands, we offer English 203G to target the skills needed for success in the business environment. To that end, this course will draw upon communications assignments, such as case analyses, commonly found in the fields of business and law.

Course Objectives: Students will gain the ability to

• read and critically analyze management texts and case studies
• analyze audiences and, to some extent, organizational cultures
• plan and research written and oral communication using planning guides and various research tools, including the Internet
• draft and revise written and oral communication, striving for professional style
• design documents based on sound principles of layout and reader reception
• use current communications technologies
• work in effective project teams

Grading: Grades will be figured as follows:
 

Grade Points	Assignments
0, but required	Self-introduction posted to the Class Notice board
10	Quiz #1, Part 1
20	Individual Project:  1 pg. Memo. May be revised
10	Quiz #2, Part 2
20	Group Project:  1-2 pg. Bad News Letter.  May be revised.
10	Quiz #3, Part 3
10	Quiz #4, Part 7
10	1 pg. Application (Cover) Letter.  May be revised.
20	1-3 pg. Resume.  May be revised.
10	Quiz #5, Part 4
20	Group Website:  1-2 pg. Project Plan
20	Group Website:  1 pg. Progress Report
40	Group Website:  Publishable Product. 3-4 web pages.
10	Quiz #6, Part 5
10	Quiz #7, Part 6
20	1 pg. Proposal for Formal Business Report, Proposal, or Plan
40	Annotated Bibliography for Formal Report, Proposal, or Plan
30	Oral Report, 4-6 minutes; requires visuals
90	Formal Business Report, Proposal, or Plan.  4-8 pages of text, not counting formal elements; requires graphics
400 Total Points

Semester Grade Totals:  400-360=A; 359-320=B; 319-280=C; 279-240=D; Below 240=F

Attendance Policy

25 bonus points are possible for attendance.  However, since bonus points are possible for attendance, there are NO EXCUSED ABSENCES, except for authorized University functions, as provided for in the Student Handbook. Also, absences and tardies may eventually cost you points, and therefore semester grades, thus:
 

+1 point for each class, up to 25;  excludes 1st class, conference days, final exam

-10 points for each absence

-5 points for each tardy

Top of page

Required Texts:

Bovee, Courtland,  John Thill, and Barbara Schatzman.  Business Communication Today.  7th ed. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2000. [Referred to below as BCT]

Hacker, Diane.  A Pocket Manual for English.  St. Martin's, 2000.

Optional Texts:

Brusaw, Charles, Gerald Alred, and Walter Oliu. The Business Writer's Handbook. 6th ed. New York: St. Martin's, 2001.

Other Required Tools: A computer lab account; 4-5 computer disks, constantly checked for viruses;
A good dictionary; a medium three-ring notebook, filler paper, dividers, pens and pencils
 

Instructor Contact Information	email:  mcneel@nmsua.nmsu.edu website: http://alamo.nmsu.edu/~rmcneel
Ron McNeel  Humanities Coordinator Professor of English	Office Hours: Mondays & Wednesdays, 3:45-6:00 Tuesdays & Thursdays, 9-10:45 & 1-1:45      and by appointment Office #115, Faculty Office Building  Office Phone:  439-3742

Top of Page

Any changes will be announced in advance.
 

Session #	Class Date	Activities and Assignments
1	W, Jan. 8	Registration matters. Introduction to the course: "The Rules We Play By." Introduction to the text.
2	M, Jan. 13	Discuss Chapter 1.  Introduction to English 203G Classboard on Pegasus Mail, and/or WebCT.. Ungraded Assignment: Post a self-introduction to the classboard by Thursday, 1/21.  Bring and discuss business communications artifacts.
3	W, Jan. 15	Discuss Chapter 2.  Exercise in ethics:  case study.  Formation of  volunteer Total Quality Classroom Team.
	F, Jan. 17	Last Day to add a class.
	Mon. Jan. 20 & Tue. Jan. 21	Martin Luther King Jr.Holiday.  Take action in the community for social justice.
4	W, Jan. 22	Discuss Chapter 3.  TQC meeting.
5	M, Jan. 27	Assignment of memo.  Lecture on correspondence.
6	W, Jan. 29	Quiz #1 on Part 1.  Discuss Chapter 4.  Formation of teams for bad news letter assignment.
7	M, Feb. 3	Discuss Chapter 5.
8	W, Feb 5	Discuss Chapter 6, but not Component Chapter A yet. In-class work on bad news letter assignment.   TQC meeting

 Top of Page
 

Session #	Class Date	Activities and Assignments
9	M, Feb. 10	Quiz #2 Part 2.   Chapter 7 and 8.  In-class work on group letter project.
10	W, Feb. 12	Discuss Chapter 9.  In-class work on group letter project.
11	M, Feb. 17	Memo Assignment Due.    Discuss Chapter 17.
12	W, Feb. 19	Quiz #3 on Part 3.Discuss Chapter 18.  Assignment of Application Letter and Resume.  Possible tour of Career Center.  TQC meeting.
13	M, Feb. 24	Discuss Chapter 10.   Quiz # 4 on Part 7.  Formation of website project teams.
14	W, Feb. 26	Bad News Letters are due from teams.   Discuss Component Chapter A, pp. 170-181, and Chapter 11.  In-class workshop on visual production.  Assign proposal for formal report.
15	M, Mar. 3	Discuss Chapter 10 and Component Chapter B.  In-class work on website projects.
		Last Day to Drop individual courses with a grade of W, Wednesday, March 5
16	W, Mar. 5	Library Tour for Business Information Literacy.  TQC Meeting.

Top of Page
 
 

Session #	Class Date	Activities and Assignments
17	M, Mar. 10	Quiz # 5 on Part 4. Discuss Chapter 12. In-class work on website projects.
18	W, Mar. 12	Resumes and Letters of Application are due.  Discuss Chapter 13.   Project Plans for websites are due from groups.
19	M, Mar. 17	Discuss Chapter 14. In-class work on website projects.
20	W, Mar. 19	Quiz #6 on Part 5.  In-class work on website projects.
	March 24-28	Spring Vacation
21	M, Mar. 31	Discuss Chapters 16.  In-class work on visual aids for formal reports.  Annotated Bibliographies are due.
22	W, Apr. 2	Discuss Chapter 15.  Proposals for formal report are due.  In-class work on graphics for websites.
23	M, Apr. 7	Quiz #7 on Part 6.  Work on websites and website progress reports
24	W, Apr. 9	Individual Conferences on formal reports.  Website development. Website Progress Reports are Due.

Top of Page
 
 

Session #	Class Date	Assignments and Activities
25	M, Apr. 14	Individual Conferences on formal reports.  Website development.
26	W, Apr. 16	Oral Reports.
		Last day to Withdraw from the University, Thursday, April 18th
27	M, Apr. 21	Websites are due on disk.  Oral Reports
28	W, Apr. 23	Oral Reports.  Formal Reports are due.
29	M, Apr. 28	Presentation of websites by groups.
30	W, May 7	Final Exam Period, 1:00-3:00 P.M. Course Wrap-up and evaluation.

1) The university administration insists that you do not use tobacco products, eat, or drink in the classrooms or laboratories.

2) Excessive absences may affect your final semester grade.  See the system of bonus points and penalties above.  Absences are reported to the administration so that the university may recover financial aid funds.

3) Chronic tardiness is unacceptable. If--on a rare occasion--you happen to be late, quietly take a seat in the row of desks or computers  nearest the door.

4) If you do not attend your individual conference on the formal written report, with a 4-6 page draft in hand, you will lose 10 points on this assignment.

5) Assignments turned in late, for whatever reason, will lose 10% of the maximum possible points for the assignment.  The last day to turn in a late paper will be Wednesday, April 16.

5) You are responsible for the information presented at each class session whether or not you are there. In the case of some personal emergency, you must make an appointment with me, preferably in advance of the absence, to determine whether or not the absence will be excused and whether or not make-up work will be allowed.

6) Work that is missed and not made up, or make-up work that I will not accept, will receive a grade of zero.

7) If you plagiarize a paper or cheat on a test, you will be urged to drop the course. Also, you will receive a zero grade on the falsified assignment.  The Student Handbook details disciplinary action which the University may take against students guilty of plagiarism.

8) A plagiarized research paper is sufficient cause for failure in the course. I reserve the right to ask for all your pre-final draft materials, such as your note cards or photocopied notes and your rough drafts--paper or electronic--before agreeing to grade your research paper.

Students may expect the following statements concerning disabilities to be replaced early in the semester with a new university policy.

9) Students with Disabilities: If you have or believe you have a disability, you may wish to self-identify. You can do so by providing documentation to the Counselor for Special Populations, Mr. Jim Payne (phone: 439-3727). Appropriate accommodations may then be provided for you.

10) If you have a condition which may affect your ability to exit safely from the premises in an emergency or which may cause an emergency during class, you are encouraged to discuss this in confidence with the instructor and/or the ADA Coordinator. If you have general questions about the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), call the ADA Coordinator, Doris Lynch, at 439-3717.

11) IN CASE OF EMERGENCY

If someone in your family needs to contact you in an emergency, use the following telephone numbers:

DAYTIME 439-3720

EVENING 439-3751 or 439-3761

To make it easier to find you, the person calling should know the class (i.e. English 203G, the instructor, and the section that you are attending.
Top of Page