Business and Professional Communication

BLOCK CLASS

Human Communication Studies

Business and Professional Communication

HCOM 333

Fall 2006

Instructor: Dr. S. Irene Matz Office Hours:

Assistant Professor Monday 7-8:00 a.m. & 12-1:00 p.m.

Tuesday 7-8:00 a.m.

Or by appointment

Office: CP 420-26

Mail: CP 420

Phone: 278-4418 E-mail:

Website: http://commfaculty.fullerton.edu/imatz

Class Meeting Time & Place

TR 8:30-9:45 a.m. #13569 CP 129

Course

Required Texts: Goodall, Jr., H. L. & Goodall, S. (2006). Communicating in professional contexts. Thomson Wadsworth: United States.

BUAD 301-29 texts

Assignment & Assessment Percentage

Attendance, Participation, Journaling, Homework 20%

Mid-term Assessment 20%

Resume & Cover Letter 10%

Final Project 40% total (1/2 for each class)

Oral (graded in HCOM) 20%

Written (graded in BUAD) 20%

Oral Presentation 10%

Final Assessment 20%

Attendance

Factored into 20% that includes journaling, homework & participation; tardiness will count as a nonattendance if continuous.

0-3 class = A

4 classes = B

5 classes = C

Below = F

Course Schedule

Week: Assignment:

August 22 Course introduction; Self introductions; Ice breakers;

Chapter 1, Breakthrough Skills

August 29 Chapter 2, Evolution of Communication in the Workplace

31 Corporate officers visit & present; journaling assignment due

September 5 Chapter 8, Interviewing and Conscious Communication

7 JOURNALING ASSIGNMENT DUE

September 12 Library instruction, PLN 303 (meet in Library)

14 Chapter 9, The Job Search and Conscious Communication

September 19

21 Distribution Center Tour

September 26 Chapter 11, Informative & Persuasive Presentations

Chapter 12

October 3 RESUMÉ AND COVER LETTER DUE, Chapter 10, Groups & Teams

October 10 MID-TERM ASSESSMENT (Ch. 1, 2, 8, 9, 11 & 12)

Professional protocol

October 17 Chapter 3, Workplace Communication

Chapter 4, Listening

October 24 ORAL PRESENTATIONS (INDIVIDUAL)

October 31 Chapter 5, Verbal and Nonverbal Communication

November 2 LIBRARY TIME FOR GROUPS (NO CLASS)

November 7 Chapter 7, Interpersonal, Conflict, Ethics

Twelve Angry Men

November 14 JOURNALING ASSIGNMENT DUE

November 21 CAMPUS CLOSED – THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY

November 28 VIDEO TAPE GROUP PRESENTATIONS; FEEDBACK

December 5

December 7 FINAL PRESENTATIONS

AWARDS CEREMONY 6-8 p.m. Campus Pub

Final exam: Thursday, December 14th at 9:30 a.m.

(Ch. 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, & 10)

Course Policies

University regulations require that you are provided with a statement about plagiarism in the course syllabus.

Plagiarism: Plagiarism is defined as the act of taking the specific substance of another and offering it as one’s own without giving credit to the source. Sources must be cited accurately and appropriately. When sources are used, acknowledgment of the original author or source must be made following standard scholarly practice. Cases of plagiarism will constitute dismissal from the course with a failing grade.

Honesty: Academic honesty is a core value at Cal State Fullerton. It is cheating if you develop your answers from sources other than those permitted by your professor or represent the work of others as your own. A few specific examples are:

· Using the notes of others

· Using the work of other students

· Handing in work that isn’t yours

· Taking a test for someone else

· Sharing your answers to examination questions or class assignments with others

Attendance: Part of your grade will depend on your attendance. Please reference the attendance scale for your letter grade that will be factored into your final grade. Good attendance and promptness are professional behaviors that reflect a responsible employee who is valued. If you must miss a class, please email or phone the professor prior to the class meeting. Please be on time for classes; tardiness interrupts the entire class – use this opportunity to develop habits that lead to your success. A “F” on attendance will automatically earn you a failing grade for the course unless you previously have contacted the professor. Participation is rated on respect for other students and your professor in addition to your active interest and comments in the course content. Doing other work in our class; reading other materials; studying for exams; talking on your cell phone (smile – thought I’d throw in the absurd) are all examples of behaviors that are unacceptable.

Electronics: Please make certain that all cell phones and other technical equipment are turned off during class meetings. Laptops can only be used for class notes and work. Other use in class is not appropriate nor will be tolerated.

Flexibility: Please allow for flexibility with our schedule due to class enrollment, class speakers, or other events.

Assignments: All assignments are accepted on or before the due date. Assignments should be “professional” quality and must be completed and handed in for a final grade. Please type all assignments. NO LATE ASSIGNMENTS ARE ACCEPTED; ALL ASSIGNMENTS ARE DUE AT THE BEGINNING OF THE CLASS.

Grading: Use this as a guide for your written assignments:

CLARITY – structural pattern clear, sentences and paragraphs well developed, transitions and report development.

CONCISENESS – strive for brevity, avoid redundancies, and include well-developed ideas.

COMPLETENESS – introduction, body, and conclusion with support and good development.

GRAMMAR – capitalization, punctuation, references, grammatical correctness, proofreading, professional appearance.

GRADING SYSTEM

PLUS/MINUS GRADING

Definition of Grades and

Their Corresponding Grade

Points

A+ 4.0

A 4.0

A- 3.7

B+ 3.3

B 3.0

B- 2.7

C+ 2.3

C 2.0

C- 1.7

D+ 1.3

D 1.0

D- .7

F Failing

RESUMÉ AND COVER LETTER

10%

Objectives: Update or create personal resume and cover letter.

Prepare you for a job interview.

Criteria: Write a professional resumé that includes all current information. You may submit a resumé of your choice, e.g., chronological, functional, targeted or electronic.

Select an ad for your profession of interest. Write a cover letter that responds to the ad. See lecture notes for cover letter format.

· Addressed to a specific person.

· Business format.

· Opening, body, close.

Submit the resumé, cover letter and ad together – paper clipped.

JOURNALING ASSIGNMENT

(PART OF THE 20%)

Perceptual images: Collect 10 pictures (or more from magazines, ads, newspapers,

Part 1: internet) that represents your image of Target and write a paragraph about each image (what it represents, why you chose it, how it describes your perception of Target, other).

Part 2: After Target corporate officers visit our classroom on the 7th of September, collect another 10 pictures and write a paragraph about each image. You can compare and contrast from your previous submission. Has your perception changed and why; has it remained the same; were you influenced by Target’s corporate officers and their information; and any other observations or changes that you noted.

Part 3: Keep a weekly journal of your experience planning the final assignment, group

reflections such as member roles, conflict management, leadership, decision making, group process, division of labor, expectations, satisfaction, inclusiveness (self and other members), and any other thoughts you wish to share. One paragraph (minimum) per meeting. Note dates, time (beginning and close), meeting place, decisions, discussions, etc.

DUE DATES:

Part 1 – August 31st; Part 2 – September 7th; Part 3 – November 16th

(typed, folders, due at beginning of class)

PERSUASIVE ORAL PRESENTATION WITH POWERPOINT

10%

Objectives: Learn strategies for presenting a persuasive presentation.

Learn to use PowerPoint for formal presentations.

Become skilled in presentational techniques.

Requirements: You are responsible for introducing one of your classmates before his or her

presentation. This introduction should include your name, his/her name, background, topic, and other appropriate information. This should be approximately 15-30 seconds.

Delivery: Extemporaneous presentation (10 minutes).You will present an organizational problem and offer a solution. See class notes for instructions and delivery requirements and criteria.

PowerPoint slides. Visuals (charts, graphs, pictures, etc.)

Resources: Journal articles, books, magazines articles, newspapers, interviews, electronic sources. A minimum of 10 sources for the report. You may want to survey your classmates on the topic that reveals their attitudes and knowledge about the topic. If you decided to administer a survey/questionnaire, please submit to your professor for review before you administer.

Grading: Organizational structure, delivery, content, research and support, references, transitions, outline, PowerPoint slides and creativity, introduction of colleague, and overall effort. Speeches due on assigned date.

This individual presentation gives you an opportunity to improve presentational skills for your final assignment.

Legend of Abbreviations (report feedback)

APOS Missing or improperly placed apostrophe

AGR Lack of agreement (verb tense or number)

AWK Awkward locution or phrasing of thought

CIT Citation missing

CS Comma splice

ELAB Need to elaborate or develop this point further

FRAG Fragment; not a compete sentence

FS Fused sentence

GEN Too general in expressing your ideas; be more specific

INT Integration of quotation is inadequate

NOT GRAM Not a grammatical sentence

Q Improper use of Quotation marks

QTL Quotation is too long; select only essential point(s)

REF Unclear reference (noun or pronoun)

SP Incorrect spelling

SS Should be single-spaced

TRANS Better transition needed

VAGUE Point is unclear

WC Word choice could have been more appropriate

WW Wrong word

√ Good point

¶ Need a new paragraph

¶ DEV Ideas in the paragraph need more development

¶ FOC Ideas in the paragraph are not focused or unified

⁄ ⁄ Faulty parallelism

APA STYLE

Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, Fifth Edition

Please see the following website:

http://www.dianahacker.com/resdoc/social_sciences/intext.html

GRAMMAR

WRITING TIPS

NUMBERS

Brief Handbook Associated Press

• use numerals for numbers that are • 10 or above, use the number,

expressed as more than two words, e.g., 10, 11, 12

e.g., 1,568 • under 10, spell out,

3 1/2 e.g., one, two, three

• spell out numbers expressed as

one or two words, e.g., twelve,

seventy-seven, forty billion

Both sources agree: spell out numbers that begin sentences.

WRONG: 993 juniors entered college last year.

RIGHT: Last year, 993 junior entered college.

EXCEPTION: when referencing a year.

e.g., 1990 was a very good year.

SPELL OUT CASUAL EXPRESSIONS:

e.g., A thousand times no.

Thanks a million.

He walked a quarter of a mile.

MIXTURES

Brief Handbook

They had twelve station wagons and 3 1/2 buses.

Associated Press

They had a fleet of 10 station wagons and two buses.

APOSTROPHE

Brief Handbook Associated Press

1900s, 9's 1900s, 9s

use apostrophe, no apostrophe

except dates

LETTERS

a's a's

MULTIPLE LETTERS

IOU'S IOUs

VIP'S VIPs

TIME OF DAY

A.M./P.M. a.m./p.m.

Webster shows both usages.

Avoid 10:00 p.m. tonight.

Use 12:00 noon or midnight.

YOUR/YOU'RE

your — adjective

example: your desk, your health

you're

conjunctive — you are

example: you're my friend, you're the best class

PERSONAL/PERSONNEL

Personal is an adjective meaning "of or pertaining to an individual person."

example: He left work early because of a personal problem.

Personnel is a noun meaning a "group of people engaged in a common job."

example: All personnel should pick up their paychecks on Thursday.

BE CAREFUL NOT TO USE PERSONNEL WHEN THE WORD YOU NEED IS PERSONS OR PEOPLE.

INDIVIDUAL/PERSON

Avoid using individual as a NOUN if person is more appropriate.

Change:

Several individuals on the panel did not vote.

TO:

Several persons on the panel did not vote.

OR:

Several people on the panel did not vote.

Individual is most appropriate when used as an adjective to distinguish a single person from a group.

example: The individual employee's obligation to the firm are detailed in the booklet that describes company policies.

WHOSE/OF WHICH

Whose should normally be used with persons;

of which should normally be used with inanimate objects.

examples: The man whose car had been towed away was angry.

The mantle clock, the parts of which work perfectly, is over one hundred years old.

If these uses cause a sentence to sound awkward, however, whose may be used with inanimate objects.

example: there are added fields, for example, whose totals should never be zero.

WHO'S/WHOSE

Who's is a contraction of who is.

example: Who's scheduled to attend the productivity seminar next month?

Whose is the possessive for who or of which.

example: Whose department will be affected by the budget cuts?

Who's and whose are not interchangeable.

ITS/IT'S

its — ownership, possessive form of it, possessive pronoun, no apostrophe

it's — a contraction of it is; it has

example: It's a wise dog that scratches its own fleas.

example: It's now twelve o'clock.

example: The surface of the table has lost its shine.

Although nouns normally form the possessive by the addition of an apostrophe and an s, the contraction of it is (it's) has already used that device; therefore, the possessive form of the pronoun it is formed by adding only the s.