ENC 3250, Professional Writing / USF Sarasota-Manatee

ENC 3250
PROFESSIONAL WRITING

Spring 2009 / Online Course

Instructor: T. E. Roberts
thorsdag(at)comcast dot net
Instructor’s Background: click here

TWO MANDATORY MEETINGS ON SARASOTA CAMPUS: Saturday, 9:00 AM to 11:45 AM (Section 521, Room A320B) and Saturday, noon to 2:45 PM (Section 522, Room TBA). Meets on campus only on Jan. 9 and Apr. 25 These meetings are required by the USF administration, not the instructor. Any student missing the Jan. 9 meeting will be dropped from the course and may be liable for fees.

Updated 4 Jan 2009

Please report malfunctioning links to the instructor.
Report malfunctioning instructor to the dean.

Students should be familiar with all links
on this page by the end of the semester.

Course Syllabus and Instructions

Spring 2009 Syllabus (28 Nov 08)

Student Background Information (print, fill out, sign, and bring this and your student ID with you to class on campus on Jan 10; this is also available as the last page of the course syllabus listed above)

Revision Instructions

Course Textbook

Business Writing: What Works, What Won’t, Revised Edition, by Wilma Davidson. St. Martin’s Griffin, Resource Book. 2001. ISBN 0312109482, $16.95 list. (available from amazon.com and campus bookstore)

Schedule of Assignments - Spring 2009

Assignment 1 (memo, 500 words): Mon, Jan 19, 6 pm

Assignment 2 (reprimand, 500 words): Mon, Feb 9, 6 pm

Assignment 3 (resume & cover ltr, 500 words): Mon, Mar 2, 6 pm

Assignment 4 Outline (thesis and sources): Mon, Mar 23, 6 pm

Assignment 4 (report or proposal, 2,500 words): Mon, Apr 20, 6 pm

Final Exam (500 to 750 words): Sat, Apr 25 (on campus), 9 am & noon (about two hours and 15 minutes)

Course Content and Lectures

INSTRUCTIONS: Lectures consist of a spoken audio recording in MP4 format and a set of PowerPoint slides. It is important to download both files and listen to the spoken audio as you see the slides on your computer (the audio includes cues for advancing from one slide to another.

To hear MP4 files on a Windows computer, download free Quicktime player here. Alternatively, you may use the free VLC Media Player, to be found here: http://www.videolan.org/vlc/. Then, each week, right-click on the PowerPoint link, choose SAVE TARGET AS, and download to your computer desktop. Do the same with the MP4 link. Open the PPT file first and then the MP4 file. As you listen to the MP4 audio, you will hear cues to advance to succeeding slides. If you lack PowerPoint on your computer, you may download a free PPT viewer here. You should save all lecture files in the same ENC_4931 folder in which you keep your written assignments and emails related to the course. Also, back-up this folder regularly onto external media such as a CD-ROM, USB flash drive, or online archive. This folder will contain the core of what you are paying for and learning in this course -- treat it accordingly.

DO NOT TRY TO HEAR THE MP4 FILE AS A STREAMING AUDIO OVER THE INTERNET -- IT MAY BE INTERRUPTED.

IMPORTANT: Listen to and take notes on lectures as they are posted -- they provide essential information needed to perform assignments successfully. You must read the PowerPoint slides and hear the audio recording simultaneously. If you are unable to hear a lecture, contact the instructor immediately. Beginning with the Week 2 lecture, send me an email (by the deadline stated in the syllabus) noting the code words mentioned in the audio recording. Failure to do so will result in penalty to your final semester grade.

IF YOU THINK A LECTURE IS “TOO LONG” ... Remember that, if meeting on campus, this three-hour course would normally require three hours of class meeting/lecture plus roundtrip travel every week for 16 weeks. At around 30 to 60 minutes per week, and requiring no more travel than minuscule movement of your computer mouse, the lecture content in this online medium is ridiculously light. If you find a lecture unsatisfying or confusing for any reason, contact me about it. Don’t wait to complain at the end of the semester. By then, it’s too late.

Lectures will be posted on or before Saturday for the week in question, beginning Jan. 10, 2009. Please do not ask for a lecture to be posted in advance. They are custom-prepared every semester.