RWS 3355:

Workplace Writing

Course Information
Course: RWS 3355 Workplace Writing
Term: Fall 2017
Instructor: Lizbett Tinoco
Instructor Email: ltinoco2@miners.utep.edu
Physical Office & Hours: University Writing Center; By Appointment Only
Online Office Hours: Tuesdays and Thursdays 10:30am-11:30am
 Course Interface
This course will use Blackboard as the primary online interface. In addition to posting and
course communication, Blackboard will also serve as a private and secure space for you
to access up-to-date grades. You can access it from my.utep.edu. If you need help
working with Blackboard, please contact me or seek help at one of the Universitys
computer labs.

This syllabus is available on Blackboard. While the syllabus is a binding document,

portions, such as the course calendar, are subject to change by written notice. A current
draft of the syllabus and calendar will always be available on Blackboard. Any
modifications to the syllabus will be announced on Blackboard, as well.

Course Description
In this course, we will examine workplace writing styles, methods, and genres,
which will help you transition from academic writing to the kinds of writing youll do
on the job. We will examine the role that language plays in our lives and
workplace, from our ways of acquiring and expressing knowledge, to the ways that
we perceive the world, ourselves, and others. More specifically, we will examine
workplaces as discursive formations, taking a rhetorical approach to the
workplace, writing, and communication, and seeing organizations as complex and
polycontextual.

Outcomes
Refine your writing process to further Consider the ethical dimensions
develop strategies for invention, research, of composing and working within
drafting, revision and editing. and with organizations.

Conduct grounded research within a Gain proficiency in the use of online

workplace-writing environment. tools necessary for effective
workplace communication and the
conventions that attend them.
Study, theorize and engage the
relationships between rhetorical situation,
genre, exigency and community.
 Attendance
Logging in regularly is a must for an online course. I recommend logging in at least once per day as
there may be updates. If logging on or internet access is a problem, you may wish to consider
withdrawing and enrolling in a face-to-face section. Since this is an online course, access to the
internet is a requirement.

Missing more than 3 weeks worth of postings will result in automatic failure of the course,
regardless of your progress on major assignments. Students who do not log on or post onto
Blackboard by the end of Week Two will be dropped from the course --no exceptions.

Technology in Course
If home access to the internet is not possible, arrangements can be made to use a computer
regularly on campus in order to complete the work. Student computer labs such as ATLAS (
http://atlas.utep.edu ) are often available until midnight, but schedules do vary. A great deal of
work will be done online, and not having access to a computer will not be an excuse for
incomplete or late assignments.

Technology problems are also not an excuse for work that is late or missing. Students need to
get into the habit of completing assignments for this course well before the due date to allow
time for dealing with technology problems. Expect that at some time, the network will be down,
computers will go on the fritz, or some other small catastrophe will occur. If students are
prepared ahead of time, they can go to plan B. Contact the instructor for any foreseen issues
you will be having with technology, and she will work with you.

I also highly recommend using a google account for typing your documents (google docs),
saving your documents (google drive), and for communicating with me for office hours (google
hangouts). If you need help accessing any of these features, please visit the blackboard help
section.

Textbook
This course will use Writing that Works: Communicating Effectively
on the Job by Walter E. Oliu, Charles T. Brusaw, and Gerald J.
Aldred as the guiding textbook. The UTEP Bookstore will carry the
book, but you can also purchase it online You will need the textbook
for the second week of the course. Please plan for shipping times if
ordering online as no extensions or exceptions will be made if you
do not have a textbook by the second week.
 Netiquette
Since this is an online course, it is important that you familiarize yourselves with netiquette--
or online etiquette. Here are some important items to keep in mind:

Consider the purpose, audience, and content of all

your online discussions.
Something about cyberspace makes it easy for people to
forget that they are interacting with other real people

Be respectful of others' differences

Be sensitive to the fact that there will be various cultural
and linguistic backgrounds, as well as different political
and religious beliefs.

Be aware of how things can be misinterpreted

Slang can be misunderstood or misinterpreted. Don't use
all capital letters when composing your responses as this
is considered "shouting" on the Internet and is regarded
as impolite or aggressive. Also, be clear when
abbreviating with acronyms, as they can be confusing
(ex. RWS [Rhetoric and Writing Studies])

Course Resources

UNIVERSITY WRITING CENTER (UWC): I encourage
you to make use of the UWC during the planning,
drafting, and/or revising phases of writing any
assignment in this class. The trained writing consultants
can help give you a fresh perspective on ideas and help
you with things like correctness, formatting, etc. The
UWC is located on the main floor of the library, to the
right of the elevators and computer lab. My office is
located here.
I encourage students with disabilities, including
non-visible disabilities such as chronic diseases,
learning disabilities, head injury, attention
deficit/hyperactive disorder, or psychiatric
disabilities, to discuss appropriate
accommodations with me. You can also connect
with resources in the Center for Accommodations
and Support Services (CASS) at 747-5148 or
cass@utep.edu.
 Email
You are required to contact me via your UTEP email. I may not receive emails
from other accounts. In addition, please do not ask a question about an
assignment within 24 hours of the due date. I will not respond.

To: ltinoco2@miners.utep.edu
From: YourEmail@miners.utep.edu

Dear Ms. Tinoco:

Write the content of your e-email here. Make sure

you proofread

Sincerely,
Your name

Plagiarism
Plagiarism is an issue I take very seriously. An act of plagiarism (or other form of academic
dishonesty) will result in an F for the course, and may include other University disciplinary
action, such as suspension or expulsion. You should become familiar with the ethical guidelines
for conduct spelled out in the Student Affairs section of the Handbook for Operating Procedures.
Additionally, please be aware that you may not submit work for this class that was produced for
another class. You must produce your own original work in this class and appropriately identify
and portion of your work which is collaborative with others, borrowed from others, or which is
your own work from other contexts. Always cite your information. If you have doubts as to
whether or not you are using your own or others work legally and ethically, ask me or stop by the
UTEP Writing Center.
 Assignments & Grading

Assignment sheets will be posted to Blackboard before the class in which the
assignment is introduced. All assignments are to be submitted via Blackboard in
through the weekly module during the week they are due. All assignments will be
due by 11:59 p.m. on the due date. All assignments are required to be submitted in
DOC, DOCX, or PDF formats unless otherwise noted. This is the only form
accepted. Assignments submitted in other formats will automatically receive no
credit. Please double-check before submitting your assignments. Additionally,
assignments should never be sent via email under any circumstances and will not be
accepted under any circumstances.

This course works on a 1,000 point scale and final grades will be determined using
the scale below. Grades will be posted to Blackboard. Please see me during my
office hours if you wish to discuss your grades.

A= 1,000-900 points
B= 899-800 points
C= 799-700 points
D= 699-600 points
F=599 or below
 Assignments Continued

Point Breakdown
This course's assignments and their associated point value is as follows:

Participation
Professional
Discussion Portfolio
Board Posts/
Online Activities 200 points
Business
100 points Analysis

300 points

Chapter
Responses Workplace
Ethnography
10 @ 15 points
Peer Revisions
each
200 points

150 points 50 points

Assignments Continued
Compositions
Your written work is a reflection of your capabilities and efforts
and comprises the majority of your final grade. You are
therefore expected to produce high-quality, sophisticated
documents. A part of that quality is the appearance of your
work. Neatness, visual appeal, and mechanical and
grammatical correctness are important, although they do not,
alone, guarantee a well-made text (or a good grade). Your
written documents should have appropriate margins, spacing,
pagination, and formatting. Your productions in electronic and
200 points
other media should be
Business well-designed.
Analysis
Submitting Assignments
300 points
There will be links to submit your assignment under the
respective weeks module. Please make sure to upload your
assignments in PDF, DOC, or DOCX file formats. These are
the only formats accepted. No other formats will be accepted
or graded.

Late Work & Missing Assignments

Late work is not accepted. Additionally, I will not grade any
assignments submitted via e-mail. All assignments must be
submitted through Blackboard
 Assignment Descriptions

Participation
You must post to the discussion board by the dates indicated in the modules. Discussion
board posts are formal, electronic writing assignments, so you do need to attend to sentence
and paragraph construction as well as to spelling and grammar. In addition, you will need to
format your writing for the online environment by writing multiple, short paragraphs. A good
rule of thumb is to keep your paragraphs under five sentences or under seven lines long.

In addition, discussion board posts ask you to either respond to a formal prompt or to find an
issue in the reading that interests you and to critically comments on it and to discuss it with
other students. Posts should be between 250-300 words.

Chapter Responses
For each assigned chapter, you are required to post a response to the chapter. You will be
prompted to posts these responses in each module when they are required. These chapter
responses help to ensure that you are fully engaged with the text and also help you internalize
the material which we are embarking upon. For each assigned chapter, unless otherwise
indicated, you must create a two-part response:

--Summarize the chapter and its key points in about 150 words
--Critically reflect upon the chapter in about 150 words.
Consider: Was this chapter useful to your career? Academic endeavors?
Life? How so? If not, what not? Etc.

These responses are due at 11:59pm. on Sunday night of each respective week. Please note
that late responses are not accepted. Partial credit for these responses is not given; it is either
done correctly and receives credit or it does not. Additionally, there is a hard requirement of AT
LEAST 300 words for these responses. Posts which do not meet this word requirement will not
receive credit. Blackboard provides the word count to you as you write. Please be mindful of
this requirement and be aware of your word count. To receive full credit for the chapter
responses at the end of the semester, you must have submitted 10. That means you have the
opportunity to skip some of the chapter responses this semester and still receive full credit.
This allowance is made for those time when you have a lot of work and just dont have the time
to post a response. Please use them responsibly.
 Assignment Descriptions

Professional Portfolio Workplace

Ethnography
You will identify an actual job opening or
You will conduct a grounded
graduate program that coincides with
ethnographic case study of a
you professional goals. You will then
Workplace writing environment. The
compose professional materials aimed
case study will explore the various
towards garnering a position in this
networks of actors, genres,
selected field. The Professional Portfolio
conventions, values, goals,
will invite you to experiment with the
audiences, constraints and ruptures
conventions of submission materials
that make up the Workplaces
including resumes, CVs, cover letters,
rhetorical situations.
and statements of purpose.

Business Analysis Other Assignments

This project asks that you conduct a
landscape/competitive analysis as a content
strategist for three businesses in the El Paso The rest of the course
area. You will assess, compare, and contrast assignments will be explained
the ways in which the businesses present and discussed at length as the
themselves to their specific audience course progresses. You will be
(clientele). You will specifically look at the given assignment sheets for
companys location/space, website, and each assignment as the
marketing materials (such as assignment approaches and
advertisements). A Business Analysis helps the topics are discussed.
companies understand and produce content
for their target audiences by aligning
communication across groups so that all
content is working towards the same goals
(as appropriate for each genre).
 Course Calendar
A tentative reading and assignment schedule follows, but it may be adjusted as needed. Your
Blackboard weekly modules will be the most up-to-date.

Week 1 Introduction to course

Syllabus quiz
Monday, Aug. 28th- Introductions
Sunday, Sept. 3rd Set up Google Drive

Week 2 Chapter 1: Assessing Audience,

Monday, Sept. 4th- Purpose, and Medium
Sunday, Sept. 10th Introduce Job Portfolio

Week 3 Chapter 16: Finding the Right Job

Chapter 2: Organizing your
Monday, Sept. 11th-
information
Sunday, Sept. 17th
Job Ad Discussion Post

Week 4 Chapter 3: Writing the Draft

Job Analysis draft due
Monday, Sept. 18th-
Sunday, Sept. 24th

Peer Revision for Job Analysis

Week 5 Chapter 4: Revising the Draft
Monday, Sept. 25th- Draft Resume and Cover Letter
Sunday, Oct. 1st
 Week 6 Job Portfolio due--Job Analysis
Monday, Oct. 2nd - Essay, Resume, and Cover Letter
Sunday, Oct. 8th Introduce Workplace Ethnography

Week 7 Chapter 6: Researching Your Subject

Monday, Oct. 9th - Chapter 8: Business Correspondence
Sunday, Oct. 15th Memo

Week 8 Email--draft and send

Monday, Oct. 16th - Interview Questions--Discussion Post
Sunday, Oct. 22nd

Week 9 Email me
Monday, Oct. 23rd - Conduct Interview
Sunday, Oct. 29th

Week 10 Conduct Interview

Monday, Oct. 30th - Workplace Ethnography draft
Sunday, Nov. 5th due

Peer Revision
Week 11 Final Workplace Ethnography
Monday, Nov. 6th -
due
Sunday, Nov. 12th
 Week 12 Introduce Business Analysis
Monday, Nov. 13th - Chapter 5: Collaborative Writing
Sunday, Nov. 19th Chapter 13: Writing Proposals
Group proposal due

Week 13 Chapter 9: Writing Business

Monday, Nov. 20th - Correspondence
Sunday, Nov. 26th Chapter 7: Designing Effective
Documents and Visuals

Week 14 Positive and Negative Letters due

Monday, Nov. 27th - Chapter 11: Writing Formal Reports
Sunday, Dec. 3rd Group work on Business Analysis

Week 15 Group work on Business Analysis

Monday, Dec. 4th - Individual work on Visual
Sunday, Dec. 10th

Week 16 Business Analysis and Visual

Monday, December 11th- Due
Friday, December 15th
Final memo due