This syllabus outlines an online business writing course that aims to help students develop important communication skills for the workplace. It covers key genres like business correspondence, reports, presentations, public relations materials, and professional profiles. Students will complete projects in various multimedia formats like podcasts, slidecasts and screencasts. The course also emphasizes responding to different audiences, applying intercultural communication skills, and crisis communication. Students are evaluated based on completing projects and online participation assignments.

1. ENGL 313 SYLLABUS Page 1 of 4
Business
Writing
Victoria M. Arthur, PhD
varthur@uidaho.edu| brink hall room #229|208 885-6156
This course will help you build communication competencies identified by the
United States Department of Labor and industry focus groups as the most
important to employers. In addition to problem solving and writing skills,
employers list oral communication skills as among the most important for
graduates.
Moreover, the ability to effectively apply these skills within intercultural contexts is
highly valued in today’s global workplace. Finally, business communication is
increasingly produced across a wide variety of multi-media platforms requiring
skills in aural, oral, textual, and visual literacies. The projects in this course are
designed to help you meet these challenges and prepare you to successfully
communicate in today's workplace.
At the end of the course, you will have sample work that demonstrates your
ability to communicate in the following business genres:
• internal and external business correspondence (letter, memo, email)
• information genres (white paper, informal memo report)
• presentation genres (podcast; slidecast; screencast)
• public relations genres (PSA)
• data gather genres (electronic research dossier)
• job application genres (cover letter; resume/CV, LinkedIn profile)

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LEARNING OBJECTIVES: After completing this course, you will be able to:
1. respond to rhetorical situations that arise within business environments
complicated by ethical, political, social, and cultural concerns,
2. learn and apply specific conventions used in US business communities such
as tone, style, and genre and adjust those conventions to meet the needs of
culturally diverse audiences,
3. communicate solutions to rhetorical problems through a variety of print and
electronic genres.
TEXTBOOK. The textbook is free, online, and in the bblearn course website.
Grades: Final grades are based on successful completion of the following five
projects (80%) plus asynchronous participation assignments (20%).
PROJECT 1: Interpersonal Communication (10%) In this project, you will respond
to a business case study requiring written communication to three different
audiences using both external and internal workplace genres. Next, you will
create an audio-only podcast about presentation speaking style.
PROJECT 2: Visual Communication (15%). In this project, you will create a Public
Service Announcement for a client and justify design choices in a screencast.
PROJECT 3: Intercultural Communication (20%). In this project, you will
compose a creative design brief to plan and create an intercultural slidecast
guide for an American business or organization whose employees will be soon
be working in another country and culture.
PROJECT 4: Crisis Communication (25%). In this project, you will gather and
analyze communication before, during, and after a crisis event using a
research dossier in Evernote. You will then draw upon this research to write a
white paper and compose a screencast that analyzes a spokesperson's
apology. This project includes composing and populating an electronic
research dossier.
PROJECT 5: Professional Identity (10%) In this project, you will write a targeted
cover letter and resume or curriculum vitae and create a LinkedIn profile.
ONLINE PARTICIPATION (20%). Each project includes participation activities
such as brainstorming ideas with others, online peer reviews etc.

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Course Policies
1.1 Online Participation. Success in this course is dependent on your active
participation and engagement throughout the course. As such, students
are required to actively participate in asynchronous online activities by
the deadline listed in project schedules.
1.2 Course Textbook. The course textbook is free and is in slidedoc format.
Slidedocs are slideshows designed to be read and do not contain audio.
Slidedocs are embedded on each project page and a PDF version is
posted below each one for students who prefer to print and read these.
1.3 Technology Requirements.
• Computer in good working order.
• Reliable Internet Connectivity.
• Microphone. Most computers have an integrated microphone that will
work fine for this course.
If you need to purchase one, however, here are two inexpensive
microphones that bblearn recommends: Logitech 1 ($14.99) and
Logitech 2 ($19.99).
• Reliable Backup. You will need a reliable backup to store the latest
drafts of your work other than the hard drive of your computer or an
easily lost thumb drive. Here is one the course recommends
http://www.dropbox.com.
1.4 Multimedia Project Deliverables. Four of the projects require both written
and multimedia communication deliverables (an audio-only podcast,
slidecast, and two screencasts). A deliverable is another way of saying
assignment and the course uses this word to more accurately define the
type of workplace writing you will be doing.
Students are not expected to have prior experience in producing
multimedia products and will be invited to create these using free, cloud-
computing tools that will also host the file.
Should you choose to create your digital media file another way, your file
must be hosted in the cloud and play as a video without a user needing
to download it first.

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1.5 Accepted File Formats. The following are the only accepted file formats.
• Print Deliverables: Word or PDF.
• PSA Billboard or Poster Deliverable: jpg, png, or other image file; Word,
PPT or PPTX, PDF file; or the URL where the file is hosted.
• Multimedia Deliverables: URL where the file is hosted.
Digital media files (MP3, MP4, etc.) are not accepted in this course
because you are practicing how such files are shared in the workplace.
All digital files must be hosted in the cloud and play as a video without a
user needing to download it first.
1.6 Deadlines. All work is due by 11:59 PM on the day/date indicated in each
project schedule.
1.7 Late Work Policies
Online Participation Activities. Late work will not be accepted.
Project Deliverables. I will accept late project deliverables up to 24 hours
after the deadline has passed. To avoid a point penalty, please explain the
nature of the problem or emergency that caused you to miss the deadline
in the comment box in bblearn. This policy is to be used for a short-term
emergency such as an internet outage and should never be treated as
additional time to complete work.
1.8 Confirming Submissions. Students are responsible for confirming that all work
submitted properly in the bblearn project submission drop box, and this
includes confirming that files will open and that any URL addresses work.
The drop box is set to accept unlimited attempts, but if your work does not
submit correctly or if you failed to submit part of it, submit all work again in
a single attempt because all submissions except the last will be deleted.
1.9 University Disability Support Services. Reasonable accommodations will be
made for students with disabilities. Disability Support Services must approve
your request: (208) 885-6307• dss@uidaho.edu
1.10 Plagiarism. Violation the University of Idaho Student Code of Conduct will
result in a course grade of ‘F'.
1.11 Contacting Me. You are invited to email me when you have a question or
need help composing a project deliverable. I answer emails 8 am-5 pm
weekdays and reply within 24 hours.