Course Syllabus

JOHN CABOT UNIVERSITY

COURSE CODE: "BUS 220-3"
COURSE NAME: "Business Communications"
SEMESTER & YEAR: Fall 2024

SYLLABUS

INSTRUCTOR: Teresa Triglia
EMAIL: [email protected]
HOURS: MW 3:00 PM 4:15 PM
TOTAL NO. OF CONTACT HOURS: 45
CREDITS: 3
PREREQUISITES: Prerequisite: EN 110 with a grade of C or above
OFFICE HOURS:

COURSE DESCRIPTION:
This course trains students in the best practices of effective Business Communication, both written and oral. Class work is conducted against the backdrop of the contemporary business world and the challenges faced by businesses to be environmentally and socially responsible as well as profitable. Environment, Social and Governance issues, and their relationship to business, are analyzed at length.

SUMMARY OF COURSE CONTENT:
A detailed course schedule will be posted on Moodle for students to access.

LEARNING OUTCOMES:

Course Objectives

You will learn immediately useful and relevant business communication skills, including:

how to write clearly and how to effectively edit your own writing
how to target a results-oriented business audience in business documents, websites, and correspondence

how to formulate reasoned oral arguments and enhance your presentation skills
best strategies to enhance critical thinking and analytical skills
how to write clearly, directly and simply so that your message is accurate, concise, and to the point

Course outline and grade breakdown

	POINTS	%
Introduction Presentation	10	1.0
Resume	50	5.0
Value Proposition Presentation	50	5.0
Value Proposition Paragraph	50	5.0
Cover Letter	50	5.0
Crisis Presentation	100	10
Feedback participation	50	5.0
Crisis Paragraph	50	5.0
Annual Report Presentation	100	10
Email Assignment	50	5.0
Rewrite of Resume	50	5
Rewrite of Cover Letter	50	5
Elevator Pitch	100	10
Oral Summaries of Articles (4 at 10 points each)	40	4.0
Cross Cultural Presentation	100	10
Final Exam	100	5
TOTAL	1000	100%

Course Policy on turning in “proofread, correctly formatted, and polished papers”

You are learning to be business professionals, and I expect the following:

Your final assignments are polished and professional; that means they are proofread for typos, spelling, and capitalization errors.
You follow all formatting guidelines as given for assignment headings, type font, font size, spacing, and margins.

Late Assignments are NOT accepted—You will lose all points for that assignment

I do not accept late papers or presentations. If you are unable to attend class, be proactive and email me your assignment by the start time of class. IF your paper arrives in my inbox by class time, I will accept it. The same policy applies to presentations. If you are going to miss class, you must email me either a copy of your PowerPoint slides or a link to your Economist article (depending on which assignment is due) by the time class begins. IF your paper, slides, or link is late, you will receive NO POINTS for the assignment.

Presentations are due the first day they are scheduled to be due

Your presentations will typically take up two to three days of class time. If you are not prepared to give your presentation on the first day, you will receive a zero on the presentation. If you do not volunteer to present on the first day of presentations and are then absent on the second day, you will receive a zero on the presentation.

You must upload a copy of your PowerPoint slides (when applicable) the first day presentations are scheduled. Once you turn in your PowerPoint, you may NOT make any changes, even if you do not present on the first day. If you do, your grade will suffer drastically.

TEXTBOOK:

NONE

REQUIRED RESERVED READING:

NONE

RECOMMENDED RESERVED READING:

NONE

GRADING POLICY
-ASSESSMENT METHODS:

Assignment	Guidelines	Weight
See Table Above

-ASSESSMENT CRITERIA:
AWork of this quality directly addresses the question or problem raised and provides a coherent argument displaying an extensive knowledge of relevant information or content. This type of work demonstrates the ability to critically evaluate concepts and theory and has an element of novelty and originality. There is clear evidence of a significant amount of reading beyond that required for the course.
BThis is highly competent level of performance and directly addresses the question or problem raised.There is a demonstration of some ability to critically evaluatetheory and concepts and relate them to practice. Discussions reflect the student’s own arguments and are not simply a repetition of standard lecture andreference material. The work does not suffer from any major errors or omissions and provides evidence of reading beyond the required assignments.
CThis is an acceptable level of performance and provides answers that are clear but limited, reflecting the information offered in the lectures and reference readings.
DThis level of performances demonstrates that the student lacks a coherent grasp of the material.Important information is omitted and irrelevant points included.In effect, the student has barely done enough to persuade the instructor that s/he should not fail.
FThis work fails to show any knowledge or understanding of the issues raised in the question. Most of the material in the answer is irrelevant.

-ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENTS:

General Course Policies and Expectations

You attend all classes.
You come prepared to class, having read materials & completed assignments on time.
You participate actively in discussions and feedback.

Attendance policy

Students are expected to attend every class. Any person not present at the beginning and end of each class period will be marked absent. Any student who leaves early will be marked absent. I do not discern a difference between excused and unexcused absences. You are given a certain number of absences before points are taken off; you must use those absences wisely.

Participation

Lack of participation can hurt your grade. I will base your participation grade on the quality and quantity of your input to our class discussions. You are also expected to give meaningful feedback to your peers on presentation days.

Simply showing up for class does NOT guarantee you ANY points. I will keep track of who adds MEANINGFUL input to our class discussions. Participation is competitive.

ACADEMIC HONESTY
As stated in the university catalog, any student who commits an act of academic dishonesty will receive a failing grade on the work in which the dishonesty occurred. In addition, acts of academic dishonesty, irrespective of the weight of the assignment, may result in the student receiving a failing grade in the course. Instances of academic dishonesty will be reported to the Dean of Academic Affairs. A student who is reported twice for academic dishonesty is subject to summary dismissal from the University. In such a case, the Academic Council will then make a recommendation to the President, who will make the final decision.

STUDENTS WITH LEARNING OR OTHER DISABILITIES
John Cabot University does not discriminate on the basis of disability or handicap. Students with approved accommodations must inform their professors at the beginning of the term. Please see the website for the complete policy.

SCHEDULE

Introduction Speeches
Resume review
Value Proposition Paragraph and Presentation
Cover Letters
Cross Cultural Communication
Article Oral Summaries
Annual Report Presentation
Crisis Response Presentation and Paragraphs
Work Emails & Etiquette
Persuasive Writing

A detailed schedule of the course and all assignments/materials will be posted on Moodle.