Welcome to English 0099! We are embarking on a 16-week journey together. I may be the leader, but each of you is an important member of the crew. We'll be doing a lot of reading and writing this semester, learning writing styles that you will need to begin your collegiate journey. I want to be sure that you have the tools to be successful both in this class and after you leave. That's my job.

I love teaching writing, and I hope I can share my enthusiasm with each of you. I want to unlock some of the mysteries of academic "college” writing and to help you prepare for writing and reading beyond this classroom. Reading is an integral part of college, and good readers make good writers. Both of these skills will broader your ability to think critically, make good decisions, and communicate them to others. Your job will be to join in this partnership, read the material, initiate and add to class discussion, and be willing to write and rewrite and edit so that your finished product represents your very best work. I hope you'll grow to think of writing and reading as your gift to yourself.

Course Description: A course concerned with developing and enhancing writing skills including composing, editing, and proofreading. Students will write paragraphs and short essays. Course instruction will focus on grammar, usage, punctuation, and construction of clear, logical statements. Students will be expected to create and correct written communications using the laptop computer. (Learning Support exit-level course.)

ENGL 0099 carries 3 semester credit hours (3-0-3) and can make a full schedule for certain purposes, but the credits are not transferable and do not count toward graduation.

· Anker, Susan. Real Writing with Readings: Paragraphs and Essays for College, Work, and Everyday Life. Boston: Bedford/St.Martin's, 2010. ISBN 0-312-53904-5

In addition, individualized on-campus help is available for you at these locations:

· Counseling Services, located in Room 245 of the Student Center, which provides group and individual counseling and other support services.

ENGL 0099 is intended to help you develop both your writing skills and, to some extent, your reading skills. It prepares you to pass the English exit exams and the writing assessment in the Learning Support program. Moreover, it helps you do well in ENGL 1101 and 1102, CRIT 1101, and other required courses in which good communications skills are essential.

The ability to write and read well is important in college and in your career. Now is the time to begin developing these skills.

Each CSU student is required to have ready access throughout the semester to a notebook computer that meets faculty-approved hardware and software requirements for the student's academic program. Students will sign a statement attesting to such access. For further information on CSU's Official Notebook Computer Policy, please go to http://itpchoice.clayton.edu/policy.htm.

Students in ENGL 0099 will be asked periodically to bring their notebook computers to class. Computers will be required for word processing, sending and receiving e-mail, and accessing course materials. As a result, students should have the following basic computer skills:

· the ability to send and receive e-mail using their Clayton State e-mail accounts,

You are expected to read all assigned materials, to complete all assignments, and to participate fully in all class activities assigned by your instructor. To keep up with course requirements, you should check your e-mail messages at least once a day. Failure to complete any class requirement will result in a final course grade of F.

To receive a grade of C or higher in ENGL 0099, you must satisfy the following requirements:

1. You must complete, with satisfactory grades, all writing assignments and all unit tests including grammar tests.

· Grades below a C on writing assignments seriously jeopardize your chances of passing. If you make lower than a C, please get approval to rewrite this assignment for a better grade. To exit this course, you must demonstrate that you can write at a C-level or better. All writing assignments should follow the guidelines specified by the Manuscript Requirements for Writing.

· Each unit test requires a minimum grade of 70%, but you are allowed two retest opportunities per unit. You are responsible for setting up retest times; an unexcused absence from a retest counts as a missed opportunity to pass that unit.

2. You must pass the Exit Writing Assessment (EWA) during this semester. You must complete all required work, including a practice exit assessment, before taking this test. If you do not pass the EWA, you must receive permission to retest. Your grades, attendance, and class participation will be considered in this decision.

3. You must pass the COMPASS Test in English. You are allowed to take the COMPASS Test if you complete the course requirements (see #1 above) and if you pass the EWA (see #2 above). If you have already passed the English COMPASS in a previous semester, you do not take this test again, but you still must complete #1 and #2 above.

Throughout the semester you will be required to write responses varying from a single sentence to a fully developed essay. Some will be based on readings, and some on personal experiences. You will receive feedback on these writings, both through comments on your papers and through explanations of individual ratings.

Portfolio Rubric for Papers in First-Year Writing is also the rubric we use for English 0099

High Proficiency Good Proficiency Minimal Proficiency Non-proficiency

4 (20-18) 3 (17-16) 2 (15-14) 1 (13-0)

Invention of Content

topic

thesis (stated or implied)

focus

purpose

audience

Other:

Ideas and thesis are clear, insightful, thought-provoking, and focused; ideas consistently support the topic, thesis, and audience for the paper.

Ideas are clear and focused to support the topic and a clearly-developed central idea, but are not consistently insightful or thought-provoking.

Ideas are clear but

conventional or general; ideas generally support the topic, thesis, and audience for the paper.

Ideas are unclear or clichéd and demonstrate a lack of focus in support of the topic or thesis, which may be vague or missing.

Development

evidence (details, examples, textual support, logical appeals, emotional appeals, and appeals to writer’s credibility

Other:

Development is illustrative, with abundant details and examples that arouse audience interest and provide relevant, concrete, specific, and insightful evidence with effective appeals.

Development is adequate, but may lack depth, with details and examples that arouse audience interest and provide relevant, concrete, specific evidence with effective appeals.

Development is sufficient but general, providing adequate but perhaps not interesting details, examples, and evidence; few, ineffective, or fallacious logical, ethical, or emotional appeals.

Development is insufficient, providing scarce or inappropriate details, evidence, and examples that may include logical, ethical, or emotional fallacies or unsupported claims.

Organization

structure

coherence

unity

topic sentences

transitions

Other:

Organization is coherent, unified, and effective in support of the paper’s purpose and consistently demonstrates effective and appropriate rhetorical transitions between ideas and paragraphs.

Organization is coherent, unified, and effective in support of the paper’s purpose and usually demonstrates effective and appropriate rhetorical transitions between ideas and paragraphs.

Organization is coherent and unified overall in support of the essay’s purpose, but is ineffective at times and may demonstrate abrupt or weak transitions between ideas or paragraphs.

Organization is confused and fragmented in support of the essay’s purpose and demonstrates a lack of structure or coherence that negatively affects readability.

Style

sentence structure

word choice

tone

voice

verb tense

purposeful punctuation

Other:

Style is confident, readable, and rhetorically effective in tone, incorporating varied sentence structure and precise word choice.

Style is readable and rhetorically effective in tone, incorporating varied sentence structure and effective word choice.

Style is readable, but unremarkable in tone, sometimes including a lack of sentence variety and ineffective word choice.

Style is incoherent or inappropriate in tone, including a lack of sentence variety and ineffective or inappropriate word choice.

Grammar, Format, and Mechanics

paper format

Standard Written English (commas, s-v agr., sentence boundaries, etc.)

spelling

documentation format

MLA (or other required) format

Other:

Format, grammar, spelling, and punctuation are correct; meet all assignment directions, and work expertly to support the essay’s purpose.

Format, grammar, spelling, and punctuation are correct and meet all assignment directions, and work generally to support the essay’s purpose.

Format is mostly correct and meets critical aspects of assignment directions. Some distracting errors in grammar, spelling,

and punctuation.

Format faulty, does not meet sufficient aspects of the assignment direction, and does not support the essay’s purpose. Numerous distracting errors in grammar, spelling, and punctuation.

PLEASE NOTE: A passing grade profile on the Exit Writing Assessment can have no rating lower than C minus (70). The D rating is used only for individual writing assessments. A grade of D is not passing on the Exit Writing Assessment, nor is it a passing average for ENGL 0099. A grade of C minus (70) is the lowest passing average for the course.

In addition to studying and understanding the evaluation of each criterion on writing assignments, you are responsible for evaluating your own writing. The better you can assess your own strengths and weaknesses, the more effectively you can recognize and correct your problems and the faster you can become a better writer.

Before attempting the EWA, you should satisfactorily complete all required course work with a passing average and must have complied with class attendance policies.

The EWA takes place during the 12^th through the 15^th week of the semester. The specific days will be announced later in the semester.

Unlike the other papers written during the semester, this assessment will be blind-scored by an instructor from another class. Papers will be returned within a week.

Students who pass on the first opportunity to test in a semester should not take the EWA again. Students who do not pass the first time may be allowed, with the instructor's approval, to retake the EWA.

If you are eligible to write on the first EWA administration but do not take it then, you will forfeit the first opportunity to pass the EWA during that testing period. Additionally, if the instructor does not certify you to write during the first administration, you will forfeit the first opportunity to write. If retest dates are scheduled, you are eligible to write on one of those dates only with the instructor's approval and subject to availability of spaces.

To be eligible to earn A, B, or C in ENGL 0099, you must pass the Exit Writing Assessment with a C- or higher during the same semester that you pass the COMPASS. Students who are not required to take ENGL 0099 but who choose to take it must pass the Exit Writing Assessment in order to receive a grade other than IP or F.

If you are certified to take the COMPASS but do not pass it, you may be allowed to retest. Please check with the test administrator to see whether you have passed. If you do not pass, you are responsible for contacting me to see whether any further work is required and to get a retest card.

Grades of A, B, and C indicate satisfactory work. Students must pass the writing subtest of the Compass to receive A, B, or C.

A grade of IP will be assigned to students who do not make sufficient progress in their first attempt in the course or who do not pass the exit requirements. Students who do not pass in their second attempt will receive an F and will be subject to suspension. Students will earn F if they do not turn in all assignments, if they stop attending class without withdrawing, or if they do not pass on their second attempt or on attempts after appeals or suspension.

The grade of W or WF will be assigned to students according to the official policies of the University. A final grade of D is not used in this class.

At the end of the semester, final grades are available for students on the DUCK.

A midterm grade for each student in this class will be available on the DUCK by Feb. 28. This grade will specify a student's grade average up that point. A student must keep in mind, however, that to receive a final passing grade of A, B, or C in ENGL 0099, he or she must satisfactorily complete all required work, must receive a passing score on the EWA, and must pass the English COMPASS Test.

Based on the midterm grade, a student may choose to withdraw from the course and receive a grade of W. Students pursuing this option must fill out and turn in an official withdrawal form, available in the Office of the Registrar, by Friday, March 2, the last day to withdraw without academic accountability.

Students are expected to attend and participate in every class meeting. Instructors establish specific policies relating to absences in their courses and communicate these policies to the students through the course syllabi. Individual instructors, based upon the nature of the course, determine what effect excused and unexcused absences have in determining grades and upon students' ability to remain enrolled in their courses. The university reserves the right to determine that excessive absences, whether justified or not, are sufficient cause for institutional withdrawals or failing grades.

According to University attendance policy, students are expected to attend and participate in every class meeting. Instructors establish specific policies relating to absences in their courses and communicate these policies to the students through the course syllabi. Individual instructors, based upon the nature of the course, determine what effect excused and unexcused absences have in determining grades and upon students' ability to remain enrolled in their courses. The University reserves the right to determine that excessive absences, whether justified or not, are sufficient cause for institutional withdrawals or failing grades.

In this course, you are expected to attend all classes except when you are sick or have an emergency. Regardless of the reason for your absence, you are responsible for all assigned work. Therefore, you should follow these procedures when you are absent:

1. If you know ahead of time that you must miss a class, confer with me in advance so that you can keep up with your work.

2. If you are absent, send an e-mail message to me at beniecolvin@clayton.edu so that you can find out what you missed in class and what your assignments are.

3. Absences beyond five classes, with or without an excuse, are considered excessive. Excessive absences may affect the final grade and may even prevent the student from taking the COMPASS. A student who exceeds this number of absences should discuss with the instructor the possibility of either withdrawing from the course or remaining in the course with the understanding that the highest grade which is likely for the course is IP.

All assigned work is due at the beginning of class on the due date. All work turned in after that time is considered late.

Unexcused late work will be penalized at least one letter grade. If you do not complete unexcused late work within one week of the original due date, you will receive a grade of zero. Remember that you must complete all assigned work to pass this course.

Operation Study: At Clayton State University, we expect and support high motivation and academic achievement. Look for Operation Study activities and programs this semester that are designed to enhance your academic success such as study sessions, study breaks, workshops, and opportunities to earn Study Bucks (for use in the University Bookstore) and other items.

Behavior which disrupts the teaching-learning process during class activities will not tolerated. While a variety of behaviors can be disruptive in a classroom setting, more serious examples include belligerent, abusive, profane, and/or threatening behavior. A student who fails to respond to reasonable faculty direction regarding classroom behavior and/or behavior while participating in classroom activities may be dismissed from class. A student who is dismissed is entitled to due process and will be afforded such rights as soon as possible following dismissal. If found in violation, a student may be administratively withdrawn and may receive a grade of WF.

If you work hard in ENGL 0099, you can gain more confidence and more competence in your communication skills. To achieve this goal, you should always behave responsibly and maturely in class. Your classmates and I expect you to show consideration and respect at all times. You should also follow these guidelines:

1. Come to class on time. Your tardiness distracts others in the classroom and gets you behind in your work.

2. Stay in the room until class is over. Your leaving and your returning are distractions for others in the class and interfere with your work. If you have to leave early, please tell me before class begins and sit near the door so that you can leave without undue commotion. These early departures should be rare.

3. Keep cell phones switched off and out of sight while in class. No texting during class. Headphones, ear buds, and Bluetooth devices may not be worn in class.

4. Come to class prepared to work. Please bring these materials with you to class:

Eating, drinking, and smoking are not allowed in classrooms at Clayton State University. Please do not bring (or leave) any cans, bottles, or food wrappers in the classroom.

This link is to the Basic Undergraduate Student Responsibilities from Clayton State's online Academic Catalog:

Any type of activity that is considered dishonest by reasonable standards may constitute academic misconduct. In ENGL 0099, students are engaged in academic dishonesty if they receive help from others in writing their essays or in completing other required course work and if they submit work that has been plagiarized or copied from other sources. All papers turned in for a grade must also be submitted to turnitin.com before the paper can be graded. Instructions for submission will be given prior to the due date for the first paper.

All cheating and plagiarism, as well as any other instances of academic dishonesty, will result in a student's not receiving credit for the work involved. All instances of academic dishonesty will be reported to the Office of Student Life/Judicial Affairs. Judicial procedures are described at http://adminservices.clayton.edu/judicial/.

To obtain this document in an alternative format and request accommodations, please contact the Disability Resource Center in the Student Center, Room 255, at (678) 466-5445 or disabilityservices@clayton.edu.

Information in this syllabus and for this course has been generously shared by Dr. Ted Walkup