Effective Communication Syllabus

(6710 IBP 070 A )

Fall Quarter 2018

 

Instructor: Nance Koike

E-mail: nkoike@bellevuecollege.edu

Classroom: T223

Class Times: 12:30-1:20 pm, Monday-Friday 

Office Location: R230

Office Hours: 11:00 - 11:45 M- Th, and by appointment

I prefer that you make an appointment with me ahead of time so that I can better serve you and manage other student appointments. Please send me an email requesting an appointment. 

Course Overview

Effective Communication class Improves the verbal effectiveness of non-native English speaking students. Focus is on developing presentation skills, telephone skills and cross-cultural communication strategies appropriate to the business environment. This class also improves written effectiveness. Focus is on grammar, word choice, tone, and writing for a specific purpose and audience. 

Course Outcomes

• Make an effective business presentation
• Participate effectively in a simulated business meeting
• Communicate effectively by telephone
• Write effective business communication for specific purposes through letters and emails
• Use appropriate format, tone, grammar, language, and punctuation

Textbook and Course Materials  

• Communicating in Business, 2nd edition, by Simon Sweeney
• Lined notebook paper (8 ½” x 11”) for notes and homework assignments
• An English-English dictionary
• A Bellevue College computer account / e-mail address (You MUST use your BC e-mail account for all communication related to this course. You must also use your BC username and password to access our Canvas class website regularly. )

Classroom Expectations

• Come to class every day on time, prepared, and ready to participate. Bring a pen, pencil, eraser, paper for taking notes, your books, and your dictionary to every class.

• Do homework assignments outside of class and bring them to class on time. If you are absent, you should give me the missed assignments on the first day you are back in class. Please email me to let me know you will be absent. Late homework is accepted up to 2 days after it is due, and you lose 10% of the points on the assignment for each day it is late.

• Do your own work. Plagiarism is using someone else’s words or ideas as your own on assignments. It is cheating and is not acceptable in American classes. There are different kinds of cheating: plagiarism, “borrowing” a classmate’s homework (partially or wholly), using an essay or a presentation from a previous quarter, using “cheat notes,” and copying answers from classmates’ papers during tests.

  • Examples of plagiarism are:

    • Copying from a Web page, book or article

    • Buying papers

    • Copying from another student

    • Using a friend’s paper from a previous quarter

  • If you plagiarize:

    • First time: your teacher will work with you so that you understand what not to do

    • Second time: Fail the assignment

    • Third time: Fail the class and be reported to the Associate Dean of Student Services. Possibly be asked to leave the school

  • This link provides a good, short summary of how to avoid plagiarism (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site..

• No cell phone during class unless I ask you to use your phone. 

• Do all quizzes and presentations on the days scheduled. There will be no make-up quizzes or presentations (except for extreme circumstances).

• Please speak English during class.

• Participate and ask questions! Speak as much as you can and listen to others thoughtfully.

• Respect your classmates and instructor. 

Attendance Policy

Regular attendance is very important in this class.  We will cover a lot of information every day, and it is important that you are in class and on time. 

• If you miss more than 10% of the total hours in any single class during a quarter (5 days for this class), you will receive a warning letter from the IBP Program.  If you are absent more than 15% of the total hours in a single class (7 days for this class), YOU MAY BE DISMISSED FROM THE PROGRAM.

• 3 tardies of 5 minutes or more (per hour) = 1 absence
• Missing 10 minutes or more of any hour of class = 1 absence (in a 2 hr. class = ½ absence)

Important Dates

No Class: 

• Monday, October 2 (Professional Development Day)
• Friday, November 12 (Veterans Day)
• Thursday, November 22 & Friday, November 23 (Thanksgiving Holiday)
• Monday, December 3 (Student Success Day)

Last Day of Class: Thursday, December 6

Course Grade

Your course grade will consist of the following:

Writing Assignments                                                                             30%

Speaking Assignments                                                                         30%

Attendance, Participation, and Homework                                           10%

Quizzes                                                                                                20%

Final Presentation                                                                                10%

 

Grading Scale:

A         94-100% (Excellent)

A-        90-93%

B+        87-89%                 

B          84-86% (Good)

B-        80-83%

C+        77-79%

C          74-76% (Satisfactory)

C-        70-73%

D+        67-69% 

D          64-66%

D-         60-63%

F           59-below

Time Management and Workload

This course will be a fair amount of work.  You should expect to spend at least 1-2 hours everyday outside of class studying and working on homework or class projects.  That means that you have to schedule and manage your time carefully every week so that you will have time to get everything done on time.  Do not wait until the night before to do your assignments.  Do them early so that you can do a good job and increase your learning potential.

Help with Canvas

Click here for help with Canvas for Students (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site..

Affirmation of Inclusion

Bellevue College is committed to maintaining an environment in which every member of the campus community feels welcome to participate in the life of the college, free from harassment and discrimination.

We value our different backgrounds at Bellevue College, and students, faculty, staff members, and administrators are to treat one another with dignity and respect.

Religious Holidays

Students who expect to miss classes, examinations, or any other assignments as a consequence of their religious observance should be provided with a reasonable alternative opportunity to complete such academic responsibilities. It is the obligation of students to provide faculty with reasonable notice of the dates of religious holidays on which they will be absent, preferably at the beginning of the term. Students who are absent on days of examinations or class assignments should be offered an opportunity to make up the work without penalty (if they have previously arranged to be absent), unless it can be demonstrated that a makeup opportunity would constitute an unreasonable burden on a member of the faculty. Should disagreement arise over what constitutes an unreasonable burden or any element of this policy, parties involved should consult the department chair, or Dean.

College Anti-Discrimination Statement

 Bellevue College does not discriminate on the basis of race or ethnicity; color; creed; national origin; sex; marital status; sexual orientation; age; religion; genetic information; the presence of any sensory, mental, or physical disability; gender identity or veteran status in educational programs and activities which it operates.

Confidentiality and Mandatory Reporting

As an instructor, one of my responsibilities is to help create a safe learning environment on our campus. It is my goal that you feel able to share information related to your life experiences in classroom discussions, in your written work, and in our one-on-one meetings. I will seek to keep information you share private to the greatest extent possible. However, I am required to share with the Title IX Coordinator any and all information regarding sexual assault and other forms of sexual misconduct (e.g. dating violence, domestic violence, stalking) that may have occurred on campus or that impacts someone on campus. Students may speak to someone confidentially by contacting the BC Counseling Center at (425) 564-2212. The Title IX Office can be contacted at 425-564-2441 and more information can be found at www.bellevuecollege.edu/titleix/ (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site..

For further information and contacts, please consult College Anti-Discrimination Statements (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.

Student Code of Conduct and Academic Integrity

 Any act of academic dishonesty, including cheating, plagiarism (using the ideas or words of another as one’s own without crediting the source), and fabrication and inappropriate/disruptive classroom behavior are violations of the Student Code of Conduct at Bellevue College.  Examples of unacceptable behavior include, but are not limited to, talking out of turn, arriving late or leaving early without a valid reason, allowing cell phones/pagers to ring, and inappropriate behavior toward the instructor or classmates.  The instructor can refer any violation of the Student Code of Conduct to the Dean of Student Success for investigation.  Specific student rights, responsibilities, and appeal procedures are listed in the Student Code of Conduct at: Student Code (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.

Bellevue College E-mail and access to MyBC

All students registered for classes at Bellevue College are entitled to a network and e-mail account.  Your student network account can be used to access your student e-mail, log in to computers in labs and classrooms, connect to the BC wireless network and log in to MyBC. To create your account, go to: Create Email (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.

BC offers a wide variety of computer and learning labs to enhance learning and student success. Find current campus locations for all student labs by visiting the Technology Help Desk (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.

Disability Resource Center (DRC)

The Disability Resource Center serves students with disabilities.  A disability includes any physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities.  Common disabilities include physical, neurological (e.g. Autism, ADD), and mental health (e.g. depression, anxiety).  If you are a student who has a disability or if you think you may need accommodations in order to have equal access to programs, activities, and services, please contact the DRC.

If you require assistance in an emergency, please meet with your individual instructors to develop a safety plan for while in class and contact the DRC to develop a safety plan for while you are elsewhere on campus.

If you are a student with a documented autism spectrum disorder, there is an additional access program available to you.  Contact Autism Spectrum Navigators (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. (ASN). Email and phone number is on the web page.  ASN is located in the Library Media Center in D125.

The DRC office is located in building B Room 132.  You can contact the DRC by stopping by B132, calling our desk at 425-564-2498, emailing drc@bellevuecollege.edu, and Deaf students can reach us by Skype (account name DRCatBC).  For more information about the services we offer, including our Initial Access Application, visit our website at www.bellevuecollege.edu/drc (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site..

Accessibility

The online elements of this course are designed to be welcoming to, accessible to, and usable by everyone, including students who are English-language learners, have a variety of learning styles, have disabilities, or are new to online learning. Be sure to let me know immediately if you encounter a required element or resource in the course that is not accessible to you. Also, let me know of changes I can make to the course so that it is more welcoming to, accessible to, or usable by students who take this course in the future.

Public Safety and Emergencies

Public Safety is located in the D building (D171) and can be reached at 425-564-2400 (easy to remember because it’s the only office on campus open 24 hours a day—2400).  Among other things, Public Safety serves as our Parking Permits, Lost and Found, and Emergency Notification center.  Please ensure you are signed up to receive alerts through our campus alerting system by registering at RAVE Alert Registration (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.

If you work late and are uneasy about going to your car, Public Safety will escort you to your vehicle. To coordinate this, please phone ahead and let Public Safety know when and where you will need an escort.

Please familiarize yourself with the emergency postings by the door of every classroom and know where to go in the event of an evacuation.  Your instructor will be asked if anyone might still be in the building, so check in before you do anything else.  Emergency responders will search for anyone unaccounted for.

If a major emergency occurs, please follow these three rules:

1) Take directions from those in charge of the response  -We all need to be working together.

2) Do not get in your car and leave campus (unless directed to) - Doing so will clog streets and prevent emergency vehicles from entering the scene.  Instead, follow directions from those in charge.

3) In an emergency, call 911 first, then Public Safety.

Please do not hesitate to call Public Safety if you have safety questions or concerns at any time. You may also visit the Public Safety (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. web page for answers to your questions.

Additional Information

All students should be aware of the many tutorial services provided by the Academic Success Center (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site..  If you need free tutorial help, please visit them in D204.

If you feel threatened or see something that may indicate trouble, please report it right away at Report Concerns. (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.  We all need to help keep our campus safe for everyone.