349Syllabus

349Syllabus

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  Instructor: MichelleCrowe Office Hours: Thursdays from1:30to 3:30 p.m. or by appointment. Contacts You can reach me duringbusiness hours: 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. miacrowe@iu.edu Cell:812-272-5828 (text OK) Check Canvas and your IU email before class. About me: I am a marketing consultantwho has been a successful businessowner since 2008. I have a strong writingand healthcarebackground. I am also a freelance magazinewriter. I have three children and livein Ellettsville.I grew up locally.I graduated from Ball State University. “Excellingat any job is aboutdoing the things you weren’t asked to do.” - Mary Egan, founder of Gathered Table in Seattle and former senior vice president at Starbucks >>> BRING YOUR TEXTBOOKS TO CLASS 1. The Essentialsof Style and Format,8th Editionby ThomasH.Bivins 2. The AssociatedPress2015 Stylebook Welcome to MSCH-R349: Public Relations Writing The Media School INDIANA UNIVERSITY Room: EP 208 || Tuesday/Thursday: 4 to 5:15 p.m. What to expect: This is a writingcourse. It’s a special writingcoursebecausewe will usethe formats specific to public relationsprofessionals. By the end of the course, students will havebeen exposed to the basic formats, functions and strategies behind the tools communicators use. We will focus on writingthat is clear,conciseand targeted to the person readingit. Look forward to merging the art of writingwith the scienceof specific formats. Bringyour books to class.There will be many chances for group and class discussion.You must show up to succeed in this class. Public relationsprofessionalsmustbe comfortable talkingon camera, in boardrooms and in community presentations.Prepare to practicethis with your professional class participation. We will talk aboutethics. Students should be ableto articulatetheir position on ethical and legal issues in publicrelationsby the end of the course. Don’t forget about AP Style. Itis your ticket to credibility as a professional. Wewill have timed, open-book quizzes and student presentations to help you get comfortable with usingit. Course format and structure: We learn by doing, so you will learn to write by writing. To keep it interesting, students will beasked to choose an actual business and local non-profitorganization to be your “clients”for the semester . All work after about the fifth week will bebased on these clients and promotion an event or announcement you design. - The work will be revised and packaged into a media kit - Two events/announcements will beselected by classvoteto prepare and present a press conference as a final project(all students will participateon one of the two teams). ** Instructor will approveall clients beforeassignments begin. Deadlines PR professionalswork in an environment of constantdeadlines;we’ll do the same. I will announcea deadlineeach time an assignmentis made. Work handed in after that deadlinewill automatically lose10 percentage points (on a scaleof 100) for each 24 hours itis late. The best strategies for avoidingthe late penalty are to finish a day before the actual deadlineand to keep backup copies of all work in progress. If I ask for a hard copy, do not come in to class expecting to print out your assignment just before (or during!) class. “After all, good writing is good writing, no matter what the form. The truly good writer can work in any medium, like the good artist.” - Thomas H. Bivins
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  The major assignments(400 points total) Grading The focus of this class ison your growth and improvement. I will makecomments on your work to help you identify problems and weaknesses as well as strengths. Gradingof each major assignment will bedone on the familiar100-pointscale: 97-100 A+ Excellent work 93-96 A Excellent work, justone or two minor problems 90-92 A- Excellent work, with a few minor problems 87-89 B+ Good work 83-86 B Good work, with a few minor problems 80-82 B- Good work, but several minor (or one major) problem(s) 77-79 C+ Satisfactory 73-76 C Satisfactory,butmore reporting/editing needed 70-72 C- Satisfactory,butmuch more reporting/editingneeded 67-69 D+ Serious problems with reporting, writingor Web production 63-66 D Serious problems 60-62 D- Severe problems overall. 0-59 F Academic misconduct/failureto do the assignment. Mistakes in spelling,grammar,styleand punctuation will be treated as technical errors,and you’ll havea grace period duri ngthe firstthree weeks to brush up on those skills. After that, I’ll startdockingyou points for grammar, AP and especially for spelling errors. Misspellinga namewill resultin a serious lossof points. NOTE: Each major assignmentincludes a gradingrubric thatspells out exactly how the assignmentwill be graded. To avoid losingpoints unnecessarily,alwaysreviewthe rubric before turningin an assignment. 40% - Writing Assignments 20 points each for a total of 160 points (5 for AP Style) Introduction of organization/event; Bios;Press Release; Fact Sheet; Backgrounder; Media list; Newsletter Article; Media Advisory. One rewrite allowed 30% - Stylebook Quizzes; Stylebook Presentation; Participation 40 points for attendance and professional conduct - 10% of total grade. Each quizworth 4 points - 10% of total grade. Classroomteaching presentation worth 40 points - 10% of total grade 30% - Press Conference/Media Kit. Class divided into two teams to prepare a mock press conference . Press Conference is 80 total points (10 points for peer evaluation) - 20% of grade Revise writinginto Media Kit for 40 points - 10% of total grade I am teaching this class because I want to. I am invested in each of you as a person and as a student in this classroom. I am very glad to meet with you during office hours, or other times. If you have concerns about your grade, or you don’t understand an assignment lets talk sooner rather than later.
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  Participation and Attendance 15 percentof your grade. Professionalismmeans that missinga classislikemissing a day of work. I expect you to show up on time, and show up prepared. If we startclass with a quizor exerciseand you come in late, you will notget a chance to make up the work. An “excused absence” generally involves a personal or family illness or emergency. Routine medical appointments, job obligations,computer problems, missed buses,meetings with advisers and scheduled interviews (for stories or for jobs) arenot valid reasons for missingclass. Attendance is reflected in your grade. You may have up to two absences with no penalty. After that, I will take4 points of your total 60 point participation gradefor each absence. If you miss more than ten classestotal,you will fail theclass. Sincethere are no make-ups for quizzes,you will losethosefour points as well if you miss on a quizday. Participation and Professional Conduct are very important as well. This is not a lecture class.I will ask you to discuss items in small groups and in the larger-classroomcontext. I will noticeif you do not choose to participate.You must bringyour books to class.If you do not have your book you may not be ableto participatein the small group work. I will noticethis happening – we area small class. Also,remember to act professionally outsideof class –this includes emails you may send me, or texts. Email is a critical partof the business world and you should practiceusingitthatway. I will mark down your grade if I feel that you are interactingwith me in an unprofessional way. Classroom Management I will useCanvas to organizeour class. This will bean important tool for all of us to literally “stay on the samepage.” Documents on Canvas will beupdated and are the source of truth when there is any question about an assignmentor deadline. Changes to this Syllabus will bereflected in Canvas,should they be necessary. THIS IS SERIOUS STUFF. ACADEMIC HONESTY Any academic dishonestyisconsidereda serious violationof academic integrityand upon discovery will be reported. I will handle all violationsof Code according to strict Universitypolicies. Plagiarismcauses anguish for students who are caught and for the faculty who have no option but to take harsh measures. I’m assumingnone of you will takeunethical shortcuts in your work. In caseyou’re unsure about what constitutes academic misconduct,here arethe rules. All work must be 100 percent your own, and your work alone. Itmust not be work from a previous class.You must accurately quote and represent all sources in your stories. Makingup quotes, inventing sources,liftingmaterial from the Web and presenting it as if you had conducted your own interviews, collaboratingon a story with a student in another section, or coaxing/payinganother student are examples of academic dishonesty. The University defines cheatingas “…an attempt to useor provideunauthorized assistance,materials,information or study aids in any formand in any academic exerciseor environment.” Learn more at http://www.iu.edu/~code/code/responsibilities/academic/ Inspiration for the Journey – excerpt from Rework byJason Fried, David HeinemeierHansson