www.wam.umd.edu/~xwriter

English 379C: Editing and Document Design

Course Policies

REQUIRED TEXTS

• Carolyn D. Rude, Technical Editing, 3rd ed., Longman, 2002
• Robin Williams, The Non-Designers Design Book, 2nd Edition, Peachpit Press, 2004.

The Rude text should be brought to every class.

PREREQUISITES

None. However, having taken one of the Professional Writing courses (English 390, 391, 392, 393, 394, 395, 398) will give you an advantage. Also, being an effective editor requires a thorough grounding in grammar and mechanics. A solid score on the start-of-semester diagnostic is a good benchmark for judging your abilities.

NMC (2112)/ INTERNET ACCESS

During most of the semester, we will hold one class per week in the New Media Classroom (NMC), 2112 Susquehanna. In order to login to the computers – and therefore participate in class – you must know your Directory ID and password. You will also need easily accessible Internet access outside of class.

COURSEWORK

Detailed assignment sheets will be provided for each of the major assignments. You should keep all your work (including in-class activities and quizzes) and turn it in at the end of the semester in a pocket folder, to be returned after final grades have been calculated. A folder of the major assignments can serve as a pre-professional portfolio of materials you may take to job interviews.

GRADING

The total course grade is based on 1,000 points as outlined in the previous section. The four major assignments are evaluated based on a 100-point scale. If an assignment is worth 100 points, an A+ is 97 and above, an A is 92-96, an A- is 89-91, a B+ is 86-88, a B is 82-85, a B- is 79-81, a C+ is 76-78, a C is 72-75, a C- is 69-71, a D+ is 66-68, a D is 62-67, a D- is 59-61, and 58 or below is an F.

In-class activities are not graded but evaluated as "excellent," "has the basic idea," or "needs work." At the end of the semester, all activities are averaged together for a total of 200 points.

What a “C” means : You know and can use editing symbols correctly. However, your work demonstrates that you don’t have a strong grasp of higher-level editing issues, you don’t write clearly enough yourself, you have not appropriately considered audience and use issues in your editing decisions, and/or your edit does not substantially improve a document’s readability. In addition, your knowledge of grammar/mechanics is insufficient to identify and correct all important errors.

DUE DATES

Assignments are due IN CLASS on the date listed on the schedule. Late penalties will be assessed for every class period an assignment is overdue.

There are only three acceptable methods for submitting your assignments, whether on time or late.

1. Hand your assignment to me in class.
2. Hand it to me in my office during regular office hours.
3. Place your assignment in an envelope with my name on it, take it to the Main English office, 3101 Susquehanna, and place it in the basket at the front desk.

If your assignment is late (or later) getting to me because you (or someone else) didn't submit it correctly, it is still late and will be marked accordingly. Remember: your lack of planning is not my emergency.

ABSENCES

Editing and document design is a studio course, which means that skills practice is essential, and much of that practice takes places in class. I do not count off for missed classes, per se; however, if you miss class, you do not receive credit for that day's activity, which will negatively affect that portion of your grade.

If you know you must miss a class, you should let me know in advance and make arrangements to make up that day's activity. Acceptable excuses include recognized religious holidays of your faith and court appearances or university-approved activities, the scheduling of which is outside of your control.

Similarly, if you have an emergency, you should let me know as soon as possible afterwards if you wish to make up the work. What constitutes an emergency:

• medical emergencies (documentation must be provided by next class)
• extreme traffic or weather conditions when school is open (notify me prior to the next class)

If you do miss class, you are still responsible for the material covered during your absence.

Given the above, if you cannot consistently attend class, or if other commitments prevent you from arriving on time, you may want to rethink taking this course this semester.

LATENESS

Many of the activities/exercises we do in this course will take place during the first 10-20 minutes of class. If you are late, you will not be able to make up the exercise and will lose the points assigned to it. Therefore, if you can't get to class on time, you probably shouldn't be enrolled.

If on occasion you do come late, it is your job -- not mine -- to learn what you've missed on your own time, not the class's. "I was late" is not an excuse for anything.

EMAIL

Because of spam and virus problems, I do not open emails without subjects, and I do not open attachments unless we have previously made arrangements. Therefore, please put English 379C in the subject line of all email messages you send to me.

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY

Unless presented with evidence to the contrary, I assume that my students do not cheat and that the work you produce in my class is your own. To reinforce this point, for your two major out-of-class assignments, I require that you write and sign the university honor pledge. If you are in doubt as to what constitutes plagiarism or unauthorized assistance with an assignment, I encourage you to discuss it with me and/or with the class. I also include here -- at the request of the Student Honor Council -- the following statement:

The University of Maryland, College Park has a nationally recognized Code of Academic Integrity, administered by the Student Honor Council. This Code sets standards for academic integrity at Maryland for all undergraduate and graduate students. As a student you are responsible for upholding these standards for this course. It is very important for you to be aware of the consequences of cheating, fabrication, facilitation, and plagiarism. For more information on the Code of Academic Integrity or the Student Honor Council, please visit http://www.studenthonorcouncil.umd.edu

SPECIAL ACCOMMODATIONS

If you have a documented disability requiring special accommodation, see me by the second week of class. Remember to register with Disability Support Service (DSS) and provide me with a statement from DSS on what you require. DSS is located at 0126 Shoemaker Hall, 314-7682 (voice) or 314-7683 (TDD).