Course Syllabus
English 4075-40 Writing for Non Profits
Professor Julianne Couch
Spring 2020 (Start date Jan. 27 - end date May 8, 2020)
I do not have an on-campus office but am available by email jcouch@uwyo.edu
In this online course, a Week starts on Monday at 12:01 a.m. and ends the following Sunday at 11:59 p.m. (exception: the last week of the regular semester at UW ends on Friday, May 8.)
Spring 2020
MODULE 1
Week One, Jan. 27 – Feb. 2
Watch for weekly video lecture under Announcements
Reading due: Miller, review front matter, read chapters 1 & 2
Threaded discussion/introduction
No formal assignment due
Week Two, Feb. 3 - Feb. 9
Watch for weekly video lecture under Announcements
Reading assigned: Miller, chapter 3
Threaded discussion, Existing NP target audience
No formal assignment due, but start selection of Non-profit from list and review mission/vision statements
MODULE 2 Week Three, Feb. 10 – Feb. 16
Watch for weekly video lecture under Announcements
Reading assigned: Miller, chapter 4 & 5
Threaded discussion, Opposition to your created NP
Document due: Mission/vision statement AND Frequently Asked Questions list (FAQ)
(Select non-profit from list provided IN ASSIGNMENT PROMPT)
Week Four, Feb. 17 – Feb. 23
Watch for weekly video lecture under Announcements
Reading assigned: Miller, chapters 7 & 8
Threaded discussion, Read and discuss provided article about volunteering abroad
Document due: Audience analysis
MODULE 3 Week 5, Feb. 24 - March 1
Watch for weekly video lecture under Announcements
Reading assigned: Miller, chapters 9 & 10
Threaded discussion, Powerful messages
Due: Press release
Week 6, March 2 - March 8
Watch for weekly video lecture under Announcements
Reading assigned: Miller, chapter 11
NO "normal" threaded discussion this week
Due: Oral presentation, uploaded to discussion board
Week 7, March 9 – March 15
Watch for weekly video lecture under Announcements
Reading assigned: Miller, chapter 12
No "normal" threaded discussion
Due: Oral presentation review of yourself and another student speech
March 16 - March 22 SPRING BREAK
MODULE 4 Week 8, March 23 – March 29
Watch for weekly video lecture under Announcements
Reading assigned: Miller, chapter 6
Threaded discussion, Communication
Begin work on grant proposal
Week 9, March 30 - April 5
Watch for weekly video lecture under Announcements
Reading assigned: None
Threaded discussion, Giving grants to others
Document due: Peer critique of grant proposal. Your draft must be uploaded by Friday April 3 to allow the weekend for peer critique to take place
Week 10, April 6 - April 12
Watch for weekly video lecture under Announcements
Reading assigned: Miller, chapter 14 & 15
Threaded discussion, Fundraising
Document due: Grant proposal
Week 11, April 13 – April 19
Watch for weekly video lecture under Announcements
Reading assigned: Miller, chapter 16
Threaded discussion, Social media
Document due: Direct Mail fundraising letter
MODULE 5 Week 12, April 20 – April 26
Watch for weekly video lecture under Announcements
Reading assigned: Miller, chapter 13
Threaded discussion, Ideas for organizing
Week 13, April 27 - May 3
Watch for weekly video lecture under Announcements
Reading assigned: Miller, chapter 14
Threaded discussion, Appealing job descriptions
Week 14, May 4 -FRIDAY May 8 (THAT'S THE LAST DAY OF CLASS)
Threaded discussion, Impressions of nonprofit field
Document Due: Job Description
Important Course Information and Policies
Course Description:
This course is designed for students interested in working in the nonprofit sector. It explores the rhetorical, political and social dimensions of written and oral communication in the nonprofit world. It features analysis and practice in appealing to multiple audiences, including clients, volunteers, and funding sources. Students will focus on their preferred nonprofit type and--with attention to rhetorical choices--develop communication tools ranging from mission statements, press releases and oral presentations to grant proposals.
Required Text:
Miller, Kivi Leroux. The Nonprofit Marketing Guide: High-Impact, Low-Cost Ways to Build Support for Your Good Cause. Jossey-Bass, San Francisco. 2010.
This course fulfills the Communication 3 (COM3) requirement of the 2015 University Studies Program. Students will develop skills in written, oral, and digital communication as appropriate to specific disciplines and courses at the introductory, intermediate, and advanced level. Through repeated instruction, practice, and feedback, the communication sequence will emphasize and progressively develop transferable skills for students’ academic work and future professions. Advanced courses (COM3) will emphasize using the discourse of a discipline or interdisciplinary field to communicate to academic or professional audiences through written, oral, and digital communication.
Course Goals. By the end of this course, you should be able to:
- Present written information in formats that you would encounter in the non-profit environment such as correspondence, presentations, marketing materials, and grant proposals.
- Understand how to shape information for various audiences and purposes.
- Achieve conciseness, clarity, exactness and grammatical accuracy in your writing, using effective editing and proofreading strategies.
- Learn collaborative writing and revision strategies through peer editing and group writing.
- Be familiar with the current trends in the non-profit world.
- Conduct primary and secondary research relevant to disciplinary and interdisciplinary writing environments.
- Understand how to deliver a professional and effective oral presentation to an audience.
- Understand the benefits and limitations of digital technology in writing, collaborating, revising, publishing, and presenting information.
- Understand the impacts of gender, ethics, and cross-cultural situations on communication
Basic Online course expectations
Email: You are required to use your official UW email account
Computer and Internet: You are responsible for ensuring that you have a reliable up-to-date computer, updated virus protection, and Internet connection to access the course materials and complete course activities. You need to make alternate arrangements in case of unexpected computer and Internet problems.
Technical capability: You must have the technical capability to play and to record audio posts for threaded discussions. You must have the technical capability to play and to record and oral presentations. (See Instructional Accommodations) Backup: Remember to regularly back up course files to avoid data loss in the event of hardware failure or user error.
Course Attendance and Participation
Think of our online course week as beginning on Monday and ending the following Sunday. You are expected to actively participate and contribute to the learning experience in your course at least three days each academic week. Participation means providing substantive comments, questions and contributions that advance the learning process for you and/or other learners in the course.
Policy on late work
All assignments must to be submitted on or before the due date. The penalty for late assignments is a reduction of points earned by 10% for each day past the due date unless the instructor determines that extenuating circumstances warrant other arrangements. Threaded discussion participation must occur within the week assigned to that discussion question. It cannot be made up paste the due date.
Format for Written Work: For most circumstances, workplace standards call for Times New Roman, Arial or Verdana fonts in 10 to 12 point size.
Responding to email: I will respond to course related questions within 24 hours. I ask that you respond to message from me within that time frame, too.
Grading: Potential employers, customers, clients and colleagues, like most other people, can be depended upon to notice errors in the writing of others more readily than in their own. Therefore, in accordance with English Department policy, the writing you prepare for business purposes, and for the purposes of this class, must not only fulfill the assignment, but it also must be free of major grammatical and mechanical errors to earn a grade of C or better. Also, while it is true of all writing, it is especially true of professional writing that appearance counts: how something looks significantly influences the way a reader will respond to it. Thus, you should make certain that formatting elements such as margins, type/copy clarity and readability are as good for this class as they would be if you were creating a document in the workplace.
Instructional Modification and Accommodation: If you have a physical, learning, or psychological disability and require accommodations please let me know as soon as possible. You will need to register with, and provide documentation of your disability to, University Disability Support Services (UDSS) in SEO, room 330 Knight Hall, 766-6189, TTY: 307-766-3073.
Academic Dishonesty Policies: Ths policy was developed drawing upon UW Regulation 2-114 (Procedures and Authorized University Actions in Cases of Student Academic Dishonesty).
Academic dishonesty will not be tolerated in this class. Cases of academic dishonesty will be treated in accordance with UW Regulation 2-114. The penalties for academic dishonesty can include, at my discretion, an “F” on an exam, an “F” on the class component exercise, and/or an “F” in the entire course. Academic dishonesty means anything that represents someone else’s ideas as your own without attribution. It is intellectual theft – stealing - and includes (but is not limited to) unapproved assistance on examinations, plagiarism (use of any amount of another person’s writings, blog posts, publications, and other materials without attributing that material to that person with citations), or fabrication of referenced information. Facilitation of another person’s academic dishonesty is also considered academic dishonesty and will be treated identically.
Classroom Statement on Diversity: “The University of Wyoming values an educational environment that is diverse, equitable, and inclusive. The diversity that students and faculty bring to class, including age, country of origin, culture, disability, economic class, ethnicity, gender identity, immigration status, linguistic, political affiliation, race, religion, sexual orientation, veteran status, worldview, and other social and cultural diversity is valued, respected, and considered a resource for learning.
Some Helpful Student Resources
DISABILITY SUPPORT SERVICES: udss@uwyo.edu, 766-3073, 128 Knight Hall, www.uwyo.edu/udss
COUNSELING CENTER: uccstaff@uwyo.edu, 766-2187, 766-8989 (After hours), 341 Knight Hall, www.uwyo.edu/ucc
ACADEMIC AFFAIRS: 766-4286, 312 Old Main, www.uwyo.edu/acadaffairs
DEAN OF STUDENTS OFFICE: dos@uwyo.edu, 766-3296, 128 Knight Hall, www.uwyo.edu/dos
UW POLICE DEPARTMENT: uwpd@uwyo.edu, 766-5179, 1426 E Flint St, www.uwyo.edu/uwpd
STUDENT CODE OF CONDUCT WEBSITE: www.uwyo.edu/dos/conduct
Duty to Report:
UW faculty are committed to supporting students and upholding the University’s non-discrimination policy. Under Title IX, discrimination based upon sex and gender is prohibited. If you experience an incident of sex- or gender-based discrimination, we encourage you to report it. While you may talk to a faculty member, understand that as a "Responsible Employee" of the University, the faculty member MUST report information you share about the incident to the university’s Title IX Coordinator (you may choose whether you or anyone involved is identified by name). If you would like to speak with someone who may be able to afford you privacy or confidentiality, there are people who can meet with you. Faculty can help direct you or you may find info about UW policy and resources at http://www.uwyo.edu/reportit
You do not have to go through the experience alone. Assistance and resources are available, and you are not required to make a formal complaint or participate in an investigation to access them.
Syllabus changes: Likely there will be no syllabus changes but do stay alert for DAILY announcements and emails from me.
Course Evaluations: You will have the opportunity to formally evaluate the course and my teaching at the end of the semester. If you have constructive advice or concerns, please share them with me as soon as possible. Do not wait six weeks to talk about it. If your needs are not being met, let me know immediately, while there is time to address the situation. Just as you want to improve your writing, I want to improve my teaching. Feedback is the best way to accomplish these positive changes.
Grade scale for assignments.
|
Letter Grade |
Percent |
|
A |
93-100% |
|
A- |
90-92% |
|
B+ |
87-89% |
|
B |
83-86% |
|
B- |
80-82% |
|
C+ |
77-79% |
|
C |
73-76% |
|
C- |
70-72% |
|
D+ |
67-69% |
|
D |
63-66% |
|
D- |
60-62% |
|
F |
0-59% |
Major Assignments and points
Threaded Discussions, 240
12 worth 20 points each
Mission/Vision Statement & FAQ 75
Audience Analysis 75
Press Release 75
Oral presentation 75
Oral presentation Review 50
Job description for Exec. Dir. 75
Direct Mail 75
Grant Proposal 200
Proposal Peer Review 60 (30 for submission, 30 for review)
Total 1000
Brief assignment descriptions
(see full prompt for complete details)
Threaded Discussions We will engage in one threaded discussions most weeks. Please post your initial posts by Wednesday night, with your response posts no later than Sunday night (preferably Saturday night to allow discussion to flourish). The initial post to each threaded discussion question must be an AUDIO or VIDEO recording of no more than two minutes. The response post should be typed. Each initial post will be worth 10 points, and the two responses worth 5 points apiece. (See discussion threads for further instructions.)
Mission/Vision Statement will be developed after selecting from provided list of non-profit types. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) A list covering 10 questions people might have about your non-profit, along with the answers. These will be placed together into a single document.
Audience analysis analyzing and assessing characteristics of your funders, volunteers, clients, and opposition so that you can target your messages to them.
Press release, an article announcing your non-profit’s activities or accomplishments to be released by news media, 1-2 pages.
Oral Presentation, brief but formal speech to an imagined community group about your non-profit, designed to recruit support for your cause. Must be Video recorded and uploaded to course.
Oral Presentation Review, is a chance to reflect on your presentation, after the fact, and also on the work of another student.
Grant Proposal, a document to acquire funding for your non-profit. The proposal will be presented in response to a Request for Proposal.
Direct mail, a fundraising letter designed to move people who are aware of your organization into taking action.
Job description, a thorough, appealing, and ethically/legally presented document to recruit qualified applicants to an executive position within your nonprofit organization.
Course Summary:
| Date | Details | Due |
|---|---|---|