May 29 |

This page contains policies that I send to students. 

Sent May 29, 2008

Dear Internship Students,

Welcome to ENGL 4378, Internship in Technical Communication.  I’m looking forward to working with each of you individually this Summer, but, as this is an organized course, there are standard assignments and policies you need to be familiar with to get the most out of the course and your internship experience.

Please familiarize yourself with the information at the course website:

 http://www.faculty.english.ttu.edu/barker/4378/Default.htm

 Please also visit our class wiki site and read the information there:

 http://4378.pbwiki.com/

These sites will help guide you through this online course.  You will use the course website for policies and assignments and resources, and you will use the wiki to upload your assignments. 

Grades:  I will not post grades on the wiki or website, but will email them to you as an Excel attachment.  You can see a copy of the grade sheet on the course web page.

It is your responsibility to learn how to use the basic features of the pbwiki page and post assignments on time on the wiki page.  Because this is an online course you need to be extra careful to make all the deadlines on the schedule page.  I don’t think you will find the course overly demanding—the assignments are short and intended to help you make the most of your internship—but you do have to do them acceptably (to pass) if not with excellence (to get a high grade).  Remember, this is not a course in which you get credit for doing a job:  you get credit for your academic work that is associated with your job and that uses your job as a springboard for academic issues, research, and understanding. 

Some other important points to remember:

 ·    If you have not turned in your proposal form, please do so as soon as possible. Here is a link to the form:

http://www.faculty.english.ttu.edu/barker/4378/ENGL4378appl.rtf

·    Don’t forget to turn in your learning goals along with your first progress report.  The home page of the course web gives guidance on how to determine your course goals. 

·    If you have any questions, please email me. I will respond as soon as I can, usually right away or within a day at the latest.

·    I will, by default, send messages to your TTU account and I expect you to check that account. But you can send me an alternate email if you wish to use one and I’ll add it to the class mailing list.

·    Remember to include information about your job in your progress report. This should be in your proposal, but in case I don’t have it, please let me know.  I want to put the location of your internship up on the web so you can all get a sense of the kinds of work your classmates are doing.

How to succeed in this course:

·    Turn in your work on time

·    Provide complete and required information in assignments and reports.  Failure to do so will result in your assignment losing points (10 per day) for lateness or incompletion. 

·    Think about how you can apply your learning to the workplace and then do it.  Only you can find innovative solutions to communication problems you and your employers face.  Be smart and let your academic work reflect your courage and innovative thinking.

·    Maintain contact with me during the course.  You can email, or use IM (on Yahoo I am “drtbarker”).  You can call and leave messages on the number below. 

·    Represent Texas Tech University and the Technical Communication program well.

I look forward to receiving your first progress reports on June 6.

This page maintained by Thomas Barker thomas.barker@ttu.edu