Syllabus for ENC 1101
Freshman Composition I
Valencia College
Spring 2016
“You write with ease to show your breeding/But easy writing’s curst hard reading.”
Brinsley Sheridan (1751-1816)
Instructor:
Diane Orsini
Office:
5-145, West Campus
Course Information:
ENC 1101 W05 CRN 23411
Time and Place:
T R 8:30 a.m. – 9:45 a.m. in 5-130
Office Hours:
My office hours are posted here at Faculty Front Door.
Phone:
407-582-1172. So that we both have a record of the question and
the answer, the best method of contact is email from your
Valencia account.
Email:
dorsini@valenciacollege.edu. I will accept emails from your
Valencia email account only.
Required Reading:
The Kirkman Reader. All reading assignments will be available
online. Check the Course Content link in Blackboard for details.
Course Web Sites:
dorsini.typepad.com/enc1101/
learn.valenciacollege.edu
Catalog Description
“Prerequisites: Score of 99 on writing component of PERT or equivalent score on other
state-approved entry test or minimum grade of C in ENC 0025C or EAP 1640C, and a
score of 104 on reading component of PERT or equivalent score on other stateapproved entry test or minimum grade of C in REA 0017C or EAP 1620C.
Development of essay form, including documented essay; instruction and practice in
expository writing. Emphasis on clarity of central and support ideas, adequate
development, logical organization, coherence, appropriate citing of primary and/or
secondary sources, and grammatical and mechanical accuracy. Gordon Rule course in
which the student is required to demonstrate college-level writing skills through
multiple assignments. Minimum grade of C required if ENC 1101 is used to satisfy
Gordon Rule and general education requirements” (Catalog).
1
Course Description
The goal of ENC 1101 is to help you master the fundamentals of essay-writing and to
give you the opportunity to develop your individual voice. We will also work on refining
your grammar, punctuation, and reading skills in order to make you more academically
competitive in your current classes and in your future life beyond Valencia.
Attendance and Deportment
Attendance Policy
The Valencia College Attendance policy states that students are expected to attend
every class, beginning with the first class meeting. Students whose names appear on my
printed class roll on the first day but do not show will be marked with a non-negotiable
absence that might lead to withdrawal. Those who do not show or contact
me at all during the first week will be withdrawn as ‘no-shows.’ Please read the full
policy at this link.
Attendance is directly related to success in this course. After two absences,
students will be sent an Excessive Absence notification via your Valencia email account.
A fourth absence may result in withdrawal from the course. I reserve the right to
withdraw any student with three or more absences before the withdrawal deadline but
do not guarantee that I will do so; if a student prefers the withdrawal (W) to the grade
of F, he or she is advised to initiate the process or contact me to discuss this. I will not
withdraw any student after the withdrawal deadline has elapsed and in that instance
will record the final course grade as F.
Students are expected to be on time. Two ‘lates’ count as an absence; if attendance is
not also an issue, six ‘lates’ put a student at risk for withdrawal. I may choose to exercise
my right to withdraw chronically late students because absent students injure only
themselves, but late students injure morale and interfere with the learning of others. If
a student is aware that attendance might be a problem, he or she is advised that an
online course might be a better option.
All tests must be taken on or before posted test dates; makeup tests are not available
without my explicit consent. Considering the generous testing window afforded us by
Blackboard, I will consent only in cases of documented, extreme emergency. Remember
that the only “excused absences” the college recognizes are jury duty, military
service, and childbirth (not ‘child care, alas).
Deportment
My good manners:
 I will be on time to class. If I am ever late, I will issue ten bonus points to the
students who get to the room before I do.
2









I will answer your emails within 48 hours of receipt.
I will check email at least once over the weekend.
I will return your graded work seven to ten days after submission.
I will post all your scores in Blackboard so you’ll always know where you stand in
the class. The best surprise is no surprise.
I will not text or answer calls while conducting class. You will have my full and
undivided attention.
If I watch a Youtube video in class, I will make sure that you can see it, too.
If for any reason I cannot make it to class, I will, if physically possible, set up the
announcement and assignment at Blackboard and in an email canceling that
class meeting. Out of respect, I will never stick you with a babysitter.
I won’t eat in front of you unless I bring enough for you, too.
I promise to teach you to the best of my ability.
Your good manners:
 You promise to learn to the best of yours.
 You will check your Valencia College email account daily to see if I have sent
notifications and updates.
 Out of respect for the other students, you will come to class on time.
 You will stay for the entire class meeting.
 If you’re late to class, you take responsibility for notifying me at the end of that
class period. Otherwise, your attendance that day will not be recorded and the
absence will count against you. Telling me two weeks later won’t make a
difference.
 You will take care of all bathroom and refreshment needs either before class or
after, not during.
 Like me, you will set your phone on vibrate and turn off your electrical devices
including laptops and IPad/Notebooks, etc. before class begins.
 You will not abuse the iMac by reading your emails, clicking the mouse while I
am speaking, or playing videos or games during class meetings. You might just
find yourself deported.
 You will not make or answer phone calls in class.
 You will follow Professor Leddy’s excellent example when composing emails.
 If you miss a submission window and require my assistance to upload late work,
you will include a polite explanatory note with your electronic copy. The penalty
for omitting this note is a five-point deduction.
 You won’t bring food items to class unless you bring enough for everybody.
 If you exercise your submission privilege (see below), you will be extremely
courteous to the dean’s administrative assistants.
Atlas Policy
Since the Valencia server screens all email correspondence for viruses and inappropriate
material, I will open and read only those messages that you send from your Valencia
email account. I will delete unread any messages from other email sources.
3
Checking your Valencia email account should become a daily priority. Do not let your
mailbox become so choked with old email from past semesters that the server cannot
deliver new messages.
Computer Issues
An essential component of this course is the use of technology to support our work, and
so, for your comfort, ease, and convenience, I have posted all tests in Blackboard.
A student will occasionally complain that he or she has been “kicked off” in the middle
of a test; if that happens, that student must instantly contact me via Atlas. I will re-set a
test only once per student per semester, only if the glitch is properly documented by
Blackboard itself, and only if the testing window is still open.
If a student has been “kicked off” once, he or she should not expect to take another test
on that same computer and is advised to come to campus to take all remaining tests at
Valencia. If that same student is “kicked off” a second time or more, he or she must
expect to live with whatever score he or she earned prior to the glitch.
Technological problems will also not be accepted as an excuse for late written work. If
your own computer or printer is out of commission, you will be expected to drive to
campus to complete your work or take your quiz at one of Valencia’s computer labs.
Since the composition of the Cause & Effect essay will require the use of on-line sources,
students who turn in the Cause & Effect essay without incorporating materials derived
from these sources will not receive a passing grade for this assignment.
Academic Honesty
All work submitted for credit in this class must be the product of the individual student’s
own original thoughts supported and informed by appropriately documented and
credited sources. The West Campus Communications Division defines plagiarism as
“the use of someone else’s words, ideas, pictures, design, and/or intellectual property
without the correct documentation and punctuation.” Students must document any
direct quotations and paraphrases in their papers, following MLA guidelines.
Plagiarism takes many forms: for example, turning in the same essay for two different
courses is considered self-plagiarism and will result in a zero for the paper. You may
legitimately wonder how anyone would ever know; this is one of the purposes of the
SafeAssign plagiarism scan (see below).
Valencia College subscribes to SafeAssign. This Blackboard feature allows students to
upload their essays so that software can compare these essays to every available
electronic resource in the world, looking for parts that match up with previously
4
published sources. All written assignments must be submitted for plagiarism analysis
at SafeAssign. Caveat: Before you upload your document, confirm that you have
attached the right file. A discrepancy will raise a red flag and prevent me from
grading the piece on time.
Why go to all this trouble? Plagiarism is morally indefensible. Any assignment showing
signs of plagiarism, either the
1.
2.
3.
4.
deliberate cut-and-paste of online or print sources,
the recycling of essays from previous classes,
essays written on behalf of the student by family members or friends, or
the result of inattention and incompetence
will be graded zero. A second offense will result in an appointment with the dean of the
Communications Department. One more thing: do not have your work typed or
processed for you by someone else.
Withdrawals
The deadline this session for withdrawing is Friday, April 1. If you choose withdrawal
for any reason, you must do it yourself within the window.
Grades
Valencia College requires that no less than a C be earned as a final grade; in this course,
that means you must earn a minimum of 700 out of the possible 1000 points.
You can achieve this by completing all the written assignments, taking all the quizzes in
Blackboard, and passing the final exam with a score of C or higher, and meeting the
Gordon Rule requirement.
The written assignments include the following:




Three formal out-of-class essays approximately 500-700 words
One 800-1000-word documented essay requiring the use of on-line
sources
Four multiple-draft packages (these packages earn a separate score)
Final Essay (business letter)
Papers will be assigned seven to ten days in advance of the due date. They must be at
least five hundred words each and word-processed; the Cause & Effect essay must be at
least eight hundred words; a ten-point penalty will apply for each 100 words an essay
lacks. All final drafts must be double-spaced and printed on only one side of the paper
with a one-inch margin. Spelling and grammar rules always count. FYI: the SafeAssign
report shows the word counts.
5
Your grade in this class will be an average of all the essays, drafting packages, and the
final exam. None of these assignments is optional. Here is the breakdown:
Essays:
Documented Essay:
Drafts:
Final Essay:
300 points
200 points
400 points
100 points
At the end of the semester, I will use the following scale:
A = 900-1000 points
B = 800-899
C = 700-799
D = 600-699
F = 599 points and below
Points are points. There is no averaging up or averaging down. If your final point count
comes in at 899 points, you will have earned a B.
Therefore, keep on top of the tests and take full advantage of the communal extracredit opportunities because this class does not offer individual extra-credit
opportunities or rewrites for assignments that received bad scores; the successive
assignments and your freedom to use the same source materials for each constitutes
the re-write opportunities. Learn from your mistakes and move on.
No grade will be dropped or curved. To earn the highest possible score, read all of the
assigned sections of your textbooks, follow all of the directions at the website, model
your own work on the student samples available for the assignments, email me from
Atlas with questions prior to submission, use the college writing centers (East, Lake
Nona, Osceola, West, Winter Park) when necessary, and proofread carefully for
sentence errors.
The final examination is the submission of an argument letter that demonstrates your
ability to balance academic and professional requirements. I will not accept a final exam
after the scheduled final exam period.
The wonders of Blackboard have made it possible for you to know your point total any
time you want, so it’s up to you to stay on top of your grades. The best surprise is no
surprise.
6
Deadlines, Missing Assignments, and Late Penalties
“Deadline” in this class means something very specific. I expect you to submit your
work electronically to SafeAssign during the posted window and to bring your print copy
for grading during the assigned class meeting, but I would rather you attended class
than used my class time to do your assigned work. I therefore will accept the essay and
drafting package without penalty of any kind if you bring them to the Communications
Division office (5-235) by 4:45 p.m. on the due date. To qualify for this benefit, the work
must be time-stamped by one of the Communications dean’s administrative assistants;
essays and packages stuffed under my door do not qualify and will get the ten-point
penalty. You must still submit the electronic copy via Blackboard, but I always leave that
window open until midnight of the due date.
If you miss handing in an essay and/or drafting package by the deadline, the essay
and/or drafting package will each receive a ten-point deduction. Any assignment
submitted more than seven days after the original due date will receive a fifty-point
deduction. If you miss the submission window at Blackboard, you must send me an
electronic copy that I will upload on your behalf—at the cost of five points.
I will not grade the print copy until the electronic copy has been scanned and approved
by SafeAssign/Blackboard and will post a zero score in the Blackboard grade book until
the essay has been electronically vetted.
If you miss a quiz or an in-class prewriting assignment, you cannot make it up. Anyone
who misses a quiz during the posted testing window or arrives after the class has
finished a piece of writing earns a zero for that component, so be sure to arrive on time
and keep up with the course calendar.
If you do not submit the final examination by the Valencia College deadline, you will
receive a zero for the assignment. No exceptions.
As the student, you are responsible for keeping up with all written and reading
assignments and for all learning materials presented in class when you are late or
absent. I will not bring to your attention what you have missed; it is your job to keep up.
For Your Own Protection
Make certain to save the “Sent” copy of your email in a designated folder that you can
access from my office, if necessary.
You must submit an electronic copy via SafeAssign as well as print a hard copy of the
work to bring to class. You are responsible for your own printing, collating, and stapling.
I will not grade the essay in its electronic form.
7
Format
How you present your work to me will indicate more about you than you realize, so be sure
to make a good show.
First, upload the required electronic copy of your final draft to the appropriate assignment
posted in Blackboard. The time stamp on the email indicates when you submitted the
assignment.
You must also bring a printed hard copy to class. Then, to make the best possible
impression, remember to:
How you present your work to me will indicate more about you than you realize, so be
sure to make a good show. How? Follow the meticulously detailed instructions I will
present during class and reinforce in the posts at the website.




Double-space all your work.
Indent all your paragraphs.
Avoid putting extra lines between paragraphs. If necessary, go to your
Page Layout tab and reduce the line spacing from 10 pt. to 0 pt.
At the top of the first page, provide the following information:
Your name
Last name 1
Professor Orsini
Writing Assignment (for example, Narrative Essay)
Date

Make sure that subsequent pages have your last name, keyword, and the
page number in the top right-hand corner:
Last name 2 *
* The shading makes the formatting more clearly visible. Don’t feel that you have to shade your headers!



Staple your essays. Don’t paper-clip or fold down the corners of the pages.
Don’t place assignments in folders or plastic covers. Don’t waste your money.
The Cause & Effect essay must include a properly-documented Bibliography page.
8
Materials
You will need the following materials:






In-class work: lined notebook paper, 8½ by 11 inches
Out-of-class work: plain printer paper
Blue or black ballpoint pens
A highlighter
A double-pocket folder or large notebook
A USB Flash Drive and a Google Drive/Yahoo/Dropbox account
Just In Case: Valencia’s Resources
The Office for Students With Disabilities. If you’re registered with this office, remember
to give me a copy of the official OSD letter and let me know what accommodations will
work best for you.
The Online Resource for ENC 1101, Freshman Composition I in Blackboard. Here you
can find all your quizzes and many (though not all) of the handouts I distribute in class.
Make yourself thoroughly comfortable with this website.
The Library [Building 6]. If your home computer fails you during the quiz windows,
come to campus and use ours on the first and second floors.
The Computer Lab [6-101]. You are welcome to use the computer lab to word process
your papers for Valencia classes. Bring a USB Flash Drive. Use Google Drive as a back
up.
Blackboard Help. If you have a problem with any of the quizzes in Blackboard, call 407582-5600.
Student Assistance Program. BayCare Behavioral Health Student Assistance Program
offers free help with stress, anxiety, depression, adjustment difficulties, substance
abuse, time management and relationship problems. Call 800-878-5470 if you are
interested.
Disclaimers
If your name is still on my class roll as of Friday, January 15, I will accept that as proof
of your agreement to abide by the stated terms of this syllabus.
Please note that, as the instructor, I reserve the right to alter the course syllabus and
outline. However, if I make any changes at all, I will notify you at once through our
Valencia email account.
9