SCOM 123 Introduction to Human
Communication
SCOM 123.49 MW 2:30-3:45 in Harrison 2113
SCOM 123.50 MWF 12:20-1:10 in Moody 205.
Fall 2015 Syllabus
Instructor
Office Location
Charle’ McCauley
Wilson Hall 214
Office Hours
E-mail Address
MWF 12:00-2:00 (or by appointment)
mccaulcl@jmu.edu
Email mccaulcl@jmu.edu to make an appointment
Required Textbook
Rothwell, J.D. (2012). In the company of others: An introduction to communication (4th ed.). New York:
Oxford University Press.
Course Learning Objectives
1. Explain the fundamental processes that significantly influence communication.
2. Construct messages consistent with the diversity of the communication purpose, audience, and
context.
3. Respond to messages consistent with the diversity of the communication purpose, audience, and
context.
4. Utilize information literacy skills expected of ethical communicators.
Nature of the Course Content
In this course you will gain an understanding of the basic principles and theories of communication, how
it is applicable to both your personal and professional life. Additionally, the course is designed to help
you accomplish the learning objectives of Cluster One. Specific areas to be covered include: 1)
fundamentals of human communication; 2) interpersonal communication; 3) small group and team
communication; and 4) public speaking, all of which are framed in a group setting.
Attendance Policy
This is a communication course. I cannot communicate with someone who is not present and actively
participating. Therefore, I will be taking attendance at random (without prior notification). You are
allowed 3 absences. On the 4th absence, despite the excuse, I will deduct 5 points form the final grade,
and continue deducting for every subsequent absence. These 3 absences can be used at your discretion.
However, understand that if you have used your 3 absences, and you have a family member that passes
away and need to take the 4th absence, then the attendance policy still stands. USE YOUR ABSENCES
WISELY! You are responsible for making sure that you are signed in as present on the days we take
attendance. REMEMBER, It is an honor code violation to “sign in” for another student.
Policy on Late Course Additions
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Students are responsible for registering for classes and for verifying their class schedules on e-campus.
Late course additions will not be permitted.
The deadline for adding a spring semester class without instructor and academic unit head signature is
Tuesday, September 8, 2015. Between Wednesday, September 9, 2015 and Thursday, September 17,
2015, instructor and academic unit head signatures will be required to add a class for fall semester 2015.
No student will be allowed to register for a spring semester class after Friday, January 30, 2015. The last
day to withdraw from this course and receive a "W" grade is Friday, September 8, 2015. No exceptions
will be made to these deadlines.
College of Arts and Letters First-week Attendance Policy
At the instructor's discretion, any student registered for a class in the College of Arts and Letters who
does not attend the first two (2) scheduled meetings of the class may be administratively dropped from
the class. Students dropped for non-attendance will be notified via e-mail by the Associate Dean of the
College.
Inclement Weather Policy
In this class I will follow the official JMU policy regarding inclement weather. If you are unfamiliar with
this policy, I have reprinted it below:
Decisions to close university operations will be made by the President or a designee. If the decision to
close is made, announcements will be made on JMU radio station 1610AM, on the JMU Home Page on
the World Wide Web and on area radio and television stations.
When it is necessary to cancel classes due to weather or other emergency, faculty members have
several options for making up missed instructional time.




Hold class on the official university make up day, which will be designated as part of the closing
announcement.
Hold class at another time acceptable to class members. The department will arrange time and
location.
Hold class electronically, using a web-based source such as Canvas or Blackboard.
Accommodate for the missed instructional time within remaining class meeting time.
When the university closes due to weather or other type of emergency, faculty will administer regularly
scheduled examinations at a time designated by the university unless otherwise announced in the
course syllabus. The official make up time will be designated as part of the closing announcement.
Unless otherwise notified, examination locations will be the same as the location for the regularly
scheduled exam.
If it is determined that exams cannot be given because of inclement weather or other emergency,
faculty will assign final grades to students based on the exams, tests and projects completed prior to the
regularly scheduled exam date.
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Course Policies and Procedures
1. There will be NO use of electronics during class time!
2. Show up and BE ON TIME!
3. If you are absent, you are responsible for knowing and understanding the material covered in class.
Do not email me asking me what we covered. You need to get with a classmate for that information.
4. Late assignments will NOT be accepted and you will not receive any points for an assignment that is
not submitted before the deadline.
5. If you are absent for a test, you will earn a zero, unless you have written proof of excused absence.
6. If you do not make your speech presentation on the day and time assigned to you, you will earn a
zero (no points will be awarded). The only way to make up this presentation is if you have a
legitimate excuse and can provide written proof. Otherwise, the zero stands.
9. Students shall observe complete honesty in all academic matters. Violations of the JMU Honor Code
include, but are not limited to, taking or attempting to take any of the following actions:
a. Using unauthorized materials or receiving unauthorized assistance during an
examination or in connection with any work done for academic credit. Unauthorized
materials may include, but are not limited to, notes, textbooks, previous examinations,
exhibits, experiments, papers or other supplementary items.
b. Giving false or misleading information regarding an academic matter.
c. Copying information from another student during an examination.
d. Rendering unauthorized assistance to another student by knowingly permitting him or
her to see or copy all or a portion of an examination or any work to be submitted for
academic credit.
e. Obtaining prior knowledge of examination materials (including by using copies of
previously given examinations obtained from files maintained by various groups and
organizations) in an unauthorized manner.
f. Selling or giving to another student unauthorized copies of any portion of an
examination.
g. Using a commercially prepared paper or research project or submitting for academic
credit any work completed by someone else.
h. Falsifying or attempting to falsify class attendance records for oneself, or for someone
else, or having another falsify attendance records on your behalf.
i. Falsifying material relating to course registration or grades, either for oneself or for
someone else.
j. Falsifying reasons why a student did not attend a required class or take a scheduled
examination.
k. Taking an examination in the place of another student.
l. Making unauthorized changes in any reported grade or on an official academic report
form.
m. Falsifying scientific or other data submitted for academic credit.
n. Collaborating in an unauthorized manner with one or more other students on an
examination or any work submitted for academic credit.
o. Committing the act of plagiarism - the copying, writing or presenting as one's own the
information, ideas or phrasing of another person without proper acknowledgment of
the true source.
p. Using computing facilities or library resources in an academically dishonest manner.
q. Falsifying evidence, or intimidating or influencing someone in connection with an honor
violation investigation, hearing or appeal.
More information about the Honor Code can be found at www.jmu.edu/honor/code.shtml.
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10. Religious observations: All faculty members are required to give reasonable and appropriate
accommodations to students requesting them on grounds of religious observation. I (as the faculty
member in charge of this class) determine what accommodations are appropriate for this course.
Students should notify me no later than the end of the drop-add period the first week of the
semester of potential scheduled absences and determine with if mutually acceptable alternative
methods exist for completing the missed classroom time or activity.
11. Special needs: JMU abides by Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with
Disabilities Act, which mandates reasonable accommodations be provided for students with
documented disabilities. If you have not already done so, you will need to register with the Office of
Disability Services, the designated office on campus to provide services for students with disabilities.
The office is located in Student Success Center, Room 1202 and you may call 540-568-6705 for more
information. If you have a disability and may require some type of instructional and/or examination
accommodations, please contact me early in the semester so that I can provide or facilitate the
accommodations you may need.
Grading Scale and Evaluation of Student Work
Grades will be assigned on a percentage of the total points possible, with the plus/minus system in
effect. There is no curving of grades on exams, papers, or presentations in this class. Here is what the
breakdown looks like:
95-100
90-94%
87-89%
83-86%
80-82%
77-79%
73-76%
70-72%
66-69%
60-65%
<59%
A
AB+
B
BC+
C
CD+
D
F
Course Assignments and Point Values
Midterm
150 points
End-of-Semester Reflection
100 points
Final Exam
150 points
Group Informative Speech
100 points
Informative Speech Self-Evaluation
50 points
Group Persuasive Speech
100 points
Persuasive Speech Self-Evaluation
50 points
Group Community Service Project
150 points
Community Service Reflection
50 points
In Class Activity
50 points
SONA Research Participation Requirement
25 points
Madison Research Essential Skills Quizzes
25 points
___________________________________________________________________
TOTAL POINTS
1000 points
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Madison Research Essential Skills Quizzes
James Madison University believes that the fundamental knowledge and skills students need to navigate
the landscape of scholarly information are necessary for successful completion of your university
classes. Information literacy skills are foundational to their university coursework and as such are
included in Cluster One of General Education. All students enrolled or completing General Education
courses at JMU are required to pass the MREST within the first academic year at JMU.
The Madison Research Essential Skills tutorials and quizzes will be completed by students enrolled in
GCOM. MREST is a proctored, secured competency test given only in Ashby Assessment and Testing
Center during open hours. Students must successfully pass the MREST prior to Spring Break of your first
academic year.
Successful passing of the MREST will be noted on a student’s transcript. Students who score high will be
earn an advanced status. Students who fail may review the Madison Research Toolkit. Students who do
not pass by the deadline will have a registration hold placed on their academic record. This registration
hold will prevent them from dropping, adding or swapping courses. Within two weeks of successful
completion of this graduation milestone students will be able to view their passing scores via
MyMadison (on the drop down menu labeled “Other Academic,” “Academic Requirements,” “View Test
Scores,” or “Transcript: View Unofficial”).
Midterm/ Final Exam
All GCOM students will take a midterm and final exam during finals week. The exams will consist of 100
multiple-choice questions and will be worth 150 points.
Group Informative Speech
The group informative speech presentation will be on a topic you choose, and it must be entirely original
and the result of your creativity and research. A speech done previously by you in another setting or for
another class would not be considered original. After the presentation, you will review the recorded
presentation and write a self-evaluation of your performance. This evaluation is due one week after the
presentation.
Group Persuasive Speech
For this assignment the groups will come up with a product that they will pitch to the class in hopes we
will invest in their product. After hearing the presentations, the class will need to choose whether or not
they will invest their money into the production of that specific product.
Group Community Service Project
For the group community service project you will be in a group of no more than 5 peers, and will create
and DO your own community service project, or your group can volunteer for an existing organization.
Once you complete the community service project, as a group you will make a presentation describing
the experience and organization, from a communication perspective.
Speech/Group Project Self-Evaluations
After you deliver your speeches, you will watch your performance and evaluate what you actually
produced in terms of the central message, language, organization, supporting materials, and delivery.
For your group presentation, you will evaluate yourself and group members by stating their strengths
and weaknesses, and how you contributed to the group dynamic.
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In Class Activity
With a partner or group, you will be assigned a concept that you will create an activity for that assists your
classmates in further understanding the material. I will first discuss the concept to the class, and you will
follow with the facilitation of your activity. Be creative ! Activities should take no longer than 15 minutes,
including debriefing the activity.
SONA Research Participation Requirement
Most introductory courses in the social sciences include experiences in which the student is exposed to
the research methods of the discipline by demonstration or actual repetition of well-established
phenomena. Because of the unique quality of the communication discipline, it is possible to introduce
students to research methods by direct participation in ongoing studies. These studies are designed to
contribute to the contemporary research literature, and it is quite possible that the results of this work
will be reported in future presentations or publications.
Although direct exposure to laboratory research is invaluable, an alternate means for learning about
methods in communication (as recommended by the APA Committee for the Protection of Human
Participants in Research, 1982) will be available in the form of reading and reporting on papers found in
the research literature or attending and reporting on department and university forensics events,
debate events, or colloquia that are related to communication.
All GCOM students at James Madison University must accumulate research credit during the semester.
This requirement will count for 2.5% of the final grade, or 25 points.
This research credit may be obtained by completing the following activities:
1. Participating in communication studies – either online surveys, online experiments, face-to-face
experiments, face-to-face interviews, and/or focus groups.
2. Attending and summarizing a debate or forensics event and answering specific questions about
those events.
3. Attending and summarizing one approved research or colloquium presentation and answering
specific questions related to those colloquia.
4. Reading one or more of five approved journal articles and answering specific questions with
regard to those articles.
Each of these credit opportunities is described in more detail in the SONA system.
NOTE: This syllabus and schedule are subject to change. All changes will
be announced in class. It is the responsibility of each student to keep up
with any changes.
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