Syllabus for ENC-1101 FALL 2014 ONLINE
Professor Spottke
MY OFFICE: Valencia West, Building 1-Room 238A
My Office Phone: 407-582-1935
My Email: nspottke@valenciacollege.edu
Communications Department Located at West Campus 5-231;
Communications Department phone number: 407 582 1313
Communications Department fax number: 407 582 1676
Wednesdays 5pm to 6pm
Tuesdays and Thursdays 940am to 1140am
Face-to-face Conferences outside of scheduled
face-to-face hours may be requested by appointment
Online hours, nspottke@valenciacollege.edu
I respond to email messages during these hours ONLY:
Monday through Friday 2pm-3pm
BOOKS and MATERIALS
Buscemi, Santi V., and Charlotte Smith. 75 Readings Plus – most recent Edition (or any of the last 3 editions)
The Little Seagull Handbook most recent edition by Richard Bullock and Francine Weinberg
COURSE DESCRIPTION
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. This
course includes learning activity designed to ensure competence in the basic use of computers.
GORDON RULE
Gordon Rule course in which the student is required to demonstrate college-level writing skills through
multiple assignments. Minimum grade of C is required if ENC 1101 is used to satisfy Gordon Rule and
general education requirements.
__ Failure to complete ALL essays on time or by the four day late deadline will result in an F for the course.
__ Individual essays UNDER the length requirement will not be accepted. Student has four days to turn in
completed essay late to meet Gordon Rule Requirements or else will result in an F for not meeting
Gordon Rule. See assignment sheets for individual length requirements.
COLLEGE LEVEL ACADEMIC SKILLS (CLAS)
Evidence of College Level Academic Skills (CLAS) is a graduation requirement. To the extent possible, you
will be encouraged to develop reading skills, essay skills, and English language skills as part of your work in
this course. Additional information is available in the Current Valencia College Catalog.
GRADES
You will earn points for each assignment you complete including 55 pts diagnostic essay; 110 pts descriptive
essay; 270 pts documented essay, and 110 pts comparative essay.
You must earn 700 points to pass the course with a C. 800 earns you a B. 900 an A.
A list of assignments, points, and due dates can be found in the announcements, syllabus, and start here tabs
in your Blackboard course site.
Each assignment is also posted on the left of your Blackboard page, the “weekly work due” tabs.
You can earn a total of 1025 points. Notice the 25 extra points.
Because of these extra points, there will be no “bumping up” of grades due to being “so close.”
700 points is absolutely REQUIRED to pass this course and earn 3 credits.
Failure to complete the four essays will result in an F for not meeting Gordon Rule Requirements.
CORE COMPETENCIES
The faculty of Valencia College has identified four core competencies that define the learning outcomes for a
successful Valencia graduate. These competencies are at the heart of the Valencia experience and provide the
context for learning and assessment at Valencia College. You will be given opportunities to develop and
practice these competencies in this class. The four competencies are: 1. Think - think clearly, and creatively,
analyze, synthesize, integrate and evaluate in the many domains of human inquiry; 2. Value - make reasoned
judgments and responsible commitments; 3. Communicate - communicate with different audiences using
varied means; 4. Act - act purposefully, effectively and responsibly.
Essay Assignments & Late Policy Regarding…
Submission in .doc or .docx/Microsoft Word format
Your essays must be submitted as an attachment in Microsoft Word
(.doc or .docx format) ONLY to Blackboard. Failure to submit in
.doc or .docx format will result in a loss of up to ten points—more
for the documented essay, for proper formatting of MLA
documentation will not be verifiable.
Free Microsoft Word program available through your Atlas
account.
Failure to Complete any essay
Four essays are due during the semester. If you fail to submit even one of these--you have up to FOUR days
past the deadline. You will earn a zero for that missed assignment and you will fail the course for not meeting
Gordon Rule Requirements.
LATE assignments
There is NO SUCH THING as late work. Students must use a computer with reliable internet access. No
excuses permitted due to computer error. The exception to this policy is late essays. Essays may be submitted
up to four days late, one letter grade deducted from the essay grade for each day late. Late essays will be
graded by the end of the semester without professor comments.
length requirement
In the case of failing to meet the length requirement when submitting the final draft, the professor will return
the essay ungraded. Student will be responsible for resubmitting essay for Gordon Rule Requirements no
more than four days after the student has been informed of the short length. Failure to submit by this late
deadline will earn you a zero for that missed assignment and you will fail the course for not meeting Gordon
Rule Requirements. (see GORDON RULE above); zero will remain.
Furthermore, going OVER the length requirement will result in up to ten point deduction depending on how
far over the length. Good writing must be condensed, succinct, and to the point.
Documented Essay Minimum three works
Failure to submit the documented essay with the required three works will result in failing the course for not
meeting 1101 course objectives, proficiency in MLA documentation.
Essay Formatting
Type Your Essays According to MLA Format. Failure to meet the required formatting will result in a loss of
up to ten points for each requirement as follows:
Proper format
• Typed in black fonts:
• 12 sized fonts:
• TNR fonts only:
• Double-spaced with no extra space
between paragraphs or around title:
• One inch margins on all four sides:
• Each new paragraph indented by 12 spaces
or tab of 1/2 inch:
• Heading appears at top left corner of the first page
ONLY as follows:
Deduction if not in proper format
minus 3 pts
minus 3 pts
minus 3 pts
minus 5 pts
minus 2 pts
minus one pt each
minus 2 pts:
Student’s Name
ENC-1102
Professor Spottke
Date paper is due
• Follow your heading with your creative title centered,
typed with normal capitalization, no italics, quotation marks,
bolding, underlining, or any other fancy font styling:
minus 2 pts
BLACKBOARD
Do NOT access Blackboard from ATLAS. Atlas often goes down while Blackboard remains accessible. Go to
Blackboard through this link: https://learn.valenciacollege.edu/
This the online class site.
You will utilize this site for viewing instructions and requirements; checking for important announcements;
posting essays and assignments; reading through learning modules; keeping track of your class standing
(grades); and staying up-to-date on when work is due.
You are responsible for checking the announcements regularly— at least every four days.
GETTING STARTED WITH BLACKBOARD:
Access our class site via the following address:
https://learn.valenciacollege.edu/
--Use the same USER ID and PASSWORD as you use to access your ATLAS account.
--remove popup blocker for this site prior to logging in for the first time. Errors with opening files are often
due to this not being done.
Any troubles with Blackboard?
My recommendation: Download three browsers to your computer: Firefox, Explorer, and Chrome
If something doesn’t work on Blackboard, try another browser. If all three browsers show the same trouble,
call the Online Courses Help Desk and make sure to ask for a confirmation code:
Blackboard Help Page or 407-582-5600.
Only after doing all of this should you contact the professor and alert her of the problem—be sure to give her
the confirmation code and screen shots documenting the error as well.
ONLINE PARTICIPATION
Online attendance is required and necessary for your receiving information. Logging on only once a week is
not sufficient. To get the most of this course, you are responsible for logging in and checking ALL mail
messages, announcements, and discussion messages at least once every four days. The professor reserves the
right to post an announcement worth points. You will be responsible for responding to this message
immediately. Failure to respond to the message within FOUR days will result in a zero.
You will receive a warning message via Atlas mail for failure to log in as instructed for two weeks in a row
during the course of the semester. If you do not submit work the third week, you will be withdrawn from the
course. NOTE: Logging on to the course site/checking messages does not constitute online participation.
Submitting work does.
Maintaining an online presence is required and necessary for your receiving information and earning points.
Your presence consists of reading all messages, not just ones from me but messages from your classmates.
You are also required to post & respond to your classmates for various assignments.
To comply with the Department of Education’s regulations for program integrity, online students are
required to complete all work assigned during the first week by the assigned deadline. You must submit the
syllabus quiz, post and respond to the Discussion Getting to know each other forum, and submit the
diagnostic essay by the first week’s deadline or your professor will drop you from the course.
WITHDRAWAL
See IMPORTANT DATES below for withdrawal deadlines (with refund or without academic penalty).
Students can withdraw themselves, receiving a grade of W in the course BEFORE the withdrawal deadline
but can NOT withdraw themselves after the withdrawal deadline. It is your responsibility and your decision
to withdraw from the course unless otherwise mandated by the instructor and/or the dean of the
Communications Department. (See ONLINE PARTICIPATION policy above). Any student who withdraws
from this class during a third or subsequent attempt in this course will be assigned a grade of “F.”
Students on financial aid should consult an advisor or counselor before withdrawing from a course; there
may be financial implications. Counselors can help students make an informed decision before withdrawing
from a course. Students with some scholarships who withdraw or are withdrawn from a class must pay the
college for the cost of the class. Other scholarship sponsors may also require repayment. For a complete
policy and procedure overview on Valencia Policy 4-07 please got to:
http://valenciacollege.edu/generalcounsel/policy/default.cfm?policyID=75&volumeID_1=4&navst=0
WEEKLY ASSIGNMENTS
On your Blackboard Course Tab Menu on the left, you will see a button/tab labeled "Weekly Work Due."
Click on this button and you will see a list of weekly assignments.
All work is due by Friday and Monday evenings, 11:59pm
There is NO SUCH THING as late work. Students must use a computer with reliable internet access. No
excuses permitted due to computer error.
ATLAS MAIL and Student Questions—ONLINE Hours
Send me questions via ATLAS mail. These questions will be responded to
Monday through Friday only (see hours listed above).
You MUST check your Atlas email account regularly— at least every four
days—for class cancellation notices, important announcements, etc..
Contact me via telephone. However, these calls will be responded to ONLY
during live engagement hours only (as listed above).
As for engagement hours, my doors are open to you according to the hours
posted on my office door and at the top of the syllabus. Want to work on
homework? Drop by. Want me to take a look at your essay? Drop by.
Appointments for other dates/times can be made when necessary, just ask.
ACADEMIC HONESTY & PLAGIARISM
Plagiarism is the use of someone else’s words, ideas, pictures, design, and/or intellectual property without the
correct documentation and punctuation.
Your professor has a no tolerance approach to plagiarism.
Students’ essays will be submitted to a Blackboard program for verification of originality.
If you submit work that is wholly or partially plagiarized, you will be penalized for the offense, depending on
the extent of the offense.
This includes reusing old work from a previous class without permission from your professor.
Basically, if you are cutting from somewhere and then pasting into your essay without
1. quotation marks, AND
2. citations, AND
3. a bibliographic entry on the works cited page,
then you ARE plagiarizing.
Absolutely NO research allowed for your first THREE essays!
Do NOT open a web site and start reading and/or copying.
You will be taught MLA citation and formatting. If you take a passage from a source, a single sentence or
more without appropriately citing that information, you will receive an F in the course. Offering a sentence,
sentences, a full paragraph(s) or even a full essay will result in an F in the course. In extreme circumstances,
academic action will be taken against you.
Read the Academic Dishonesty policy found in Valencia’s online policy manual:
http://valenciacollege.edu/generalcounsel/policy/default.cfm?policyID=193&volumeID_1=8&navst=0
ONLINE ETIQUETTE
See Online Etiquette tab under Getting Started in your Blackboard site.
IMPORTANT DATES
Mon. May 25 NO CLASSES College Wide: Memorial Day
Friday July 3 NO CLASSES College Wide: 4th of July
Friday July 10: Withdrawal Deadline
Final Exam. There is no final for this class.
IMPORTANT LINKS
Pooky’s Pantry
For students who are homeless and or hungry, non-perishable items are available in the Student Development
office, building 3 room 147. If you need or would like to donate, the pantry is open Monday through
Thursday 8am to 7pm and Friday 9am to 5pm. A Valencia ID is needed and five items per day may be
retrieved from the pantry.
Communications Center
Writing Professionals available to work with you on essays, research, and overall writing skills (1/2 hour
appointments; 1 hour appointments available for research paper). West Campus Building 5, room 155; (407)
582-1812
http://valenciacollege.edu/west/lss/communications/
There are also writing centers at every campus, not just West. Check the campus website for whichever
campus is closest to you.
SmarThinking Online Tutoring
There is an alternative to on-campus writing center visits. Log in to Atlas. On the right side of the page, you
will see a link to Smart Thinking Smart Thinking Online Tutoring. If you send your work in to them in
advance, they can give you a full review of your essay. There are also live online sessions available by
appointment. These sessions fill up, so be sure to not wait until the last minute.
Computer Lab at the Library
Computers available for student use. Software support for all disciplines. Internet & word processing for
research papers. Atlas & E-mail, Software catalog available in Lab. Photo ID required.
http://www.valenciacc.edu/library/west/cal/
Valencia Library West Databases
Access through ATLAS. Click on "Search the Library." Click on "Databases A-Z." Scroll down through this
list of various databases. Choose one, click on it, and begin searching that database.
Having trouble with Blackboard?
Do NOT contact your professor, contact the Online Courses Help Desk:
For most common problems:
Blackboard Help Site
If the above link proves unhelpful, call: 407-582-5600
Offices for Students with Disabilities
Students with disabilities who qualify for academic accommodations must provide a Notification to
Instructor (NTI) form from the Office for Students with Disabilities (OSD) and discuss specific needs with the
professor, preferably during the first two weeks of class. The Office for Students with Disabilities determines
accommodations based on appropriate documentation of disabilities.
East Campus
Bldg. 5, Rm. 216
Ph: 407-582-2229
Fax: 407-582-8908
TTY: 407-582-1222
West Campus
SSB, Rm. 102
Ph: 407-582-1523
Fax: 407-582-1326
TTY: 407-582-1222
Osceola Campus
Bldg. 1, Rm. 140A
Ph: 407-582-4167
Fax: 407-582-4804
TTY: 407-582-1222
Winter Park Campus
Bldg. 1, Rm. 212
Ph: 407-582-6887
Fax: 407-582-6841
TTY: 407-582-1222
Valencia College is interested in making sure all our students have a rewarding and successful college
experience. To that purpose, Valencia students can get immediate help with issues dealing with stress,
anxiety, depression, adjustment difficulties, substance abuse, time management as well as relationship
problems dealing with school, home or work. BayCare Behavioral Health Student Assistance Program (SAP)
services are free to all Valencia students and available 24 hours a day by calling (800) 878-5470. Free face-toface counseling is also available.
Security Statement from Valencia College’s chief of security:
We want to reassure you that our security officers are here around the clock to ensure the safety and security
of the campus community. It’s important to remain alert and aware of your surroundings, especially during
the early morning or evening hours. Remember that you can always call security for an escort if you feel
uncomfortable walking alone on campus. White security phones can also be found in many of our buildings;
simply pick up the phone and security will answer.
Finally, report any suspicious persons to West Campus Security at 407-582-1000, 407-582-1030 (after-hours
number) or by using the yellow emergency call boxes located on light poles in the parking lots and along
walkways.
FINAL NOTE:
Some students seek “extra credit.” The professor does not offer extra credit, for such translates to extra work
for the professor. Instead, points can be offered at the end of the semester for visits made to either the
professor’s office or the writing center to review any of the assigned essays. You will also notice that you are
given 1025 points throughout the semester. Yet I grade your final average as if it were out of 1000. 700 points
is a C, 800 a B, 900 an A.
THIS SYLLABUS IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE