Application for Certification of a Course as a General Education Course
CTE WRITTEN COMMUNICATION CATEGORY
Applicant: Jeff Stearns
Course Alpha and Number: ENG 209
Course Title: Business and Managerial Writing
Instructions:
Explain how the learning taking place in this course (required course only) meets the hallmarks listed below for the
Written Communication General Education Category. Do one or both of the following:
• Identify specific course SLOs that align with each hallmark.
• Describe class assignments or activities in which students learn and/or demonstrate the hallmark objective.
Assignments and/or activities cited should be sufficiently important in terms of both time spent on them and
their impact on students’ final grades in the course.
Try to address all of the hallmarks. The strength of some responses should counterbalance the weakness of others. See
hallmark questions that should be addressed in response to each of the hallmarks.
Also attach a copy of the official course outline.
The Hallmarks:
The course…
1. introduces students to different forms of college-level writing, including, but not limited to, academic
discourse, and guides them in writing for different purposes and audiences.
The course covers methods to write clear and effective business memos, letters, and reports all of
which are important and relevant in the real world of business. (SLO #1 - Demonstrate
comprehension of the importance, goals, and patterns of business communication, both orally
and in writing, and SLO #3 - Compose various writing for specific business purposes.) Although
business communication may use a different visual format than academic writing, the concepts of
writing are similar. Writers must think about the purpose, subject, and audience when composing
business documents. Students think about the strategies and then apply the most effective means
of communication. (SLO #2 - Apply effective strategies and techniques to facilitate business
communication.)
2. provides students with guided practice of writing processes – planning, drafting, critiquing, revising,
and editing – making effective use of written and oral feedback from the faculty instructor and peers
The course requires students to plan, compose, revise, edit, and proofread for correctness,
clarity, and effectiveness. ENG 209 is a writing intensive class and students must write papers
that show professionalism by being focused, organized, coherent, and free of major
grammatical and mechanical errors. (SLO #6 - Revise, edit, and proofread for correctness,
clarity, and effectiveness.)
3. requires at least 5,000 words of finished prose – equivalent to approximately 20 typewritten/printed pages.
ENG 209 is a writing intensive class and students must write at least 5,000 words during the
semester.
4. helps students develop information literacy by teaching search strategies, critical evaluation of information
and sources, and effective selection of information for specific purposes and audiences, and by teaching
appropriate ways to incorporate such information, acknowledge sources, and provide citations.
For class discussion and for essay assignments, students must do research of business
communication, including website and other advertising, international business methods,
ethics in the workplace, and other topics. Through research, students gain a deeper
understanding to the reasons and the elements of business communication. (SLO #1 Demonstrate comprehension of the importance, goals, and patterns of business
communication, both orally and in writing, SLO #2 - Apply effective strategies and techniques
to facilitate business communication, and SLO #4 - Discuss and explain the importance of
ethics in a business environment.) The course also includes a number of projects, some that
require research of websites to find out how business address certain issues or how businesses
present themselves to the public. (SLO #2 - Apply effective strategies and techniques to
facilitate business communication.)
5. helps students read texts and make use of a variety of sources in expressing their own ideas, perspectives,
and/or opinions in writing.
Through research, students are exposed to a variety of articles and sources, which aid them in
writing papers and discussion in class. The textbook includes many examples of business
communication in various forms and about various subjects. (SLO #1 - Demonstrate
comprehension of the importance, goals, and patterns of business communication, both orally
and in writing.)