IST

511

MIST Writing Workshop

Fall 2014 (Cal State Online)


Class:
Units:
Class Times:
Office:
Instructor:
Phone:
Email:

IST 511 - Writing Workshop

2

Online
Bldg. MLC/18, room 180
Karen Wisdom, M.A.
831/582-3059
kwisdom@csumb.edu (preferred)

Instructor office, location, hours and contact info:

Bldg. MLC/18, room 180 By Arrangement (in person or via Skype or Hangout). Always email me with
requests or questions at kwisdom@csumb. I am not always available by phone.

Required Texts/Materials:

Class readings and other materials will be posted in iLearn (website links, pdfs, videos, etc.) both under
general Course Resources and under weekly readings. These should be considered your class
textbook and are required reading/viewing.

Optional Materials & Recommendations

The Elements of Style, any edition) - William Strunk, Jr. & E.B. White
A Writers Reference (any edition) - Diane Hacker
Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 5th edition

Course Description:

The Writing Workshop provides individualized workshops and tutoring to incoming graduate students in
preparation for writing intensive graduate studies: covering writing strategies, academic writing skills,
APA style and technologies. Designed to be taken with, or before, other graduate level courses

Grading Criteria:

Your grade will be based on the following:

Assignment
Points

Grade Breakdown
IST522 Rough Draft
100

275 300
A
Annotated Bibliography
100

250 274
B
Quizzes
50

225 249
C
Forums
50


Total
300



I reserve the right to make changes to the syllabus, grading criteria, schedule, and assignments; students
will receive notification of any changes made via iLearn.

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Participation/Attendance

You are required to check into iLearn on a weekly basis or risk being dropped from the course.

Late Assignment Policy:

Sometimes personal situations will arise and, on occasion, students may not be able to meet assignment
deadlines. Should that occur, students are required to contact their professors as soon as possible,
ideally prior to the deadline itself. Some reasons will be accepted, such as military deployment or illness,
but others, such as family vacation, will not. With the exception of fully documented medical (or similar)
reasons, the decision to accept late work is at the sole discretion of the instructor.
If the instructor agrees to an extension, the student and instructor must formalize (in writing) an
adjusted deadline schedule. Please note that turning in missed assignments at the end of the semester
will probably not be acceptable to most instructors - plan accordingly. Additionally, if the adjusted
deadlines are not met, points may be deducted or the assignment may not be accepted.
Any assignments turned in after the original due date will be graded at the convenience of the
instructor. That could mean that the late assignment may not be graded until the end of the
semester. Because an exception has been made for that student, the instructor will not be held to the
grading timeline established in the class syllabus. This should not be considered as an unwillingness to
provide feedback in a timely manner - just recognition that the instructor has a limited amount of time
for grading, and it is inappropriate to expect that work submitted late will be prioritized over work
submitted on time.

Grade Quibbling

In my experience, there are always a few students in every class who are so grade-oriented that even a
deduction of a fraction of a point (e.g. -.25 points on a 20 point quiz) is enough to spark a barrage of
emails on why they should not lose those points. We refer to this as grade quibbling and it will not be
tolerated. The focus of an education is learning, not accumulating points.

While students are understandably concerned about their class standings, arguing over minor
deductions ones that will not affect what letter grades are earned for the class (or even that
assignment) ultimately serves only to distract instructors from class preparation and grading, notably
at the expense of fellow students. In addition, that type of interaction typically begets a bit of ill will for
both the instructor and the student. With that in mind, I highly recommend that before contacting the
instructor, students honestly consider their motives for doing so: Am I asking because I actually need
more information about why I got it wrong or am I just trying to get a higher grade? If the latter is the
case, then I recommend that you refrain from emailing.

On a similar note, many students who go on to graduate school have typically met with a great deal of
academic success. While that is terrific (and one of the reasons you were accepted to MIST), with each
level of education and with every class, the level of challenge increases. Just because your previous
efforts earned you As does not mean that it will be enough for As in this program. You should expect
every class to pose unique intellectual challenges including this one.





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Academic Honesty

Academic honesty is highly valued at CSUMB. Students must always submit work that represents their
original words, ideas, and design. If any work used in a class, online posting, or assignment submission
does not represent that student's original words, ideas, or design, all relevant sources must be cited and,
when appropriate, permission to use the work must be obtained. It must also be made clear the extent
to which such sources were used. Words, ideas, and designs that require citation and permission
include, but are not limited to, all hard copy or electronic publications, whether copyrighted or not, and
all verbal or visual communication when the content of such communication clearly originates from an
identifiable source.

Online courses promote the publishing of individuals work for the purpose of critique and/or comment
by others. This should not be construed as an open invitation to use any part of that published work,
whether it is in the form of text, language, ideas, or design format. If, in fact, a student wishes to borrow
or use anything from another students efforts, it should be treated as any other resource, i.e. prior
permission must be received.

Within the SMART College, plagiarism and other forms of academic dishonesty are not
tolerated. Students found by faculty to have breached the academic integrity policy in any assignment
will, at minimum, fail the class. This breach will be reported to the college administration. As per the
directives established by the CSU Chancellor's Office, should a student fail a course due to a violation of
the academic integrity policy, that student will not be permitted to repeat the course. Without
successful completion of all IST courses, that student will not be allowed to continue in or graduate from
the MIST program.

Please see the CSUMB Catalog for more information about academic honesty, including consequences
of academic dishonesty:

http://policy.csumb.edu/site/x20830.xml


Americans with Disabilities Act:

Students with disabilities who may need accommodations please contact me by phone (831/582-3059)
by email (kwisdom@csumb.edu).

ALSO, contact:
Student_Disability_Resources@csumb.edu
Building 47, Student Services, First Floor
Phone: 831/582-3672 voice, or 582-4024 fax/TTY
http://sdr.csumb.edu

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