Southern Utah University

Course Syllabus

Southern Utah University
Southern Utah University
Fall Semester 2025

Technical Writing (Online)

COMM 4240-SW2

Course: COMM 4240-SW2
Credits: 3
Term: Fall Semester 2025
Department: COMM
CRN: 32584

Course Description

This course focuses on practical types of writing used in business and industry. Using principles of analyzing and planning to meet the reader’s informational needs, students produce proposals, instructions, and the various types of informative and persuasive reports used in organizations. (Fall) [Graded (Standard Letter)] 

Required Texts

Tebeaux, Elizabeth (2014)Essentials of Technical Communication (3rd ed) ISBN 978-0-199-37999-6.

Learning Outcomes

Student Learning Outcomes
  • Compose a variety of well-structured, organized, grammatically correct forms of business and professional communications, including the use of properly documented outside sources.
  • Distinguish and analyze the basic elements of technical communications.
Course Objectives

Identify elements of professional written communication and describe how messages are adapted to various audiences and purposes.

Prepare and revise a variety of formal business communications, including letters, memos, instructions, reports, proposals, summaries to make them unified and well detailed. Develop and revise an effective resume.

Design effective visuals, and use electronic graphics to enhance business messages.

Write effective instructions that adapt the text to the previous knowledge and the needs of the audience, includes an introduction, definitions, preparations, and steps given as commands.

Propose, research and write a detailed individual technical document. This document can be, but is not limited to a proposal, grant request, white paper, users’ manual, detailed original instructions, small business plan, or other.

Course Requirements

Student Assignments
Required Reading Assignments: Textbook with associated reading quizzes
Required Writing Assignments: Resume, Letters, Proposals, and other assignments.
Discussion Questions - Submitted in canvas, discussion questions call for an informed opinion on the topic of study for the module.  All posts submitted in CANVAS and require a minimum of five responses to fellow classmates posts.   
Midterm and Final exams – Short answer, short essay, multiple choice.
Oral Presentation - a 10 minute oral presentation (recorded and submitted through CANVAS). 
All assignments are to be produced on word-processing software and submitted digitally on CANVAS.
Evaluation and Grading
Evaluation and Measurement of Objectives will take place through the following assignments.
(Details will be provided and assignments and points are subject to change with advance notice)
Both the midterm and final exam will be a short answer/essay/multiple choice (worth 200 points). Study the reading assignments and the online notes to prepare for the tests. The chapter quizzes act as study guides. Grades will be based on a 100% scale.
PLEASE ALLOW 3 – 7 DAYS FOR ASSIGNMENTS TO BE GRADED.
Assignments Listed in CANVAS.
Percentage and Grade
90% = As | 80% = Bs | 70% = Cs | 60% = Ds | Below 60% = F

Course Outline

COURSE SCHEDULE - Communication 4240 – Fall 2025
Please Note: All Discussion Questions, Responses, Assignments Quizzes, Presentations, etc. will by due by 11:59 P.M. on the date the module concludes. 

Module 1: August 27 - August 31, 2025
  • Reading Assignment: 
    • Chapter 1: Characteristics of Writing at Work
    • Chapter 2: Writing for Your Readers
  • Discussion Questions: 
    • DQ Chapter 1
    • DQ Chapter 2
  • Assignment(s)
    • Assignment #1
  • Quiz:
    • Quiz Module 1 (chapters 1 and 2)

Module 2: September 1 - September 7, 2025
  • Reading Assignment:
    • Chapter 3: Writing Ethically 
    • Chapter 4: Achieving a Readable Style
  • Discussion Questions: 
    • DQ Chapter 3
    • DQ Chapter 4
  • Assignment(s)
    • Assignment #2
  • Quiz:
    • Quiz Module 2 (chapters 3 and 4)

Module 3: September 8 - September 14, 2025
  • Reading Assignment: 
    • Chapter 5: Designing Documents 
    • Chapter 6: Designing Illustrations 
  • Discussion Questions: 
    • DQ Chapter 5
    • DQ Chapter 6
  • Assignment(s)
    • Assignment #3
  • Mid-Term Exam (Due by September 14, 2025 at 11:59 p.m.) 
    • Mid-Term will cover material from chapters 1 - 6. 

Module 4: September 15 - September 21, 2025
  • Reading Assignment: 
    • Chapter 7: E-mails, Texts, Memos, and Letters 
    • Chapter 8: Technical Reports 
  • Discussion Questions: 
    • DQ Chapter 7
    • DQ Chapter 8
  • Assignment(s)
    • Assignment #4
  • Quiz:
    • Quiz Module 4 (chapters 7 and 8)

Module 5: September 22 - September 28, 2025
  • Reading Assignment:
    • Chapter 9: Proposals and Progress Reports 
    • Chapter 10: Instructions, Procedures and Policies   
  • Discussion Questions: 
    • DQ Chapter 9
    • DQ Chapter 10
  • Assignment(s)
    • Assignment #5
  • Quiz:
    • Quiz Module 5 (chapters 9 and 10)

Module 6: September 29 - October 5, 2025
  • Reading Assignment: 
    • Chapter 11: Oral Reports
  • Discussion Questions: 
    • DQ Chapter 11
  • Assignment(s)
    • Oral Presentation (submitted on video though CANVAS)

Module 7: October 6 - October 12, 2025
  • Reading Assignment: 
    • Chapter 12: Resumes and Job Applications
  • Discussion Questions: 
    • DQ Chapter 12
  • Final Exam (Due by October 12, 2025 at 11:59 p.m. NO LATE ASSIGNMENTS WILL BE ACCEPTED)
    • The Final Exam will cover material from chapters 7 - 12. 

Instructor's policies on late assignments and/or makeup work

Communication and Canvas Use:
The instructor reserves the right to send out communication emails directly to your email account, not just through CANVAS.

For any CANVAS Questions: Contact the professor only for class questions, not CANVAS questions. It is the students’ responsibility to get up to speed and know how to use CANVAS. SUU provides CANVAS support for ANY CANVAS issues. This includes knowing how to access INSTRUCTOR FEEDBACK and COMMENTS, finding content in both the MODULES and ASSIGNMENTS (Check both areas before calling the CANVAS Help Desk), VIEWING VIDEOS, and SUBMITTING ASSIGNMENTS.
Familiarize yourself with CANVAS: - https://www.suu.edu/otl/student-resources.html
CALL CANVAS Help Desk: 435 865-8555
All assignments are to be produced on word-processing software and submitted digitally on CANVAS.  (Note: Video assignments must also be submitted thought CANVAS).  No assignment submitted outside of CANVAS will be accepted, credited, or graded. 

Late work:
Please monitor all deadlines closely. Students are expected to turn in assignments by the time and date they are due, unless otherwise noted on the schedule.  Assignments received after the due date will receive a non-negotiable 25% reduction per day (including 2 days for weekends). Assignments more than 3 days late will not be accepted. Please be aware of deadlines and turn in your assignments accordingly. Assignments must be turned in on CANVAS. Assignments will not be accepted through email.

Late Final Exam Policy:
The final exam will NOT be accepted after the due date. While there is a policy for this class which governs late work for assignments, exams, discussion questions, etc, it does NOT apply to the final exam. The final exam must be submitted in canvas by the due date, or it will not be accepted. Please note, the final exam may be submitted early, but not sooner than the week it is due.  

Anti-plagiarism statement
All work must be by you. Avoid ALL possible reasons for suspicion of plagiarism. Ways to avoid plagiarism include:
  • Never just cutting and pasting from other digital sources.
  • If you use other sources for background information, re-write in your own words and cite where you got the information.
  • Always cite where ANY information comes from.
  • Never fabricate any information. It is true or it is not.

A.I. Statement
Similar to plagiarism concerns, any use of artificial intelligence software (A.I.), including visual (e.g. Midjourney), textual (e.g. chatGPT), or audio (e.g. ) to aid on assignments that are intended to be completed by the student without A.I. assistance will be considered an infringement of academic integrity.
Consequences for violating this policy are consistent with SUU academic integrity policies, and may include a failing grade in the course, expulsion from the program, or even prosecution. If a specific assignment does allow for the use of A.I., then the guidelines for using A.I. will be outlined in the assignment description and must be explicitly followed. Otherwise, students should avoid using these aids completely.
For this course, no A.I use, other than content searches (google, etc.), spell check, and grammar check for content are allowed.

Attendance Policy

Attendance: Attendance is documented through submission of assignments.

Course Fees

No specific fee for this course. Payment of standard program fee is required during registration.

ADA Statement

Students with medical, psychological, learning, or other disabilities desiring academic adjustments, accommodations, or auxiliary aids will need to contact the Disability Resource Center, located in Room 206F of the Sharwan Smith Center or by phone at (435) 865-8042. The Disability Resource Center determines eligibility for and authorizes the provision of services.

If your instructor requires attendance, you may need to seek an ADA accommodation to request an exception to this attendance policy. Please contact the Disability Resource Center to determine what, if any, ADA accommodations are reasonable and appropriate.

Academic Credit

According to the federal definition of a Carnegie credit hour: A credit hour of work is the equivalent of approximately 60 minutes of class time or independent study work. A minimum of 45 hours of work by each student is required for each unit of credit. Credit is earned only when course requirements are met. One (1) credit hour is equivalent to 15 contact hours of lecture, discussion, testing, evaluation, or seminar, as well as 30 hours of student homework. An equivalent amount of work is expected for laboratory work, internships, practica, studio, and other academic work leading to the awarding of credit hours. Credit granted for individual courses, labs, or studio classes ranges from 0.5 to 15 credit hours per semester.

Academic Freedom

SUU is operated for the common good of the greater community it serves. The common good depends upon the free search for truth and its free exposition. Academic Freedom is the right of faculty to study, discuss, investigate, teach, and publish. Academic Freedom is essential to these purposes and applies to both teaching and research.

Academic Freedom in the realm of teaching is fundamental for the protection of the rights of the faculty member and of you, the student, with respect to the free pursuit of learning and discovery. Faculty members possess the right to full freedom in the classroom in discussing their subjects. They may present any controversial material relevant to their courses and their intended learning outcomes, but they shall take care not to introduce into their teaching controversial materials which have no relation to the subject being taught or the intended learning outcomes for the course.

As such, students enrolled in any course at SUU may encounter topics, perspectives, and ideas that are unfamiliar or controversial, with the educational intent of providing a meaningful learning environment that fosters your growth and development. These parameters related to Academic Freedom are included in SUU Policy 6.6.

Academic Misconduct

Scholastic honesty is expected of all students. Dishonesty will not be tolerated and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent (see SUU Policy 6.33). You are expected to have read and understood the current SUU student conduct code (SUU Policy 11.2) regarding student responsibilities and rights, the intellectual property policy (SUU Policy 5.52), information about procedures, and what constitutes acceptable behavior.

Please Note: The use of websites or services that sell essays is a violation of these policies; likewise, the use of websites or services that provide answers to assignments, quizzes, or tests is also a violation of these policies. Regarding the use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI), you should check with your individual course instructor.

Emergency Management Statement

In case of an emergency, the University's Emergency Notification System (ENS) will be activated. Students are encouraged to maintain updated contact information using the link on the homepage of the mySUU portal. In addition, students are encouraged to familiarize themselves with the Emergency Response Protocols posted in each classroom. Detailed information about the University's emergency management plan can be found at https://www.suu.edu/emergency.

HEOA Compliance Statement

For a full set of Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA) compliance statements, please visit https://www.suu.edu/heoa. The sharing of copyrighted material through peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing, except as provided under U.S. copyright law, is prohibited by law; additional information can be found at https://my.suu.edu/help/article/1096/heoa-compliance-plan.

You are also expected to comply with policies regarding intellectual property (SUU Policy 5.52) and copyright (SUU Policy 5.54).

Mandatory Reporting

University policy (SUU Policy 5.60) requires instructors to report disclosures received from students that indicate they have been subjected to sexual misconduct/harassment. The University defines sexual harassment consistent with Federal Regulations (34 C.F.R. Part 106, Subpart D) to include quid pro quo, hostile environment harassment, sexual assault, dating violence, domestic violence, and stalking. When students communicate this information to an instructor in-person, by email, or within writing assignments, the instructor will report that to the Title IX Coordinator to ensure students receive support from the Title IX Office. A reporting form is available at https://cm.maxient.com/reportingform.php?SouthernUtahUniv

Non-Discrimination Statement

SUU is committed to fostering an inclusive community of lifelong learners and believes our university's encompassing of different views, beliefs, and identities makes us stronger, more innovative, and better prepared for the global society.

SUU does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, citizenship, sex (including sex discrimination and sexual harassment), sexual orientation, gender identity, age, ancestry, disability status, pregnancy, pregnancy-related conditions, genetic information, military status, veteran status, or other bases protected by applicable law in employment, treatment, admission, access to educational programs and activities, or other University benefits or services.

SUU strives to cultivate a campus environment that encourages freedom of expression from diverse viewpoints. We encourage all to dialogue within a spirit of respect, civility, and decency.

For additional information on non-discrimination, please see SUU Policy 5.27 and/or visit https://www.suu.edu/nondiscrimination.

Pregnancy

Students who are or become pregnant during this course may receive reasonable modifications to facilitate continued access and participation in the course. Pregnancy and related conditions are broadly defined to include pregnancy, childbirth, termination of pregnancy, lactation, related medical conditions, and recovery. To obtain reasonable modifications, please make a request to title9@suu.edu. To learn more visit: https://www.suu.edu/titleix/pregnancy.html.

Disclaimer Statement

Information contained in this syllabus, other than the grading, late assignments, makeup work, and attendance policies, may be subject to change with advance notice, as deemed appropriate by the instructor.