Introduction To EAC 955

______________________________________

The following Introduction document will give you a good general layout of what you need to do in
order to succeed in this course. This is arguably the most important document that you need to read.
If you do not read this, there is a very good chance that you will fail this course because you did not
bother to put in all the hard work that was required at the start of this semester. If you put in the
time now, your workload and stress levels will be much lower within a few weeks.

Hopefully, you have read my “Welcome” document. If not, please first do so. I want you to read things in a
certain sequence in order to save you time. Please don’t skip any of my documents. They have been
carefully written to make both of our lives easier. Online courses aren’t like regular ones. There are tons of
things that you need to do that are not normally required in a regular classroom. I kindly ask that you trust
me in guiding you through what will likely be a tough few weeks.

Warning! This Is Not An Easy Course!

Let’s first discuss whether or not this course is a good fit for you. Let me begin by saying that Seneca
offers courses in a variety of ways for different audiences. You might not like the way that EAC 955 has
been designed because it does not fit your current lifestyle.

Most of you prefer attending regular classes- so do I. If I was a student and time was not an issue, I would
always want to be in a regular classroom and enjoy interacting with fellow students. Many of you are
familiar with live online lectures. They are the second best “fun” option. But what about the students who
have jobs or have responsibilities at home or have to take care of loved ones? Those who can neither
regularly attend live classes either in a classroom nor those offered live online? EAC 955 has been designed
first and foremost for these types of students.

So, complaining that you are not getting a live learning and social experience here is like complaining to
McDonalds for not having sushi. Does this make sense? Could you imagine McSushi? Yuk. 😉

If you lack self-discipline skills, you will really struggle to succeed in EAC 955.

If your writing skills are poor, you will not learn much from this course. I cannot teach you basic
grammar or word phrasing in such a short period of time. If you have strong writing skills, you likely will
do well in this course. You need to know these things in order to make an informed decision.
If you have weak skills in terms of following or understanding instructions, drop this text-based
course. You will likely do poorly in EAC 955. We are not in a regular classroom. I cannot take you by the
hand and guide you. We will mostly be communicating with each other through email. When assignments
are due, I cannot take time off to talk with you by phone. I have to mark the submissions. Be honest with
yourself. This is not a normal course. Are you sure that you can handle this type of learning? There is no
shame in saying no.

I am not saying these things to scare people away but to manage expectations.

Learning Content = Course Documents

For whatever reason, Blackboard has changed the names of some of the buttons that you use which may
cause some confusion. If, on any document, I write the term “Course Document,” it now means
“Learning Content.” All course information, including your assignments and weekly outline are now
found in “Learning Content.” I apologize, if I accidentally have not removed this name change in all of my
documents. There are only two buttons that you need to use for this course: “Learning Content” and
“Discussion Forums.” All of the other ones are unnecessary. I believe in minimizing things in order to
make things simpler by putting all of your course materials in these two places.

There Is NO Final Exam For This Course.

I’m sorry if I’m being repetitive. I just want to make sure that certain key things are understood from day
one. So I’m going to repeat the following statement on multiple documents. Let me state from day one that
there is NO Final Exam for this course. Instead, you will be asked to write a Final Journalism Style Column
Piece that takes the place of a Final Exam. A few summers ago, when I taught EAC 955, I had a Final
Exam. This summer, there will not be one. IF for some reason, you see in any of the documents me
mention an exam for this course, it is wrong. Ignore this but let me know where I said it so that I can
remove it and not confuse any other student. Again, there is NO Final Exam for EAC 955. Sorry for this
repetition but I don’t want any of my students to panic near the end of the semester.

There Is NO Book Or Novel Review For This Course.

Again, as a reminder, in previous semesters, I had my students do book or novel reviews for their main
assignments. I stopped doing this but my fear is that somewhere in one of my documents, I accidently
mention this matter. If I did, ignore it. There is no book or novel review for this course. Again, please let
me know where I forgot to remove this so that I can permanently get rid of it. Thanks. 😊

Warning!

Please. Please. Please.

Read This Section Highlighted In Grey. It could spare you a lot of heartache.

This intensely course is totally delivered online. This means that you will get little to no face-to-face
interaction with your instructor. It also means that you will have A LOT of reading to do. If you struggle in
the area of grammar or have had issues with your writing, this will be a VERY difficult course to take.

65% of your mark on EVERY assignment will be based on the quality of your writing. Also, the college
FORBIDS instructors in ADVANCED LEVEL courses to teach you grammar. It is assumed that since
you passed EAC 150 or COM 100, you have the necessary skills in this area for this course. So, any
weakness in this area, will likely lead to an F grade.

I am sorry to start off with a negative note. However, I am tired of having to fail 5-10 of my students each
semester because they assume that I will pass them because “this is the last subject that they need to
graduate.” Some of you have to know from day one that taking EAC 955 for the wrong reasons is a bad
decision and that you will have no one to blame but yourself for making it.

There is a reason why more students drop online courses than traditional ones. There is also a reason why
more students fail these types of subjects over those delivered in a traditional classroom. If you have weak
reading and writing skills, do not take this course. Please stay in a traditional lecture room with an
instructor whom you will see and talk with each week. Don’t take this course because it will free-up your
schedule or because you think that you can guilt your online instructor into passing you. If you do not meet
the writing standards expected by the college, you will fail. Sorry. 

Likewise, if you do not know what the four types of plagiarism, you too will likely fail this subject. Do not
use the lame excuse that “no one taught it to you.” For information on this matter, make sure to read the
document “What is Plagiarism.” This is a serious offense and those who commit it will be reported to the
Dean.

I hate failing students. I really do. However, I’m a professional. I have to abide by the college’s rules. I
therefore STRONGLY do not recommend this course if you did not receive a C+ grade or higher in EAC
150 or COM 100. If, somehow, you have snuck in here without taking EAC 150 or COM 100, the odds are
really against you passing. Besides, you still have to take 150 as a credit. Do things right and take Sports
Journalism AFTER doing well in EAC 150 or COM 100. The students who do best in EAC 955, had grades
in the B or A range in EAC 150.

Whew! Not fun. But I hopefully I have prevented some real heartache here.

O.K. Let’s now discuss some key things related to this course.
 Since There Is NO Final Exam For This Course…

As I stated above and as you will see in numerous documents in this course, there is NO Final Exam for
this course. Instead, you will be asked to write a Final Journalism Style Column Piece that takes the place
of a Final Exam. This means that for this final assignment, the penalty for handing in work late is
dramatically harsher than a normal assignment. There is a 5% deduction that begins one minute past the
1:00 PM deadline and is an additional 5% per half hour afterwards.

Think of this like coming late into an exam. The longer that you arrive late, the less time you have to write
it- which means the lower your mark becomes. There are no excuses for late submission. If you read the
Assignment’s document, you will see that it is a continuation of your first Journalism Style Column Piece
where you add or remove information or edit sections that I advised you on. Most students can make these
changes the same day. So taking longer than the deadline makes no sense. For these reasons and more, you
should actually send-in your work well in advance.

O.K. Let’s now get started. In this document, you will learn what is
expected of you:

1) Administratively (for example what documents you need to read right away to how to submit
assignments and participate in discussion forums) and

2) Academically (how to do well on the assignments and properly communicate with me).

You are also going to learn about my teaching style and why this course may or not be the right fit for you.
Please be honest with yourself. Don’t be one of those students who drops or fails this subject because
you ignored my advice or didn’t believe that it would be as tough as I state here.

Here are the key points that will be covered:

1. This subject is delivered totally online.

2. Quick Warnings to students who lack self-discipline and/or have weak writing skills.
3. 20 Administrative Details. Right off the bat, I’m going to provide you with 20 things that you need
to know in order do what is required for this course. These are 20 administrative details, such as
what documents you need to read right away; how to submit assignments; participate in discussion
forums; and how to communicate with me. The rest of this document provides “fill-in”
information on these key details including:
4. My teaching style.
5. What is expected of you academically.
6. Discuss the challenges for both students and professors concerning online courses.
7. I will then provide a second warning for students with weak writing skills. Again, I’m trying to
manage expectations. Having poor writing skills is the number one reason people fail this subject.
8. Explain what is expected in terms of civility (your online behaviour with both the professor and
fellow students). And,
 9. A final summary of my main points.

Before we begin with key point number one, let me state:

This is just a reminder that whenever you see words that are capitalized, in big letters, have
been bolded, coloured, underlined, or highlighted, I am simply trying to emphasize something. Please don’t
assume that I’m writing in anger here. Thanks. 

This Subject Is Totally Delivered Online

I mentioned this in your “Welcome” document but I just want to be 100% clear here: This subject is totally
delivered online. You do not need to attend a physical classroom. If your schedule says that there is a
classroom that you need to go to, ignore what it says. The closest thing to a classroom is your computer
keyboard.

OK, point number one is now taken care of. Let’s now discuss the matter of writing.

Warning II

If You Got A C+ Or Less In EAC 150 Or COM 100, This Might Not Be A Good
Course For You

Let me start off by discussing the first group. From day one, I want you to be aware of is that this is not an
easy course to take if you struggle with your writing. I am not saying this to scare people off or to be cruel.
It’s really important for me to manage people’s expectations. Unfortunately, and I REALLY mean this,
unfortunately, some of you will get F’s on your first two assignments and then drop this course because you
did not listen to what I am about to say in this section.

You have to have passable writing skills. That is, for each assignment, I have to fully understand what
you wrote and you must have a basic ability in the use of English grammar- for example verb tenses, the
use of definite articles, complete non-fragment sentences, non-run on sentences and the like. Basically, you
should be near “job ready.” Seneca wants its graduates to step into their place of employment and
communicate at a level that employers expect. Courses like this one are likely your last ones where we
determine if you are “job ready.” If you are not, then we cannot risk lowering the value of our degrees and
diplomas by simply passing all our students.

Also, please understand that the expectations of COM 100 with those of GENED courses is significant.
Also, there is still no unified grading system. It is like the jump from high school to college. So it would not
be surprising if you submit work on a COM 100 level and get a grade that is 10-15% lower. I’m not saying
that you will see your marks drop by this number but if it happens, you now know why.

This course does not teach you grammar. The Writing Centre does so please use this free resource offered
by the college. This could be a big problem for some of you. If you have severe grammar issues, and by the
second assignment, you should know if you do, then I strongly suggest that you drop this course. The odds
of passing it are very poor (based on my previous experiences). Trust me, I NEVER feel good when this
happens. I genuinely want you to succeed.

Given that this course is totally delivered online, you will get little to no face-to-face interaction with your
instructor. It also means that you will have A LOT of reading to do. Again, if you struggle in this area, you
are much better off being in a traditional classroom setting.

65% of your mark on EVERY assignment will be based on the quality of your writing. Also, the college
FORBIDS instructors in ADVANCED LEVEL English literature courses to teach you grammar. It is
assumed that since you passed EAC 150 or COM 100, you have the necessary skills in this area to succeed
in this course. So, if you are weak in this area, this will likely lead to an F grade. Remember, C+ is the bare
minimum. I sometimes am shocked to find that some students have achieved this grade and are no where
near this benchmark. Either they had super easy professors or had their marks boosted in some way.

You should know right off the bat that in addition to being a college professor, I
actually have a communications consulting business and am thus in frequent contact
with employers. I even train their workers on how to write. So, I definitely know
what they consider “job ready.”

EAC 955 is NOT an easy course. If your grade in EAC 150 or COM 100 was lower than a C+, statistically
speaking, you will likely find EAC 955 to be very difficult. If you have weak reading and writing skills, do
not take this course. Again, stay in a traditional lecture classroom with an instructor whom you will see and
talk with each week.

I am so concerned with students in this category that I wrote a second warning on this matter below. Please
do not think that I am being rude here. Far from it. I’m trying to save you from potential stress and grief. If,
somehow, you have snuck in here without taking EAC 150 or COM 100, again, the odds are really against
you passing. Besides, you still have to take COM 100 as a credit. Do things right and take Sports
Journalism AFTER doing well in 100. The students who do best in EAC 955, had grades in the B or A
range in EAC 150 or COM 100.

Warning III

You Need To Be Self-Disciplined

Are You A Procrastinator? Again, This Might Not Be A Good Course For You

The second group of students who do poorly in this course tend to be procrastinators. If you’re someone
who leaves things to the last minute, again, you will likely struggle with this online subject. In order to
succeed, you have to do a ton of reading. Please, do not take this course mostly because you want to “free-
up” your schedule. A lot of students do this to push things off only to find that after a few weeks they are
massively fall far behind in terms of readings and assignments.

I strongly recommend that you get yourself into a routine where once a week at a set time, you visit the
BlackBoard website, print out your lecture and read the materials. By getting into a habit, you will likely
get into a similar groove as your regular “in-class” courses.

I am sorry to start off on such a negative note. However, I am tired of having to fail 5-10 of my students
each semester- all of them pretty well begging me to pass them because “this is the last subject that they
need to graduate.” Some of you have to know from day one that taking EAC 955 for the wrong reasons is a
bad decision and that you will have no one to blame but yourself for making it. If you do not meet the
writing standards expected by the college, you will fail.

Again, I hate failing students. I really do. However, I’m a professional. I have to abide by the college’s
rules. I therefore STRONGLY do not recommend this course if you did not receive a C+ grade or higher in
EAC 150.

Whew! Not fun. But I hopefully though, I have prevented some real heartache here.

Administrative Matters

Let’s now jump into all of the administrative things you need to do for EAC 955. I’ll start by giving you a
list with brief details and then elaborate on them below. Please read this list as it will make understanding
my instructions much easier if you first get a big picture view and then read the details that follow below.
Think of this like putting together something from IKEA. It is much easier if you see the finish product or
watch a You Tube video. Get your Allan keys ready here.

20 Things That You Need To Know To Do This Course

The following is a list of 20 things that we really want you to know right from the start. Yup. 20.
Please go over this checklist right now and circle any areas that you are uncertain of and contact me
for further details.

1) This course is totally delivered online. There are NO formal classes. If your schedule states a
class time, ignore it. I am however, available to meet with you (after we first have a phone
meeting). I have provided my office hours in the Addendum/ Weekly Outline.

2) We will start getting into “meaty” sports issues on Lecture 3. Lectures 1 and 2 cover general
themes. So hang in there, we’ll get to violence in sports, sports controversies and the like shortly.

3) The two most important areas that you regularly need to visit are the “Learning Content,” and
“Discussion Forum” links on the BlackBoard site that is accessed through your Myseneca
Account.

4) The “Learning Content” button has all of your lectures and assignments.

5) You also need to visit the “Assignments” document for details as what you need to do for your
assignments. Again, this document can be found in “Learning Content.”

6) In “Learning Content,” I have a “Weekly Outline” document for this course. This document tells you
what we will be doing each week and when your assignments are due. Please make sure to print
this out and go over it thoroughly. The due dates on this document are the ones that we will be working
with. If by accident, I have another date on one of my documents, ignore it. It is a mistake. The
Weekly Outline is the only document that you should go to find out what is due and when.

7) Send ALL correspondence (assignments, questions, complaints, comments etc.) to me at:

Terry.Costaris@senecacollege.ca
8) I will do my best to get back to you within 48 hours of receiving your e-mail messages. Remember, I
have as weird a schedule as you do- so if, I instantly don’t get back to you, it could be because I’m
teaching a class. I’m definitely not R Bombing you. 

9) Never, ever, ever, send me an attached file. I will not grade any
assignment sent this way. If I can’t use my computer, I can’t teach this course and communicate with
the class. I just cannot run the risk of picking up a worm or virus from you. Sorry, there are NO
exceptions to this rule- even you Mac users.

10) Always run your Discussion Forum and email messages to me through a spell check before
posting them. Don’t blow a strong portion of your 10% final mark on sheer laziness. BlackBoard has a
spell check. There is NO excuse for this.

11) The discussion forums are not chat lines! I have to read each message. I don’t want to know where
you will be partying on any given weekend. If you want to socialize online, use the “Free For All” link.
Likewise, never, ever, ever, use text messaging style writing. This is an advanced level English
literature course. R U with me here? Good ;-)

12) Marks WILL be deducted for late submissions of either assignments or discussion forums. And all
of them have to be completed in Eastern Standard Time (Toronto, Ontario Time).

13) Marks will be deducted from your assignments and discussion forums if you exceed the word limits.
One of the main objectives of this course is to teach you the importance of clarity in communications
and getting to the point.

14) Submit Assignments by email to me at: Terry.Costaris@senecacollege.ca

15) Properly Label ALL Correspondences. For EVERY correspondence to me. Please make sure to
include your full name, the course number and section as well as the purpose of your message. It
is very frustrating trying to track down messages that are sent with nothing written in the “subject”
box!!!! “Hi” is not a proper subject heading.

16) Do Not Use your Hotmail or Gmail accounts! Seneca’s server often filters assignments or messages
sent by Hotmail and sometimes through Bell, Sympatico, Rogers, and company based accounts. If I do
not receive your assignment because you failed to use your Seneca account, you will receive a zero
grade.

17) Never Research Using Wikipedia For An Academic Paper. This Source Is Not A Reliable Source
Since It Is Not Peer Reviewed. You Don’t Know What You Are Getting When Visiting This Website.

18) If you want to reach me, call me at his home office at: 905-880-7599 or by e-mail at
Terry.Costaris@senecacollege.ca. I will attempt to return messages within 48 hours of each work day.
I’m available Mondays-Fridays from 11:00 am to 3:00 pm Eastern Standard Daylight Time here in
Ontario. Please do not call me either on evenings or weekends.

19) There is NO text for this course. All of your reading materials are provided in my lecture notes.
Today is your lucky day .

20) There is NO Final Exam in this course.

 The Due Dates On The Addendum Document Are The
Ones That You Must Follow

I have produced a number of documents to give you specific details on what you need to do for things such
as assignments and the like. On them, I may have included some due dates. In the past, some of these dates
have been wrong. Simply, ignore them if these dates conflict with what is in the Weekly Outline
document.

Just like you; each semester my schedule changes. What this means is I have to alter the due dates of
assignments to meet my new schedule. Sometimes, I accidently leave a previous semester due date on a
document and students ask when should they hand in their work. All assignment and discussion due dates
that we will follow in this course are on the “Weekly Outline” document. If there are conflicts, please let
me know and tell me the exact page where they can be found and I’ll fix them. Again, though, ignore them
if they do not agree with what is written in the Weekly Outline document. What’s written in this document
is what we will be doing.

Saving You Money

One of the benefits of online or e-learning include: saving you time and money. You don’t have to
commute or attend a traditional class. And lucky for you, there is no textbook for this course. I have written
“free” online lecture materials posted in “Course Documents” and have put together various links to
interesting articles and videos. This too will save you some additional money.

We Don’t Meet At Any Specific Time

Since this course is totally done online, we do not meet at a specific time each week like a regular subject.
Even on the discussion boards, there is only a limit in terms what I will allow as the last possible time that
you can submit your comments and reply back to another’s. You will not, for example, be asked to be on
the discussion board at 6:00 pm on a specific date and time.

Assignments

All the details re: these assignments are found in the “Assignments” document found by clicking the
“Learning Content” button. The following contains general information on this matter.

Your grade for each assignment will be based on the following: 35% on content, research, and referencing
with the remaining 65% in terms of writing, structure, and grammar.

Marks WILL be deducted for late submissions.

It is our belief that if one student works really hard to finish an assignment and another hands it in the next
day, he or she has had an unfair advantage over the other student who played by the rules. For this reason,
marks will be deducted each day that an assignment arrives late to our desktops. In fact, any assignment
past the deadline time will receive a deduction in grade. No one should be given extra hours to submit his
or her work. It simply is not fair on the rest of the students. Sorry.

Plagiarism is Theft!

Every semester, we come across some students who do not understand that copying and pasting the
opinions of a writer while not acknowledging their words and ideas is plagiarism. This is a serious offense.

Plagiarism is theft. After all, you have taken the words and ideas of someone and claim them to be your
own. Anytime you quote someone, make sure that you tell your instructor where this quote came from
using MLA style referencing not only in your Works Cited section but in-text (right in the written part) of
the essay as well.

The most important thing that you need to know is that plagiarism is a VERY serious offense.

1. If you write an essay where you copy and paste someone’s writing and call it your own and
have not identified it both in the body- the written part of your essay, plus your works cited
section, you have plagiarized.

2. If you copy and paste someone’s writing and simply put quotation marks on it and again, not
identify where you got these sentences both in the body plus your works cited section, this
too is plagiarism.

3. If you take someone’s unique idea and do not identify where you got it, both in the body and
your works cited section, this also is plagiarism.

4. If you provide unusual facts or detailed statistics that are not common knowledge and do not
state where you got them both in the body of your essay and at the end of your essay in your
works cited section, yes, this too is plagiarism.

You have now been warned. Do any of these 4 things and you will likely get a zero grade on your
assignment.

For more details, make sure to read our document “What is plagiarism.” It is very short. It should not take
you more than 15 minutes to read and do a mini-quiz at the end. There are no excuses for plagiarism. Do
not come to me and say, “I didn’t know.” Are we clear on this matter?

Last semester, students received zero grades for not including their sources within the body of their essays.
We have to know where your ideas and those of another are within your work. Otherwise, I will assume
that you stole those ideas from someone else.

Merely citing references at the end of your paper is completely unacceptable. This is a sneaky way of
covering up the fact that you are plagiarizing. If you still do not understand this concept, please e-mail your
me and I will further clarify it.
 Discussion Forums
There will be one on-line discussion forum for this course. All information relating to this forum can be
found in the “Discussion Forum Information” document. Open this up before asking me what you need to
do. Here is a super quick summary of what is involved:

To get to the forums, just press the “Discussion Forum” button. Go to the forum. Then click until you get to
the attached Word document that contains the question that you need to answer. Open up the attachment.
Read the question and then answer it. Then reply to a fellow student’s thread/post. Answer the question
and reply to a student’s post. That’s it. You’re done.

You must participate in the forum. It counts for 10% of your final grade. The other 5% related to this is
your online communication skills throughout this course.

Each semester, I have no choice but to fail students who were otherwise passing my courses but didn’t
bother to participate in the online discussions. Others only posted a comment but did not reply to a fellow
student’s. You have to do BOTH things. Please don’t be one of them.

You should also be aware, that I can track exactly when and how many times you have posted your work.
Do not be a member of the “Last Minute Club” and try to submit your discussions at the end of the course.
I will not read your posts then.

You need to do this by no later than 1:00 pm on the Monday afternoon that it is due.

Information on how I grade your forum and online participation skills can be found in the
“Discussion Forum Information” document. Please read this before asking me any questions
concerning both of these grades. Thanks

Grading / Assignments

Assignments Weighting

Assignment 1: Research and Plagiarism Assignment (15% + 5%) 20%

(This assignment helps prepare you for your next two assignments by having
you research information on your topic choice for this semester and totally
prevents any student from claiming that he or she did not know what plagiarism is).

Assignment 2: First Draft Column Piece 20%

(You are going to do 3 draft versions of the same Journalism Style Column Piece.
Each draft should be better than the one before. This assignment will be your first
draft version of it. You must use the same approved topic choice that you used for
Assignment 1 for this assignment as the goal here is to help you improve on each
subsequent submission).

Assignment 3: Second Draft Column Piece 25%

(This assignment is a second draft version of your Journalism Style Column Piece.
You must use the same approved topic that you used for Assignment’s and 2 as the
goal here is to help you improve on each subsequent submission).

Final Draft of Column Piece 20%*

(After receiving more feedback from me from Assignment 3, this assignment will
contain your final revisions. Like Assignments 2 and 3, do not change your topic.
You have to use the same one all semester).

* This Online Assignment Will Take The Place Of A Final Exam. Failure To Submit Your Work By The
Deadline Will Result In A Dramatically Lowered Grade (5% per half hour after the assigned deadline due
date time). For example, anytime past 1:00 pm to 1:30 pm = a 5% deduction. Anytime past 1:30 pm to 2:00
pm = a 10% deduction and so on) Eastern Standard Daylight Time here in Ontario.

Quality of Discussion Forums 10%

(You will be asked to write on the topic that you chose for Assignments 1-4)

Online Participation/Interpersonal Communication Skills 5%

This is an ongoing grade determined at the very end of the semester based
on how you communicated both with your fellow students and your professor).
100%

Some of you may find the first few assignments difficult to do. You will be challenged in this course.
Please do not feel intimidated. My job is to help you write for the real world that awaits you upon
graduation.

Participation In Discussion Forums And Your Online Communications With Your

Professor

Worth 15% Of Your Final Grade: 10% For Your Forums And 5% For Your Online Participation

Numerous e-learning studies have shown that courses which provide significant levels of interactivity
produce higher learning outcomes than those that don’t. They also make online courses feel more “human-
like.”

How You Will Be Graded On Your Discussion Forums And Online Participation

Please refer to the document “Discussion Forum Information.” Just know that you MUST participate in
BOTH Forums for this course. Do not just do one of them. And, above all, do the second one which
discusses your topic choice. This is not an optional matter. You have to do BOTH!

I Need Your Eagle Eyes For Help

I have made some changes from the previous summer semester and may have accidentally written
conflicting information concerning your assignments and/or discussed a Final Exam. As you now know,
there is no final in this course. If you have a set of eagle eyes and notice anything that does not make sense
please let me know right away so that I can fix it. I kindly ask that you tell me the page number to allow me
quick and easy access. Thanks.

ALL the due dates and times for this course are on the Addendum (weekly outline) document. If I wrote
anything contradictory somewhere else, ignore it. For example, all assignments in this course are due on
Monday afternoons no later than 1:00pm Eastern Standard Daylight Time on their respective due
dates. Use the Addendum document for all final decisions relating to this matter.

Academic Matters

My Teaching Style

The best way to describe me as a teacher is to think “Old School” meets compassion. As a paid
professional, I have to follow the expectations and standards given to me by the college. I don’t just give
out high grades. You have to earn them. Unfortunately, many of you had overinflated marks in high school.
Remember how the class average was 80%? In the real world, average is 60%. 80% is excellent. No
employer thinks that an average performance is exceptional. When you watch an average movie do you
recommend it to a friend? When there is a player on your sports team that just gets by and makes the roster,
do you call this person a superstar? Likewise, at a higher learning institution like Seneca, 80 is not the new
60.

Alternatively, think of it this way: if everybody had a million dollars, then a million dollars would be
average- which means that its value would not be all that high. If you want a million dollars to be a million
dollars then it has to be rare to possess. We’ll if this is the case with money, it shouldn’t it also be the case
with education. An “A” should be an “A” not a “C.”

Now I know that there are some professors who give out easy marks. But be honest. Do you really respect
these people? Have you gotten your money’s worth in terms of the high tuition costs that you’ve had to pay
for? What’s the point of an education if you are not fully educated? How will this prepare you for the very
demanding work environment that you are about to enter?

Personally, I would rather be disliked by truly wanting to help you succeed than by just collecting a
paycheck and ripping you off from experiencing a proper education.

Likewise, if you do not meet the college’s standards for a passing assignment, then you will fail this course
regardless of whether this is your last credit or your student visa is running out. I’m sorry, but as a
professional, I grade based on the quality of the work sent to me and can’t just pass someone to be nice.

The hardest part of my job- I really mean the hardest part, is having to fail one of them because he or she
could not, despite genuine hard work meet the college’s standards. If you were told throw 5 balls in a
basket and you win a prize but only threw in 3 or 4, you don’t win a prize. If Seneca College sets certain
parameters as to what is 50% and you don’t meet this target, then you fail.

I know that school can be tough. Not just as a professor but also as a parent with daughters your age. I get
your stresses in terms of balancing work, family obligations, living on your own and/or personal issues.
Those of you who will get to know me will see just how compassionate and empathetic I can be. You will
also see that I strive for positivity.

I am not here to take you down but help lift you up. I really mean this. Id I love helping students out when
they need someone to talk to. I even produced a stress management PowerPoint for you to view. According
to many students, 50% of students between the ages of 17-25 are extremely stressed. This is a reality that
we instructors have to work with. As a result, I will do my best to keep things as positive as possible. Just
like yourselves though, sometimes, I stumble in this regard. When I do, I give you my word that I will
apologize. I am not out to get anyone. I want each and every one of you to succeed. This is my main
objective. If I push you, it is because I care and believe in your potential.

I will ask nothing more from you than what I expect from my own daughters. I also welcome debate and
students challenging my ideas and marking- so long as it’s done politely.

I never play mind games and always try treat others with respect. Students who meet or talk with me on the
phone, usually have very different opinions concerning the person who typed out this message to you than
the one that they spoke with. Every semester, I get 10-20 emails from students who were genuinely
thankful for all of the things that I did for them.

I truly mean this when I say, that your success is my success. So, I’m going to push you. I want you to walk
out of this course being better communicators than when you started- even it if means that I get a low score
in from my student ratings. I’d rather be disliked and make you better writers than hit questionable
numbers.

Sometimes a student needs to be pushed. Sometimes, a student needs a caring and listening voice. In all
instances though, you need to know the truth. If you are caught cheating by plagiarizing, you need to be
called on it. If you are not meeting the college’s standards, I can’t just ignore this matter. I have to fail you.
If you’re not showing any signs of improvement, then I have to lower your grades. Sorry but this is who I
am. I’m an old school prof.

Repetition Of Instructions

Another aspect of my teaching style is that I often repeat my instructions. Why is this? Because sadly, 25%
of you will refuse to follow the instructions that I provide or don’t even bother read them. In the process,
you make my job significantly harder as I have to fix your mistakes and am thus slowed down in terms of
my marking of assignments.

Such students don’t do such simple things as provide a proper email subject heading on an assignment or
message to me. Is it too much to ask that I know who you are, what course you are taking and what
specifically is the key point in this email that you want me to read is about? Especially when I have over
200 students from a variety of courses to work with?

My hope is that if I say something enough times, sooner or later my key points will finally stick. This will
be a win-win for all of us. That is, these students will find that this course is a lot easier than they think, I
have less unnecessary work to do and my diligent students will get their work marked on time. If you’re
one of the 25%, you probably haven’t even read this sentence. Or this one. Or even this one. Tsk. Tsk. ;-)
You eventually will though. So I just keep trying. 

It’s Tough Teaching And Taking Online Courses

Now there are two things that I would like to state right from day one:
 1) It’s really hard teaching an online course.

2) It’s also really hard taking one.

Let me start by discussing the first problem.

Teaching online is definitely one of the most challenging and rewarding forms of instruction out there. I
spend a lot of time stuck in an office typing away. When I am not putting together my lengthy lectures, I’m
communicating with students. On average, I send nearly 3,500 email messages per semester! Most of
which, as you’ll soon find out, are very detailed. I rarely see my students- even though I provide office
hours and welcome phone calls. I don’t get to see how well you are grasping the points that I am trying to
teach. I’m denied the great pleasure of being in a classroom where I joke around with everyone and rib
Leaf fans. Likewise, there’s no interesting spontaneous debate. I miss all of these fun things associated with
teaching in a regular classroom. 

I Love My Job

That’s the negative side but teaching online has many positives. Let me say here and now, I am one of the
most fortunate people on the planet to have a job like this and really enjoy the labour intensive aspects of
my work. Every summer, while I’m “off” I still spend around 4-5 hours each day prepping and tweaking
my courses.

I love being able to creatively integrate visuals, video along with interactive exercises. I think it’s really
cool that I can provide detailed grading for your assignments that allows you to visually see where you are
going right and wrong in your writing. I also have a great sense of job satisfaction in seeing each and every
one of you progress in your writing development. So, yes, there are challenges but there are also some great
benefits to teaching online courses. I love my job and I want to keep doing so.

The Challenges of Online Teaching

Having said all of this, nothing beats being in a traditional classroom setting where I can deliver a lecture
with good PowerPoints, videos, interactive exercises, quickly respond to your questions and create warm,
comfortable learning environment with tons of jokes. Even simple things like: being able to emphasize key
points or ideas just by using my voice or body language; makes a huge difference for my students. How do
you do this online? After all, all that I have to work with is words.

Well, the answer is that I have to use a few tricks. The problem is, that living in the Text Age, these same
tricks come across as if I’m shouting at you. Doh! What’s a guy to do?

How would you suggest I go about delivering my lectures under these constraints? I do I project an image
of being firm but fair, caring but not a pushover, and always remain respectful and warm in my delivery?
And how should I emphasize things that students constantly mess up on such as ignoring my instructions?
Managing all these things online is a super tough task.

Bolding, Highlighting, Underlining, Enlarging

Fonts, Capitalization And Emojis

The only way that I know to emphasize something is is to bold, highlight, underline, and capitalize
important things. I also need to use emojis- though on my desktop they will look like this:  ;-) and :-o.
The problem with bolding, highlighting, underlining, enlarged fonts and
CAPITALIZATION is that I come across as being crazy, angry, rude jerk. Just looking at this last
sentence probably elevated your blood pressure. ;-)

So let me please emphasize right from day one (without using bolding, highlighting, underlining, enlarged
fonts or capitalization) that you should never assume that when I do these things in my lecture notes that
I’m “losing it,” going “cray cray,” am “upset” or “threatening to beat you up.” I just have no other way of
making sure that you are aware of really important things.

Here’s an email exchange that I had with a student on this matter (the name of this person I am
withholding). I really welcome input from my students. This particular person really helped me out on this
matter by what he or she said. That’s why I recently changed this “Welcome Message” to explain my
communication approach. Here’s what we said:

Good Morning Terry,

When I first read your lectures, I thought you were a ruthless and intimidating rude man because the style
of fonts you use in your notes. They look aggressive. The key word is "look".

For me personally, I did not look past your style of writing like I should have, I only took it at face value,
which obviously was the wrong choice on my part. I finally realized after talking with you that it is your
best way of stressing what is important to us because you cannot physically tell us what is important.

So I now don't think you should change what you do. You’re not out to get anyone but doing your job. You
are one of the few prof’s I’ve had that actually wants to make a difference in my life. You make the
ownership 100% on the student, and those students who fail to see that fail themselves.

I look forward to meeting you during exams.

Best regards,

Student Name removed

You’re welcome _________,

Thanks for your kind words and constructive feedback. I appreciate your honesty. Perhaps if, when I bold
and capitalize things, I say “I’m using bolding and caps here to emphasize something. I’m not being angry.
It’s just that I don’t have a lot to work with here except words to make sure that you never miss out on
important points.” This might take some of the “rudeness” out of my messages? What do you think?

Take care,

Terry

This person then F bombed me and things got ugly and I can’t comment much further with the court trial
and all. LOL.

I’m kidding! This person thought it was a good idea.

I believe that this exchange helped change my student’s perspectives of me. I never realized how
unnecessarily aggressive my communications appeared to be. So going forward you will see a lot of
disclaimers on my lectures where I state, my use of bolding, highlighting, underlining, enlarged fonts or
capitalization does not in any way mean that I am being rude or angry here. I’m just emphasizing key ideas.
Think of my use of these things as turning-up the volume of a message at a place that has some background
noise.

OK, so now you know that I’m not out to get you and that I going to push you to succeed in this course. For
what though? What exactly do I want you to improve on? Your writing.

EAC 955 Should Be KISS 955

You are going to learn how to be crystal clear in your messaging using short, crisp, precise and to the point
sentences.

The worst thing that you can do beyond poor grammar and phrasing is write sentences that attempt to
sound poetic or are lengthy. I want you to write as if you are sending me an email message or as if you are
speaking during a presentation. Again, my number one goal in this course is to have you as “job ready” as
possible. No employer wants long winded, un-breathable and fancy for fancy’s sake like sentences. If there
is a simple way of saying something then do so. Never try to complicate something for the sake of
sounding intelligent. Let your ideas clearly stand out and not be covered in a veil of words.

You’re also going to learn that paragraphs can be brief- even single sentences.

They can even be single words.

Really. ;-)

This is how journalists communicate and this is how you should do so in the workplace. Basically, we’re
going to learn how to The Keep It Short and Simple (KISS).

There will be no long essays for you to write in EAC 955. And you will not be handing-in boring, out of
date, and generally useless 5 paragraph style essays.

This style is far too mechanical; it gets in the way of clarity and will not prepare you for the frantically
paced workplace where everything needs to be done yesterday. Save that style of writing if you are going
for a Masters or Doctorate degree program.

III: You Have To Have Passable Writing Skills

In this section, you will see a lot of bolding, highlighting, underlining, capitalization. It is not meant to be
rude so please go against your texting nature and know that I am trying to emphasize things. That’s all.

As I said right at the beginning of this document, you have to have passable
writing skills to pass EAC 955. Many of you are very tempted to take this
course because it frees up class time in your schedule. That might be nice
but if you fail this course, what was the point in doing this?

I have been teaching this and other online courses since the year 2000.
Over the years, I have seen a lot of students and can tell you who will
likely struggle in this course. In general, if you received a solid B grade
or higher in EAC 150 or COM 100, you should have no concerns in
terms of succeeding in this subject. If you received a C grade, you
MIGHT have some struggles- especially if you had an easy professor
teaching your course. If you received a D+ grade- this will likely be a
very tough course for you. If you received a D, you have about a
5-10% chance of passing; and this is assuming that you had the writing
skills but for whatever reason did not hand-in assignments on time or
had personal issues that affected your grade when you took EAC 150 or
COM 100. If you worked hard and only received a D or D+, the odds of
success in EAC 955 are not in your favour. So, if you are taking EAC
955 as your final credit, and you did poorly in EAC 150 or COM 100,
don’t get upset with me if this will not be your last credit. That is, that
you will need to take another one in order to graduate. You are being
told this from day one and there is no one to blame but yourself for not
listing to my serious warnings here. Sorry.

If you are the type of student who spends a lot of time at the Writing
Centre getting help on your essay assignments, I strongly recommend
that you do not take EAC 955. The vast majority of these types of
students have failed this subject and I never feel good in seeing this
happen.

If you struggle in the area of grammar, the odds of passing this course
are VERY low. Of the hundreds of such students that I have had, only a
tiny handful have somehow managed to improve enough to pass EAC
955. I am not a miracle worker. Learning how to write takes time. We
only have 14 weeks here. Please also keep in mind that Seneca College
policy does not allow me to teach you basic grammar. This is an
advanced level English Course. It is assumed that you have enough
competence in this area.

I also want you to be honest with yourself for a minute. When you took
EAC 150 or COM 100, did you get your B or C grade as a result of
doing well on just one or two non-writing assignments? For example,
did you boost your grade through non-writing assignments such as
quizzes where you basically memorized things? Did you write your final
exam with study notes (perhaps including what essentially was a pre-
written essay) to help you out? Did you pester your professor to the
point where he or she boosted your mark?

Would it be fair to say that for some of you, your marks were artificially
inflated through such things? In EAC 955, you will not have any
quizzes; and on the final, in order to prevent term work cheating, NO
Study notes will be permitted for this course’s exam. If you bring in
study notes into the exam room, you will fail the final.

I’m just saying all of this so that there are no surprises with me. Online
English courses are generally harder and should only be taken by
students who are confident in their writing skills.

You should also note that since this is an English literature course, the
quality of your writing will be the most important factor determining
your assignment grades.

For GEN ED subjects such as history, sociology or psychology, a

professor tends to grade using a 65:35 ratio. That is, he or she weighs
the importance of your content at around 65% of the assignment’s value
and your writing at only 35%. For non-English courses, it’s the other
way around.

When I mark your essays, nearly 65% of it is based on the quality of

your writing. After all, the number one objective of all EAC subjects is
to improve each student’s writing in order to better prepare him or her
for the workplace. So do not assume that just because you got an “A” in
“Contemporary Canadian Issues,” you will get the same mark here if
the quality of your writing does not meet the School of English and
Liberal Studies standards.

This 65:35 ratio makes us professors appear to be “tough markers”

when we’re just doing our jobs. It’s a lot easier to get an A from me in
my Public Speaking or Contemporary Global Issues courses because the
grading standards are totally different. In those subjects, I am way
more popular.

I am not saying this to scare anyone away. I simply want to avoid any
misunderstandings down the road and let you know that I have to do
the job that is required for this type of course. I find it very frustrating
when a student who has A’s in his or her core subjects, freaks out on me
because I gave them a C on an assignment. Write well and you will ace
this course. Write poorly and your marks will reflect this.

Success in this course depends on how honest you are with yourself. Give this course a try and see what
happens after the first few assignments.

If you have strong self-discipline, and solid writing and reading skills, you need to believe me when I say
that with each passing week, your adjustment to EAC 955 will improve.

It is my belief that writing is like riding a bicycle. Once you know how to do it, you always do. If you have
honestly been doing your work all semester and studied for the exam; trust me, you have absolutely nothing
to fear going into the final.

Get To Know Your Prof!

It is always a good idea to establish a working relationship with your professor. Once he or she knows who
you are, he/she can place a face beside your name. Don’t you want to know the person who’s sending you
comments on your assignments and discussion forum postings? I’m quite a likeable guy.

Sometimes, though, this does not always come out through text based communication.

What did they teach you in EAC 150? “Know Your Audience.” If you meet with me, a big part of the
intimidation factor associated with this type of course should be taken care of.

I therefore strongly suggest that you call me by phone at 905-880-7599 or regularly communicate your
concerns, suggestions and comments through e-mail. I have no problem having students call me at
my home office Monday’s to Fridays from 11:00 am – 3:00 pm Eastern Standard Daylight Time. I
kindly ask that you don’t call me in the evenings or on weekends. Like you, I also have a life and need
to recharge. ;-) If you want to meet with me for a face-to-face meeting, you first need to arrange an
appointment either by email or phone. I ask that we first have a phone meeting as 99% of the time,
things get sorted out this way to the student’s satisfaction.

Also, I need constructive feedback.

I can’t continue to improve this course without your honest input. Trust me; I will not take constructive
feedback negatively. Anything that can help improve your learning of the materials and “humanize” this
course is welcomed.

The bottom line is that I want you to know that there is a real human being on the other end who genuinely
cares about your success and personal enjoyment of this course! I am not a Veggimatic 2000 spitting out
robotic messages to you.
At the same time, be well aware that because I care, I expect to see you work hard and improve in your
writing over the next 14 weeks. Your second assignment has to be better than your first and your third
better than your second and your fourth… Basically, I will not let you coast.

Please Be Patient With My Marking

I would like to let you know that the college has dramatically increased how many students can enroll in an
online course. It’s been upped by nearly 40%. I now have over 220 students to mark in all of my online
courses.

I am not complaining. Trust me. As I said above, I have the best job in the world. However, in order to
maintain quality in my grading of assignments, I may take longer than usual. I normally have your essays
marked within a week of reception. It may now take a few days longer. I hope you can understand why this
might happen and appreciate your patience on this matter.

This increase in class size also means that my ability for one-on-one interactions will be reduced. I will
basically be a grading machine all semester. If you are one of those students who will procrastinate all
semester and then tries to hand everything in all at once, forget about it. It’s not going to happen. I simply
do not have the time to accommodate you. Sorry.

Also, unlike a traditional classroom setting, when I mark your assignments, I send them back to you right
away. I don’t hold on to them until our next class. What this means is that some of you will want instant
extra feedback on your work because I just sent you an email message. The thing is, I am likely in the midst
of grading a ton of other essays. It takes sometimes half an hour to an hour of back and forth emails to
further explain things. I would much rather do this 4-5 days after the due date when my marking workload
eases-up. So on both these matters, I thank you in advance for your patience. Also, if you do not hear back
from me right away during the week that you submitted your assignments, I am not being rude and ignoring
you. I’m just super busy and prioritizing the grading of the class’ essays.

Please Don’t Be Rude To Me. Thank You.

Do you like being yelled at? Neither do I. So please don’t be rude to me. Thanks.

You are not anonymously talking to SIRI or a call centre or some rando on Twitter, Instagram or a website
comments section. I recognize you as a person and not some digital robot. If I think of you as a human
being then so should you. Right?
I have zero tolerance for rude students. If you have issues with me, let me know. I am strong enough to take
in criticism. In fact, I welcome it. What I don’t welcome though is you yelling at me with mean spirited
comments. If I let you get away with such behavior, then I’m done as an instructor. Chaos will take over.

Also, if you are super unhappy with a grade that you receive from me, could you please hold off saying
anything for at least 24 hours? Sometimes, people say things that they regret when they are annoyed. In
house and rep league sports, coaches have what is called the “24 hour rule” for parents who want to
complain about something involving their children. This is also a good rule for this course. Ideally, though,
I would prefer that you wait a few more days as I am usually in the midst of marking assignments and 99%
of complaints are from students who just got their assignment marked and forgot that fact that I’m super
busy and still doing the same thing for hundreds of others.

Just to let you know, 5% of your 15% “Quality of Discussion Forums And Online
Participation” grade, involves your overall online interpersonal communications skills employed in
this course.

The reasons that you will be graded on this matter are two-fold. First, the number one objective of Seneca
courses is to help you become job ready. Quality online communications and general interpersonal
communications skills are as important in today’s workforce as is your ability to do what you will be hired
to do. Second, poor online communication skills make an already tough teaching job that much harder to
do. By adding a grade on this matter, it is hoped that we will stop some rude individuals from getting out of
control. You need to know, here and now that I am not a punching bag or a “faceless” IT person at Bell or
Rogers (which incidentally, you should try to be nice to as they typically do nicer things to those who treat
them well). I expect that you treat me with courtesy. My tolerance for rudeness is quite limited. Every
professor has in his or her mind what they might call their “Hall of Shame” students. I’ll never forget this
one student who was giving me a hard time for not marking his essay within a week when I had sent out an
email informing the class that my father had passed away and there would be a slight delay. Classy eh?

This section should be read by anyone who has been told either by friends, teachers,
bosses or family members at least a few times about their “rude” emails, texts,
Tweets or FaceBook/Instagram comments. Some people have no idea how rude they
come across in their online communications. They are super nice people when you
talk to them in person and something else in the digital world. They have what
comes across as a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde thing going. Please read this section. It
might open your eyes and may even get you hired or promoted at work.

3-5 Pains In The Real World. 5-8 Pains In The Digital World

Now every professor will admit (privately at least) that out of a pool of 130 or so students that he or she
gets each semester, 3-5 of them can be major pains. For most of us, we can quickly fix things with such
students by taking them aside either during or after class and talk things out. This generally does not
happen online. I have to spend hours sending email messages back and forth to get things back on track.
This is very time consuming and at times a bit tiring.

Even worse for me, I sometimes have as many as many as 5-8 troublesome students because of their poor
online interpersonal communication skills. 5-8 does not seem like much but you but think of it this way:
with one match, a building burns down. Destruction is always easier than construction.

With just a few rude students, my day can get totally shot as I ethically can’t mark assignments when
angry. I do not in any way want to unconsciously take things out on another student. In other words,
inappropriate communication can be highly disruptive.

So how does this happen? Are these 5-8 people jerks? No. Most are poor communicators or unaware of
what they are doing. So let me fill you in on some important information to get you back on track.

According to numerous research studies, only 7% or messages are understood by words alone. 93% are
interpreted by body language and by the tone of your voice. So what does this mean for a course that is
done totally online? It means that messages can easily be misunderstood if all you have is a mere 7%
working for you. So this means that both of us have to work extra hard at being polite and treating each
other with some decency.

I Am Trying To Simulate A Business/Work Environment

As much as possible, I am trying to simulate a business/work environment in this course. You are
principally attending Seneca College to start a career and move up the ranks. At this college, we do not
simply teach you which buttons need to be pushed. We teach you to think, write and be job ready
employees. The best way to sell employers on our graduates is by having complete well-rounded ones. Like
it or not, you are going to be our ambassadors.

According to a recent CNN news report, a whopping 71% of human resources managers say that they
place more emphasis on “emotional intelligence” (EI) than they do for regular intelligence things
such as a person’s ability to do a particular job. The term emotional intelligence is defined as being a
person’s ability to control his or her emotions; sense the emotions of others; and build relationships.

Understanding the importance of strong interpersonal communication skills- especially online ones, will
give you an edge beyond what I plan on showing you in the area of writing. Here’s another scary factoid:
According to Forbes Magazine, 50% of all new job hires will lose their jobs in less than a year. The number
one reason is “bad attitude.” Someone has to stop you from losing your job. We professors at Seneca
should be the ones. After all, we’re your last stop before you enter the real world.

People who are liked, go far in life. Knowing how to say things politely gets you hired. Likewise, knowing
how to properly say things when you are upset is a major ticket to success. Not knowing such matters will
keep you unemployed for long stretches of time and help get you fired. Your online participation skills then
are a big deal here.

So if you communicate in a rude or offensive manner with me or a fellow student, it is like doing this with
your boss or co-worker. In the workplace, such inappropriate behavior is documented. I will do the same
thing in this course.

According to employment expert Dan Schawbel,

“When enough people are competing for the same positions and opportunities, the real differentiator is
your interpersonal skills. The way you present yourself; how you communicate with other people-
whether it’s in an interview or with management at work- can make or break your personal ‘brand.’
More and more people are starting to realize that the little things matter, especially in our current
competitive job environment.”

I Will Apologize When I Am Wrong, So Should You

Let me state here and now that I value the dignity of each and every one of you. If at any point in this
course you feel that I have crossed an inappropriate line, please tell me so. Give me a call at my home
number: 905-880-7599 11 am-3 pm Mondays to Fridays so that we can at least talk to each other
before things get out of hand. If I have done something wrong; trust me when I say that 99.9999999999%
of the time, it happened without me realizing it. It was not on purpose. I’m only human. I’m not into
dissing people. Those who know me know that I’m quite a nice guy.

Likewise, I am sure that most of you are nice guys and gals in the real non-digital world. The thing is,
words can be hurtful and someone has to help you from using career killing communication. If you:

1. do not take ownership;

2. fail to stop repeating it; and
3. make no attempt to apologize;
then these actions will be reflected in this aspect of your grade. Sorry.

I understand that everyone messes up once and a while. My energies will not be directed at someone who
was rude to me or others but apologized and stopped such behavior. It will instead be focused on those of
you who show an ongoing pattern of disruptive online communication.

Now, I’m not into mind games with people so I’ll let you know right away so that we can turn things
around and get back on track. I am not the type that waits to discuss these types of problems. If you
misbehave, you’ll know right away so that we can hit the re-set button and get things back on track.

What I’ll basically do is inform you by email and copy and paste this section for you to review. Hopefully,
you will take ownership of your behavior, apologize and we can move on towards having a more
harmonious relationship both with me and your classmates. If I ask for a face-to-face meeting with you and
you refuse, I will take it that you don’t care to change your ways and not it in my documentation.

If your online behavior has been polite, courteous, positive, encouraging and the like, you will be rewarded
for exhibiting this extremely important ingredient for workplace success.

Complaining 101

There are proper ways to express dissatisfaction and then there are improper ones. For example, if you are
unhappy with your grade, politely let me know. I’m not going to bite your head off. I am willing to hear
your concerns/arguments. I will not however, tolerate being shouted at.

If this were a normal class where you could see me after a lesson to complain, would you run up to me and
say “I think you’re an unfair marker.”?

So why should the rules of courtesy and respect change when you’re talking to me online? When you are
upset with me, I suggest that you hang on and think first about what you’re going to say before you quickly
hit the “reply” button on your cell phone or laptop and blurt off a rude or curt response. Show some self-
discipline here.

What should you do then?

Most people would say, “Hi Terry.” (They wouldn’t just jump in and blurt things out). “I appreciate your
detailed commentary” (after all, I go through your work and provide a bunch of helpful ideas to improve
your assignments) “but I’m a bit disappointed with myself for getting this grade. I thought that I would
have done better.” (This way you are not directly attacking me- as no one likes being shouted at or accused
of something) “You mentioned…. and….but I feel that I should have had a higher mark because ….” (this
is where you provide your arguments).

So you are still getting your points across and having me re-consider things but without starting a
confrontation. No one likes to be pushed. Right?

Further, if you say something nice to me, I will reply back with a thank you. Shouldn’t it go both ways
then? If someone goes over and above the call of duty to help you out, is it too much to ask that you say
“thanks?”

Finally, if you send me an email that in the subject heading that states, “hi”

And you write,

“what assignment is due this week? Thanks.”

First of all, is this even remotely clear? I have 120 students. Most of whom I don’t memorize their names
until the mid-part of this course. I have no clue who this person is; what course he or she is taking; or what
assignment is due. I need details.

If you did this at work, you would have a “meeting” with your boss. And this would not be one to talk
about the interoffice hockey pool.

For the vast majority of you, this is obvious. Unfortunately, a small minority needs to know this.

I REALLY apologize to those of you who have enough common sense to be annoyed with what I have
just said. Please trust me when I say that sometimes the obvious is not obvious. There are a tiny but
growing number of students in serious need of improving their interpersonal communications. When
I first taught this course, I never imagined I would have had to say this blurb on manners. Likewise,
I would never have had to include ``online interpersonal communication skills`` as part of your
grade. However, in order to make my work environment more manageable, I now have to. Sorry.

What REAL GMs, VPs, Presidents, CEOs, Small Business Owners and Managers Are Telling Me

Employers (and I personally know a whole bunch of them-including General Managers, VP’s, Presidents
and CEOs etc) look for strong interpersonal communication skills in their hiring and promotion decisions.
They get mad at people like me because we supposedly don’t teach them these things. I kid you not. There
I am eating some nice appetizer at a party and they ask what type of work that I’m in and boom, they start
spazzing out on me.

I say,

“Woe! Not me.

Don’t tar all of us with the same brush.

I let my students know what you’re looking for.”

I know that some of you don’t believe me but the truth is that these skills matter more to them than both
your degree/diploma and what marks you achieved in school. Your diploma to them is a sign that you can
start and finish something. It also means that you have an entry level amount of competence in the job that
you studied for. As the years go by, your academic credentials become less and less important. Experience
is what gives you higher and higher salaries.

How do you get your foot in the door though? For 99% of the people that I know, they are most interested
in your attitude.

Why?

Because according to numerous studies, the average overworked/highly stressed manger spends 1 full day
in a 5 day work week doing nothing other than putting out fires involving employee conflicts. This is a
major sucker of productivity. And in today’s highly competitive job environment where people in other
parts of the world work 18 hour days, 6 days a week for ¼ of the wages here; there’s just no more room for
babysitting people.

That’s what I’m being told and as someone who wants his students to be job ready, I will be paying close
attention to this matter. Will this make me the most popular instructor at Seneca? No. But I’ll take the hit
knowing that I’m doing my job- that is, I’m preparing you for the REAL world of the workplace which
means calling-out those of you who behave rudely so that you don’t do these things with your future bosses
and co-workers.
 Summary of Main Points
1. This subject is delivered totally online. So, there are no classes to attend.

2. If you lack self-discipline and/or have weak writing skills this course is likely a bad choice for
you.

3. You now know the challenges that students and professors face concerning online courses.

4. My teaching style is old school. There are no head games with me. You now know what I want
and will see that I am very consistent in my marking and behaviour. You also now know that rude
behavior will not be tolerated.

5. The two most important links on the BlackBoard site that you need to regularly visit are the
“Learning Content,” and “Discussion Forums.”

6. You also need to visit the “Assignments” document found in “Learning Content” for precise
details as what you need to do for your assignments.

7. Print out all of your lecture materials so that you do not miss any important detail.

8. All correspondence (assignments, questions, complaints, comments etc.) must be sent to me by e-

mail or by phone.

9. I will do my best to get back to you within 48 hours of receiving an e-mail message from you.

10. Never, ever, ever, send me an attached file. I will not grade any assignment sent this way because
of concerns involving computer worms and viruses.

11. First run your comments through a spell check before posting them on any “Discussion Forum.”

12. All of your lecture and assignment information can be found by clicking the “Learning Content”
button.

13. Marks WILL be deducted for late submissions.

14. Plagiarism is theft!

15. Each writing assignment will be graded based on the following: 35% for content and 65% for
writing, structure, and grammar.

16. There is no final exam for this course. Your final essay will instead act as one.

17. Participation Online (though email correspondence) and Online Discussion Forums will be worth
15% of your final grade.