COMM
3823
Principles of Public Relations
Fall 2004 Syllabus (MWF)
Prairie View A&M University
College of Arts and Sciences
Department of Languages and Communications
(PDF version of syllabus)
Instructor: Dr. Corinne Weisgerber
Email: cweisgerber@houston.rr.com
Office: 218 Hilliard Hall
Office Phone: 936-857-2229 (email recommended)
Office Hours: MWF: 12:00–1:00, 3:00–5:00, & by
appointment
Course
Policies
Attendance
Prairie View A&M University requires regular class attendance.
Excessive absenteeism, whether EXCUSED OR UNEXCUSED, will result
in your course grade being lowered or in assignment of a grade
of “F”. Absences are accumulated beginning with the
first day of class.
There is no such thing as an "excused absence" except
in the cases of illness (as confirmed with a doctor's note), documented
death in the family, or pre-authorized university activity. Extended
illnesses will be dealt with on an individual basis but the instructor
MUST BE notified as soon as possible of such situations. Please
be aware that absences on an exam day CANNOT be made up.
Attendance will be taken at the beginning of each class. If you
are not present when attendance is taken, or if you are late,
you will be marked as absent. You are required to be present at
the beginning of class and stay until the end. It is your responsibility
to make sure that you sign the attendance sheet each class period
before leaving class. There are no bonus points given for attending
class attendance is expected--you can however lose points for
not attending. After three absences, your final grade will be
affected in the following way:
Academic Dishonesty/Cheating/Plagiarism
Prairie View A&M University is dedicated to a high standard
of academic integrity among its faculty and students. In becoming
part of the Prairie View A&M University academic community,
you are responsible for honesty and independent effort. Disciplinary
action will be taken against any student who alone or with others
engages in any act of academic fraud or deceit.
Some examples of academic dishonesty/cheating/plagiarism include,
but are not limited to: using another person’s ideas without
giving proper credit; making up supporting material by either
inventing a source or pretending to have consulted one without
actually having done so; making up research results without having
conducted the research, etc. Representing someone else’s
ideas as your own constitutes plagiarism. You therefore need to
give credit to any source of information used as part of an assignment
by either orally quoting your source, and/or identifying your
source in the body of your paper. Ignorance of plagiarism is no
excuse, so be sure to ask me if you suspect you may be bordering
on plagiarism for any assignment in this course.
Academic dishonesty will not be tolerated and will automatically
result in failure of this course (no second chances given!). It
only takes one act of academic dishonesty to fail the entire course.
Courtesy
Since everyone in this section will be encouraged to actively
participate in class discussions, it is essential that full courtesy
is awarded to your classmates. Intentional class disturbances–which
may distract another classmate or a class lecture or discussion—that
blatantly disrupt course study or a speaker’s concentration
(for example: distracting discourse, keeping your cell phone on
during class, accepting a cell phone call during class, text messaging
or listening to personal audio) will result in a penalty of absence
from the class being recorded for those involved in the distracting
behavior. As a courtesy to your teacher and to your class mates,
please make sure at the beginning of each class period that your
cell phones are turned off.
Assignments
All assignments must be typed or word-processed and turned in
on time. Late or handwritten work will not be accepted.
24-7 Rule and Grade Records
When graded materials are returned, you must wait 24 hours before
discussing your grade with me. This is to allow you to think calmly
about the grade and your performance and to formulate a rational
basis for discussion. You will also only have seven days in which
the grade is open for discussion. After these seven days have
passed, you can no longer discuss the grade.
You are responsible for keeping all graded work until the end
of the semester in case there is any question about grades or
whether or not an assignment has been turned in. If you question
a grade, or whether your grade has been recorded, you need to
be able to provide me with the original, graded assignment.
If you are not doing as well in the course as you had anticipated,
please come talk to me so that we can discuss how you might improve
your performance on the remaining assignments. Just telling me
that you need to make a certain grade doesn’t help—you
must do the work to attain the grade. When final grades are submitted
at the end of the semester they are indeed final and not up for
negotiation. Only errors in grade calculation or record keeping
can result in a grade change once grades are submitted.
Student Academic Appeals Process:
Authority and responsibility for assigning grades to students
rests with the faculty. However, in those instances where students
believe that miscommunication, errors, or unfairness of any kind
may have adversely affected the instructor’s assessment
of their academic performance, the student has a right to appeal
by the procedure listed in the Undergraduate Catalog (pp. 49-51)
and by doing so within thirty days of receiving the grade or experiencing
any other problematic academic event that prompted the complaint.
American Disabilities Act (ADA)
Students with disabilities who believe they may need an adjustment
in this class are encouraged to contact the Office of Disabilities
services at (903) 857-2693/2694 as soon as possible. Once you
receive a letter of adjustment from the office, please make an
appointment with me to discuss appropriate adjustments for this
class.
Grades
| Research
Report |
15% |
|
90-100=A |
|
| Press
Kit |
20% |
|
80-89=B |
|
| Progress
Report |
5%
|
|
70-79=C |
|
| PR
Campaign |
30% |
|
60-69=D |
|
| Final
Campaign Presentation |
5% |
|
Below
60=F |
|
| Midterm
Exam |
10% |
|
|
|
| Final
Exam |
15% |
|
|
|
Class Schedule