Syllabus – ENG4900 PTW Internship

Course Information

PTW Internship
ENG4900 E170, Spring 2023
Mondays, 6:00PM-7:40PM
N601B

Contact and Office Hours

Professor Ellis
Office Hours: Mondays 2:00pm-2:30pm, 7:40pm-8:10pm in Namm N520 or by appointment (in-person or Zoom).
Email: jellis@citytech.cuny.edu
Blog: https://dynamicsubspace.net

Course Description

The Professional and Technical Writing Internship provides students with mentorship and guidance toward becoming professionals in the field. At the heart of the internship course is a 120-hour workplace, writing-intensive internship (averaged at 8 hours of work per week for the 15-week semester) managed by a supervisor at the internship worksite who assigns tasks, provides feedback on work deliverables, and helps transition the student into the workplace environment. This mentorship and guidance are the important elements to help the students transition members of a workplace and a profession while applying what they have learned in their classes to workplace tasks and projects. The student’s supervisor will communicate with the PTW Program’s Internship Coordinator about the student’s progress and provide additional mentorship in meetings outside of the internship work schedule. The intern’s primary, graded deliverable is a Final Portfolio showcasing their work product paired with reflective writing.

Learning Objectives and Prerequisites

ENG4900 Course Learning Outcomes

Expectations of Students

As a rule of thumb, students should spend twice as much time per week as the credit hours of a class on assigned readings, homework, and projects. Since this is a four hour class, students should expect to spend eight hours per week on these things. Due to some projects being smaller and others larger, these six hours per week can be thought of as on average–sometimes you might need to spend less than six hours per week and other times you might need to spend more.
Each student should be meeting deadlines on assignments and following through on all team-based responsibilities volunteered or delegated. But, in the event that you can’t follow through on something, you should email Prof. Ellis and your teammates about the situation. While all situations don’t have to be explained (e.g., a personal emergency), each communication about not fulfilling a responsibility should include concrete and specific asks–may I have this much extra time, may I deliver this file to you by this date and time, etc. Politeness (e.g., please and thank you) and professionalism (being collegial, respectful, clear, etc.) can go a long way!
No one should suffer in silence in our class. Put another way: communication is key to your success in the class. Students should email Prof. Ellis or visit weekly office hours to discuss the class, assignments, and teamwork. Especially considering the collaborative work, it is imperative that each team keep Prof. Ellis in the loop about any challenges or problems within a team so that he can arrange an intervention. Additionally, maintain communication with your teammates about your availability, completing tasks, asking questions, etc.

Required Texts

McMurrey, D. (2017). Online Technical Writing: Free Online Textbook for Technical Writing. Retrieved from https://mcmassociates.io/textbook/
Purdue Online Writing Lab. APA Formatting and Style Guide. Retrieved from https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_formatting_and_style_guide/general_format.html
Purdue Online Writing Lab. Professional, Technical Writing. Retrieved from https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/subject_specific_writing/professional_technical_writing/professional_technical_writing_introduction.html
LinkedIn Learning via the New York Public Library. Retrieved from https://www.nypl.org/research/collections/articles-databases/linkedin-learning-lynda
Job Search Advice. Retrieved from https://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/job-search-advice/
Other readings are linked from online and City Tech Library Database sources on the schedule below. Readings should be completed before the day on which they are assigned for discussion.

Recommended Texts

Gould, & Losano, W. A. (2008). Opportunities in technical writing careers (Rev. ed.). McGraw-Hill. [Find a copy in the library here]

Required Resources

A notebook for writing notes about your readings and taking notes during each class. Never leave home without it!
Computer access, word processing software, and a means of saving your work securely.
A thumb drive/USB flash drive for some in-class assignments.
Access to a printer.
Access to your City Tech email, which is checked daily.
Access and accounts at https://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu and other designated web sites.
Cloud-based storage for saving a backup of all your work.
Google Drive/Gmail account for assignments and collaborative writing.
Other communication software or services that are freely available and decided on by each team (e.g., Microsoft Teams, Discord, Slack, text messaging, phone calls, etc.).

Grade Distribution

Participation, 40%

This is based in part on conversations between the internship supervisor and coordinator. Some of the important considerations for this part of the grade are: arriving to work on time and not missing work, positive engagement in the workplace and with coworkers, making contributions to the workplace, following directions, asking questions as appropriate, workplace performance evaluations, and any other professional metric agreed upon by the supervisor and instructor.

The other component of this grade is your participation in the internship class. Are you contributing to discussion and asking questions? Are you showing up on time and remaining engaged throughout the class?

Weekly Log, 20%

The internship student will keep a weekly log of their work experience. Each entry must be at least 250 words, but longer and more thought-out entries demonstrate higher graded work. The goal of the log is to help students become mindful practitioners. Entries might include how one feels in the workplace and about the work with attention paid to how these attitudes might change over time; how one interacts with different coworkers; what tasks are assigned; what workflows are used to complete different tasks or deliverables; challenges and how they were addressed; questions for your workplace supervisor and/or instructor; etc. While the weekly log should be written and saved elsewhere, each week’s entry should be sent to Prof. Ellis as an email with the log entry copy-and-pasted into the email’s body. Send it before class begins and use the subject line, “PTW Internship Weekly Log.”

Weekly Writing Assignment, 20%

At the beginning of each class, students will have 15 minutes to write. These weekly writing assignments typically focus on the readings assigned for that day’s class, but students may extend their writing to other topics related to PTW–articles that they’ve read on their own, questions that they would like to raise during class discussion, issues that have just come up that they were unable to incorporate in their Weekly Log Entry, etc.

Professional Portfolio, 20%

The internship student will curate a selection of at least 10 revised deliverables from their internship and classes. Each selection will be paired with a one-page (250 words double spaced or 500 words single spaced as needed) reflection that discusses the context of the document, its workflow, any collaboration involved, comments from supervisors (if given and appropriate), and challenges faced by the task and how they were overcome. The portfolio will be assembled as an online published Google Doc with a cover page, table of contents, professional bio page, resume page, job application letter, and curated deliverables with reflection essays. This project should be worked on throughout the semester. There will be periodic check-ins to see how each student is progressing in developing their professional portfolio.

Attendance and Lateness Policy

The expectation for successful and respectful college students is to arrive on time and attend all classes. Following City Tech’s policy, attendance is recorded and reported for each class meeting. Attendance and class participation are essential and excessive absences may affect the final grade. Students who simply stop attending will receive a grade of “WU” (unofficial withdrawal – attended at least once).

For the internship component, students are expected to arrive to work on time and on the days assigned. If there is a reason that the student cannot make it to the internship, it is their responsibility to call their supervisor as soon as it’s apparent that attendance isn’t possible. Penalties for missing work should be discussed with the internship supervisor. These might include making up hours on another day, working remotely, or something else that follows their workplace procedures.

Policy for Late Work

Due dates for weekly assignments and major projects are provided on the schedule below. Assignments submitted late will incur a 10-point grade reduction for each day they are late. No assignments are accepted after the last day of class. Students are encouraged to talk with Prof. Ellis should anything interfere with their ability to complete work in a timely manner.

Required Format for Papers

All formal writing and citations should follow APA guidelines in class (see the Purdue OWL APA section for more information: https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_formatting_and_style_guide/general_format.html). Remember in your research paper that quoting is far more persuasive than paraphrasing, and in either case, your use of others ideas or writing must be properly cited to give credit where credit is due and to maintain your own academic integrity.

In the workplace, follow your supervisor’s instructions regarding professional style in any writing that you do.

Accessibility Statement

City Tech is committed to supporting the educational goals of enrolled students with disabilities in the areas of enrollment, academic advisement, tutoring, assistive technologies and testing accommodations. If you have or think you may have a disability, you may be eligible for reasonable accommodations or academic adjustments as provided under applicable federal, state and city laws. You may also request services for temporary conditions or medical issues under certain circumstances. If you have questions about your eligibility or would like to seek accommodation services or academic adjustments, you can leave a voicemail at 718 260 5143, send an email to Accessibility@citytech.cuny.edu or visit the Center’s website at http://www.citytech.cuny.edu/accessibility/ for more information.

College Policy on Academic Integrity

Students who work with information, ideas, and texts owe their audience and sources accuracy and honesty in using, crediting, and citing sources. As a community of intellectual and professional workers, the College recognizes its responsibility for providing instruction in information literacy and academic integrity, offering models of good practice, and responding vigilantly and appropriately to infractions of academic integrity. Accordingly, academic dishonesty is prohibited in CUNY and at New York City College of Technology, and is punishable by penalties, including failing grades, suspension, and expulsion. The complete text of the College policy on Academic Integrity may be found in the Academic Catalog here.

Diversity and Inclusive Education Statement

This course welcomes students from all backgrounds, experiences and perspectives. In accordance with the City Tech and CUNY missions, this course intends to provide an atmosphere of inclusion, respect, and the mutual appreciation of differences so that together we can create an environment in which all students can flourish. It is the instructor’s goal to provide materials and activities that are welcoming and accommodating of diversity in all of its forms, including race, gender identity and presentation, ethnicity, national origin, religion, cultural identity, socioeconomic background, sexuality and sexual orientation, ability, neurodivergence, age, and etc. Your instructor is committed to equity and actively seeks ways to challenge institutional racism, sexism, ableism and other forms of prejudice. Your input is encouraged and appreciated. If a dynamic that you observe or experience in the course concerns you, you may respectfully inform your instructor without fear of how your concerns will affect your grade. Let your instructor know how to improve the effectiveness of the course for you personally, or for other students or student groups. We acknowledge that NYCCT is located on the traditional homelands of the Canarsie and Lenape peoples.

Tentative Schedule

Week 1, Monday, Jan. 30

Discuss syllabus, assignments, and schedule.

Set expectations for students and professor.

Make introductions.

Discuss resumes, job application letters, and job listings.

Week 2, Monday, Feb. 6

This week’s focus:

This week’s readings (to be completed before coming to class):

Ophir, E., Nass, C., Wagner, A. D., & Posner, M. I. (2009). Cognitive Control in Media Multitaskers. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 106(37), 15583–15587. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40484765 [Download from https://www-jstor-org.citytech.ezproxy.cuny.edu/stable/40484765]

Ellin, A. & Feiring, A. (2022, February 3). Some not-too-subtle advice on etiquette for job hunting. The New York Times. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/2002/02/03/402249.html?pageNumber=288

Clarke, B. (2020, March 13). How to answer common difficult interview questions. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/13/smarter-living/how-to-answer-common-difficult-interview-questions.html

NB: No class on Monday, Feb. 13 or Monday, Feb. 20, but there will be class on Tuesday, Feb. 21, which follows a Monday schedule.