Course Syllabus
English Department/Liberal Arts Division
Course Title – ENG 112 – Writing/Research in the Disciplines
Course Number – ENG 112
Spring 2026 - 0002; 0014, Jan 7 – May 8
How and When our Course Meets
Course Format: How is this course structured?
Wake Tech courses are offered in several different formats. This course is:
Asynchronous Online: Fully online course without scheduled meetings; College curriculum or
continuing education course in which 100% of the instruction is delivered online.
Course Entry Quiz: What is it and why is it important?
You are taking an online or hybrid course with us this semester. To ensure you remain enrolled in this
course, Wake Tech requires that you complete this assignment by 11:59 PM EST on the date specified
in the course. Please go directly to Blackboard, open this course, and complete the Course Entry Quiz
(CEQ). You will also find the due date in the course schedule and in the announcements section of
each of your courses in Blackboard. Please complete this prior to completing any other tasks in the
course.
Meeting Days / Times / Location
This course is solely online with no required meeting times.
Schedule Adjustment
Each semester, you have a window of opportunity to make changes to your course schedule.
The timing of when you withdraw impacts how much, if any, of your tuition may be refunded
and may also impact your financial aid.
To view the withdrawal deadlines for 8-week, 12-week, and 16-week classes, please visit Wake
Tech’s Calendar (new window). [alternate link: https://www.waketech.edu/calendar/month]
To view the comprehensive withdrawal policy, visit Withdrawal Policy (opens in new window)
[alternate link: https://www.waketech.edu/catalog/academic-information]
To contact financial aid, visit Financial Aid (opens in new window) [alternate link:
https://www.waketech.edu/financial-aid]
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Meet Your Instructor
Instructor(s) Name and Title: Prof. E. Sweeney
Email: etsweeney@waketech.edu
Phone: 919-866-5263
Office Hours: SB 389 T/Th: 9:20-12:00
Online (via teams) W 9:00 am – 1:00 pm
Office Location: SB 389
Preferred Method of Contact: email
Why This Class is Relevant to You
ENG 112 promotes both academic writing and academic research. Both for this course and upcoming
ones, the goals of academic research will be essential: all of our college level writing needs to be
supported by research, and we’ll work through finding reliable, peer-reviewed sources in the Wake
Tech Library databases. Good academic research lives in the databases.
To ensure students have a strong foundation in research skills, building those sources into the writing,
and citing all borrowed materials carefully, we’ll work through the research process in conjunction
with the writing process; my goal is help students be successful in ENG 112, but also build the skills
that foster success in upcoming courses.
A Few Words of Welcome
I'm really glad you are all here for the second part of the writing series here at Wake Tech. Our focus
this semester will be on writing in a variety of voices for a variety of different goals, with focusing on
our individual disciplines and discourse communities and research as our primary vehicles. This sort of
writing is very different from ENG.111, and I find that this is also a much more interesting sort of focus
because we'll home in more on developing your writing voice to building stronger academic essays.
We are committed to your success and encourage you to bring your full self and experiences to the
classroom and campus. We strive to ensure a safer learning environment that honors your lived
experiences. All Wake Tech faculty, staff, and students should always show respect toward others as
classes will represent a diverse population of individual beliefs, backgrounds, and experiences. In this
course, we will work to promote an environment where everyone feels safe and welcome. If you have
concerns at any point, please contact me and I will ensure that your voice is heard.
You may have heard this before, but the syllabus serves as a contract between two parties: me, your
instructor, and you, the student. The partnership here is built on mutual accountability. As you uphold
the policies and procedures detailed in this document, I will commit to ensuring a positive learning
experience for you. Think of the syllabus as a road map to course completion containing all the
information you need to be successful in this course. Let’s get started!
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What This Course is About
Course Description:
This course, the second in a series of two, introduces research techniques,
documentation styles, and writing strategies. Emphasis is placed on analyzing
information and ideas and incorporating research findings into documented writing and
research projects. Upon completion, students should be able to evaluate and synthesize
information from primary and secondary sources using documentation appropriate to
various disciplines. This course is computer-assisted; for assistance, contact Wake Tech
Help Desk (opens in new window) at <https://my.waketech.edu/helpdesk.php>.
Credits: 3
Requisites: Are there requirements associated with this course?
Prerequisite:
Take ENG-111 - Must be completed prior to taking this course.
Take ENG-111; Minimum grade C; - Must be completed prior to taking this course.
Students who do not meet course prerequisites will not be allowed to remain in the class. Students should
note that receiving a grade of F in a prerequisite course does not fulfill the prerequisite.
What You’ll Learn: Student Learning Outcomes
Wake Tech is committed to helping you develop life skills which are highly sought after by employers
and four-year universities, including critical thinking/ problem solving, oral and written communication,
and/ or quantitative literacy.
Upon completion of this course, you will be able to:
1. Locate and critically evaluate a variety of sources including field-based and electronic sources from one
or more discourse communities.
2. Analyze texts from different genres and discourse communities.
3. Use rhetorical skills to match research to needs of the writing situation.
4. Synthesize and incorporate research findings into writing projects grounded in a particular discipline.
5. Apply the basics of academic writing: clear expression, coherent ideas, discipline-appropriate thesis
development, logical organization, and accuracy in the conventions of standard written English.
6. Compose documented research projects in APA and MLA.
7. Reflect on their writing and research process.
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What You’ll Need: Textbook & Materials
Textbook
Title: Rules for Writers
Author: Diana Hacker
Publisher: Macmillan Learning
Edition: 11th
ISBN: 9781319593490
All other readings are OER (Open Educational Resources) in addition to Rules for Writers.
Combined with assigned outside readings, students will also have samples of major projects in
the course to consider as we move forward.
Eagle Advantage
Eagle Advantage is Wake Tech's textbook savings program for students in degree programs, excluding
Career & College Promise (CCP) and Cooperative Innovative High School (Early College) students.
The program ensures all required printed and digital textbooks are bundled and ready for pickup or
delivery on or before the first day of class – saving you time and ensuring you're ready to learn on Day
One.
If you are opted-in to Eagle Advantage, visit the ‘BibliU - Course Materials’ link in Blackboard for
more information about the textbook details for your course. You can also find out more information
by visiting the First Day Complete FAQs site (opens in new window). [alternate link:
https://support.bibliu.com/hc/en-us/sections/360004011038--FAQs-and-Troubleshooting]
If you opted-out of Eagle Advantage, you are responsible for purchasing any of the required
texts/materials for this course. For more information about Eagle Advantage, contact our Bookstore
(opens in new window) [alternate link: https://www.waketech.edu/student-services/bookstore]
Supplies and Software
We want you to be successful in this course! It is important that you have access to a computer with
reliable Internet access to complete assignments. Also, please check your Wake Tech email and
Blackboard frequently for any important updates.
Need Computer Access or Wi-Fi?
You’ll need access to a computer for this course. If you don’t have your own computer, there are
several options: Visit one of the Wake Tech libraries or open computer labs. Additionally, consider
that many public libraries also offer free computer access. Want to check out a laptop for a few
weeks? Wake Tech can help! Contact the Wake Tech Libraries about the Loaner Device options
(opens in new window).
[alternate link: https://www.waketech.edu/student-services/libraries]
How Your Work will be Evaluated: Grading Information
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Assignments, Exams, and Activities
Evaluation Type
Weight
Project 1 (Out-of-class Essay)
15%
Project 2 (Out-of-class Essay)
20%
Project 3 (Out-of-class Essay)
25%
Assignments Class and homework, discussion boards, unit
tests/quizzes, etc.
Final Presentation
25%
15%
Course Requirements
1. Major Writing Projects: Students will write a minimum of 3600 words out of class (or online) to
include three major writing projects. For each of the major projects, students will need to
upload pdfs of their Wake Tech Library database sources before the projects will be
graded.
The goal for each project is listed below:

Project 1: Students will review and build upon information literacy developed in ENG 111 to
locate and evaluate disciplinary research in their field. This initial assignment will help students
see how their field shares knowledge with the discourse community and become participants in
this knowledge exchange.

Project 2: Demonstrating rhetorical sensitivity, students will explain disciplinary writing as a
social activity that is dependent on context, audience, genre, and other rhetorical elements.
Students will analyze and articulate disciplinary-specific conventions.

Project 3: Based on disciplinary research, students will compose a text that contributes
knowledge to their field.
At least one of the three projects must utilize APA 7th edition documentation style.
For our class, the project that uses APA 7 for documentation and formatting will be
Project 1. Projects 2 and 3, as well as all short stakes writing and the final presentation
will employee MLA 9.
2. Writing Projects and Exercises: These may include the following types of work: evaluation of
sources for an assigned essay, an interview for an assigned essay, exercises on topic selection, response
papers, outlines, journals, small writing assignments, brainstorming activities, discussion boards, peer
review, citation exercises, etc.
3.
Final Presentation: students will create a short presentation that explains what they learned about
their discourse community and upload a 10-slide powerpoint presentation and accompanying
4-5 min video. Directions will be available in the last 2 weeks of class.
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Grading Scale
This course uses a 10-point grading scale.
 A: 90% and up
 B: 80% - 89%
 C: 70% - 79%
 D: 60% - 69%
 F: < 60%
Grades and Feedback
Students often have questions regarding evaluation of work. Instructors hold regular office hours,
either on campus or online, to assist students with questions about the course or evaluation
of submitted work. Students should always work first with course instructors to find answers to
questions or solve issues with evaluation prior to contacting the Department Head or Associate
Department Head (if applicable). After every effort to resolve issues in this manner, students may
contact the Dean of the Division of Liberal Arts.
All daily work items—quizzes, DBs, journals, peer editing—will most often be completed within 2-3
business days. All major projects will be graded within 14 days of submission.
Course Schedule and Assignment Guidelines
I have set our course schedule as follows: All weekly folders will open on Saturday mornings at
Midnight. We will have Daily work Items due on Monday and Thursdays. Daily Work Items count both
as attendance and average into the Daily Work Items percentage for your overall grade, which is 25%
of your semester grade.
Daily work items—DBs, journals, peer review, quizzes—will be due by end of day Mondays and
Thursdays (11:59 pm).
Major assignments—essays, annotated bib, and final—will be due by NOON on their due dates
in the event you need upload assistance from IT. If you have trouble uploading a major
assignment, and to avoid losing valuable points to the late policy, please call the help desk immediately
at 919-866-7000. Then you can email me that the help desk has been contacted. I can contact that
office for confirmation if needed.
Late Work Policy for This Course
No late daily work items will be accepted for grading. The full course schedule is attached to
this syllabus so that students can plan ahead. Many of the readings are linked in the syllabus as well, so
as to help students with budgeting time.
The “no late daily work” policy is not meant to be punitive, but to ensure that I can return your work
quickly, particularly as many of our short writings are building blocks for the major assignments; these
time sensitive writings allow me to help in the early to mid level stages of the writing process.
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
Major assignments, not including the final presentation, will be accepted up
to 48 hours late with a 10-point penalty per day. That late window begins
immediately following the due date and time.

No late submissions for the final presentation will be accepted as we will be
at the end of the semester and out of time.

The submission window will lock 48 hours after the due date and time for the 3 major
projects (at noon 48 hours after the submission is due).
Once a student misses 2 consecutive weeks, is already not passing the class, and has not contacted me, I will
submit the course withdrawal in line with the college’s attendance policy
Rounding Policy
Final course grades (weighted total) will be determined by the following method:

When the decimal grade point is greater than or equal to “0.5”, the grade is to be rounded up
to the nearest whole number. For example, an “89.56” would be rounded to a “90”.

When the decimal grade point is less than “0.5”, the grade is to be rounded down to
the nearest whole number. For example, a “69.49” would be rounded to a “69”.
NB: This syllabus has no provisions for rewrites or extra credit as the course is already writing
intensive and moving quickly. Use the time to build the major projects and daily work items rather
than asking at the end to cram new work in at the end. Use the notes I’ll post in announcements to
help with revising the major projects, and make sure to use the services of the English Tutoring and
Learning Center to help.
English Department Policy Regarding Student Work





The English Department requires that all final drafts of out-of-class essays be typed (computergenerated). A rough draft of all out-of-class essays must also be turned in (or for online classes,
submitted in a file format that is compatible with Microsoft Word).
Instructors may also require that out-of-class essays be submitted as electronic files. Essays may be
checked electronically for plagiarism.
Instructors may require that students submit copies of all sources used in researched essays.
All papers will be retained by the instructor for one semester.
All grades are based on the ten-point scale, according to department policy.
Academic Integrity Statement
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Each student at Wake Technical Community College has the responsibility of ensuring the integrity of
their own work. Wake Tech’s academic integrity policy (opens in new window)
URL: https://www.waketech.edu/catalog/student-code-conduct-rights-and-responsibilities specifically
prohibits plagiarism, self-plagiarism, and cheating of any kind. In other words, any work you submit in
this class must be your own. Examples include, but are not limited to, thesis statements, outlines,
bibliographies, essay drafts, blog or discussion board posts, wiki contributions, reflective
writings, presentations, and more. In addition, information from outside sources included in your work
must be properly documented using the appropriate editorial style.
Using a product or technology (ChatGPT, Dall-E, Grammarly, OpenAI, etc.) in the course to create or
aggregate synthetic content for the course, such as any course writing, brainstorming, generating a
draft, a works cited source bank, answering discussion groups, collaboration, group work, or other
attendance activities, is considered academic misconduct similar to plagiarism or violations of the
student code of conduct. Suspected cases of AI-generated submissions will be reported to
the Student Code of Conduct office as a violation of the college’s Academic Integrity
Policy.
Your instructor will inform you of the requirements for individual assignments. To avoid violating this
policy, please seek guidance from your instructor if you have questions. Please also refrain from
seeking help from sources of collaboration that have not been sanctioned by your instructor.
Violation(s) of this policy range from a loss of points on the assignment to a zero on the assignment to
an F in the course as well as sanctions from the institution that may be recorded on your permanent
college record.
AI Usage Policy for Our Specific Class:
Just don’t. You are given the opportunities in our class to learn how to do a number of academic skills
you will need in this and subsequent courses. That learning requires practice.
To that end, any and all AI submissions, including Grammarly, will be treated as the
plagiarism it is. If something was not yours when you entered the writing process, and this means
everything from ideas to words, then you need to cite where you got that material from. If you allow a
computer program to completely rearrange your writing, as Grammarly does, this too is plagiarism
because the writing is no longer yours.
All writing in our course must adhere to the teachings of the course: this means that all of the course
materials need to be evidenced in your submissions. If, for instance, you submit Project 2 with APA
citations and preview statements rather than switching to MLA with the rest of the class and writing a
thesis statement to guide your reader, your essay does not fall in line with the course materials. The
writing will be graded as such. But more, the course is designed to ensure success in ENG 112 and
help build skills you’ll need in upcoming courses. Don’t outsource that learning to an AI or LLM.
More, to avoid the AI mess, all sources for our research need to come from the Wake
Tech library databases, and each student will need to upload each source for the major projects to
an upload link before the major projects will be graded. If the sources uploaded do not align with the
project or cannot be located in the WT library databases, of if the borrowed sections as shown in the
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writing are not findable in the sources, the assignment will be graded at a 0 for failure to achieve
submission goals through verifiable research.
In our class, the first instance of plagiarism will result in a 0 on the assignment; the second instance will
result in an automatic failure in the course. All plagiarism will be reported to the Student Code of
Conduct office. All our course materials are here to help you learn course material, and using AI
negates that potential learning and will be treated as the academic integrity violation that it is.
Instructors reserve the right to require a meeting with a student before determining the final grade for
an assignment when inappropriate AI use is suspected. This required meeting may either be in person
or on Teams (cameras and recording on). If students have any questions about AI use, they should ask
their instructor.
How You’ll Proceed Through the Course: Course Calendar
At the end of this document, you’ll find the entire course calendar, all our due dates, links to readings,
reminders about where you should be in the writing process for each major project.
You can print off that part of syllabus to have readily for your own scheduling. Or you can build the
due dates into your own calendar, separate from BlackBoard. Find the method that works best for you
to stay on top of the course schedule.
Also: if you are used to working through the calendar or activity stream in BlackBoard, that pattern
won’t work in our class. Each weekly folder is set to progressive ordering, meaning you need to open
each item in the weekly folder to get to the next. You cannot just open a discussion board or
quiz in the course calendar without working though the course material that is in the
weekly folder leading to that item.
Important Dates
Semester Begins / Ends: Begins January 7th; Ends May 8th
Last Day to Add a 16-Week Class: January 9th
10% Point of Semester (Last Day to Drop with 75% Refund): January 16th
Last Day to Withdraw without Penalty (Grade of W): March 23rd
Final Exam Period: May 4th – May 8th
Breaks and Days Off:
Martin Luther King Day: Monday, January 19th
Faculty and Curriculum Students Break: March 16th – March 20th; April 3rd
How I Will Help You Succeed: Instructor Policies & Procedures
How to Succeed in This Class
Students who come to each class prepared to learn, participate in activities, and complete assignments,
and have good study habits will succeed in this course. Should you have any concerns about your
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success in this course, please contact me as soon as possible.
Communication Expectations
Please make sure to email me from your Wake Tech student account.
Due to security concerns, any emails from a personal account may not be delivered successfully.
If you email with a question relative to class, please make sure your course and section are in the
subject line, use an opener (Hi, Prof. Sweeney,), fully developed explanation of the issue, and a
signature (your full name).
This semester, I am teaching several sections of ENG 112, so for instance, your subject line might read:
ENG 112. 0001, and then I can open the BlackBoard for our 0001 section and easily find you to help
with whatever issue you are having.
If you send an email to me asking a question or relative to an assignment, make sure you look for the
reply within 24 hours during the week, on Monday following the weekend. If I do not get back to you
within 24 business hours, please resend.
That being said, given that we are wholly online this semester, feel free to shoot me a hi!, any
questions you have, links to your favorite book, or pics of your dog. (and I’ll send a pic of one of my
pack back!)
Just because we are wholly online does not mean you are free to have open communication with me
separate from course issues.
Attendance
Attendance is key for your courses here at Wake Tech! We expect you to be in attendance for at
least 90 percent of all scheduled class meetings. If you miss more than 10% of scheduled
classes/activities, you may be withdrawn from the course. Additionally, if you are not present for 2
consecutive weeks of class, you may be withdrawn by the instructor.
I have set our course schedule as follows: All weekly folders will open on Saturday
mornings at Midnight. We will have Daily work Items due on Monday and Thursdays.
Daily Work Items count both as attendance and average into the Daily Work Items
percentage for your overall grade, which is 25% of your semester grade.
Instructor’s Course-Specific Information
Discussion Boards:
Most weeks, students will be asked to do a variety of daily work items for attendance and Daily Work
grade. For each week, we'll have 2 of these daily work items to complete, and often, 1 or both will be a
discussion board (DB). The directions here are relative specifically to that BlackBoard function. These
directions ONLY apply to DBs.
Discussion Boards in the schedule: We will work in a couple different BB functions, but when we
are in a DB, you need to post by 11:59 pm on the due date, with a response to at least one classmate's
DB by the 11:59 pm deadline.
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Your responses on our discussion boards should be full bodied responses with textual
support to earn the necessary attendance and short writing credit. Be concrete and use
textual support, actual quotes from the readings, to show where your ideas have sprung from, and you
should have ideas to support. You need to use text support, not allusions to the text, not one or two
sentences. Assume the readers, your classmates and professor, do not know what you are thinking in
line with the prompt. But also assume that we really want to know what you think about the readings:
show us your ideas! Use textual support to back your ideas.
Because we are wholly online, we do not have the same input and reactions to one another we would
in the seated classroom. So we’ll respond to one another ONLY ON DBs in writing. Share your ideas
on your classmates’ works as we go. Responses to your classmates should be like that natural
conversation that happens in class when we talk to one another, with the exception being that we are
talking in forums. The responses to classmates should be based on a point in their text and develop a
point of conversation. "Good post!" is not a response. Your responses should be approx 5 sentences
in length, note something specific in the original post you are commenting on, and add to the
conversation both quantity and quality.
Weekly updates:
Each Friday, I will post an announcement to our homepage and email these
announcements to all students. These announcements will include summaries of the week’s work,
maybe some collective points concerning grading (rather than me just saying the same thing over and
over on drafts and assignments), and reminders of the schedule for the upcoming week.
Please read these announcements. I start each one as a draft early to cover a lot of territory, so I’d like
you to read the announcements because I wrote them for you. And then: Because our course schedule
is written before we even start class, these announcements are particularly important in case I need to
redirect students or add information if a lesson in a weekly folder. I’ll also use the announcements
to post notes on drafts as I’ll read the whole class of submissions as quickly as possible.
The same is true of the return of final copies: basically, important information I want
students to have in the moment will happen in the announcements. Open, take notes,
apply.
Assessment
Each of our submissions, daily work items and major projects, have requirements to meet. Please work
to meet minimum requirements, without the use of AI, to help foster bother your writing skills and
success in the course.
More, if a submission does not meet minimum requirements, that item fails to achieve
the learning outcomes for that item. All course work that does not adhere to the course
materials and the basics of minimum requirements will not earn a passing grade. In very
simple terms, if you are asked to write a 1200 word essay with 4 WT library sources, but you write
1050 words with 2 library sources, the essay fails to achieve minimums for the assignment. Minimum
requirements are set to help students learn to develop ideas, support claims, and begin to work
appropriately within academic formats and for an academic audience.
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BUT an essay that runs short of minimums is why we do writing as a process: start drafts early, take
full advantage of the English Tutoring and Learning Centers, faculty office hours, ACES, and peer editing
for assistance to get to minimum requirements.
Again, all major projects must use research from the WT library databases, must upload those sources
to the upload link that will be in the weekly folders just before the project links, and must align with
the sources in the projects. And again, all submission—both daily work and major projects—must be in
line with the course teachings. Take notes as we go so you can apply the class materials to the
assignments.
BlackBoard understands Word files; therefore, all major assignments need to be
uploaded to BlackBoard in .doc or .docx format as attachments, not sharefiles. While PDFs
can be uploaded, I cannot make marginal notations; therefore, Word compatible format is preferred.
NO sharefiles, no google docs, no Pages—BlackBoard does not understand these types of
files. Make sure when you upload a file to BlackBoard that you both see the success banner and can
see a preview of your submission in the preview pane. (If you see a link, I won’t be able to open the
file).
Online Learning
Last, the online environment: while some of you are new to online learning, to academic research, and
to the rigors of academic research in an academic essay, and others, well, you’re probably pretty well
versed in one or all of these areas: Wherever you land on this spectrum, our class materials are here
to help you succeed in the course.
ENG 112 is a pretty big course covering a big terrain. Please take your time working through each
weekly folder. Take notes on the course materials and apply these notes to your research and writings.
I always assume that we each have pretty full lives outside of school; I try not to build in anything
extraneous. The items in each weekly folder and in the major projects folders are designed to help
with thinking about your writing differently than your high school and probably your ENG 111
experiences. This course should deepen your understanding of how academic audiences need you
shape your writing.
The online learning environment does require individual motivation to log in, work independently, and
apply the course materials to research and writing. And the online learning environment requires
attention to the details of the course in a way that might be overwhelming.
One key to success is making sure to devote enough time each week to class work. ENG 112 is a 3credit course, meaning students should expect to spend 3 hours a week working through the weekly
folders and doing the readings and homework. This time is also separate from the time needed to build
the major projects. Keeping the course materials and schedule on track will help with understanding
what each project is asking for.
Please do not wait until you are frustrated with the course materials to reach out. My office hours are for
helping students; you are welcome to come in to the physical office hours on South Campus on T/Th for help. I
can send a teams link as needed for all the listed office hours (even the ones I’m on Campus and waiting for
someone to show up!). In the event my office hours are outside your availability, we can also work to find a time
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that mutually works and meet via teams. I’m here to help with the course content or to direct students to
offices at Wake Tech that can help with other issues. But I won’t know you need me until you tell me: please
feel free to reach out to me as needed.
How the Division Will Help You Succeed: Division Policies & Procedures
Process for Expressing Concerns about the Course
1. Please discuss concerns with instructor first.
2. If your concerns are not resolved, you may contact the Department Head/Program Director next.
3. If the issue has still not been resolved, you may contact the Division Dean. Please note the Division Dean’s
decision is final.
Contact Information
Department Head
Lisa Martin
919-335-1253
lmmartin4@waketech.edu
Associate Department Head, South Campus
Kelli Keltz
919-866-5058
kekeltz@waketech.edu
Associate Department Head, North Campus
Amanda Sinodis
919-866-5948
ajsinodis@waketech.edu
Associate Department Head, RTP Campus
Brad Ward
919-866-5466
rbward1@waketech.edu
Dean, Division of Liberal Arts
Dr. Michelle Jackson
919-866-5032
majackson9@waketech.edu
Provost, Arts & Sciences and Scott Northern Wake Campus
Dr. Gabby McCutchen
919-866-7236
gbmccutchen@waketech.edu
How the College Will Help You Succeed: Wake Tech Services, Policies and Procedures
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Wake Tech is committed to supporting you by providing the resources needed to succeed. This is a
brief overview of support available at the College. You can always contact me to help you make the
right connection with a college resource. We are here to help!
Student Support
As a Wake Tech student, you have free access to non-academic and academic resources to help you
with a range of challenges. These resources include academic services, such as advising, tutoring and
academic coaching to help you understand your career and academic pathway, Disability Support
Services, Tutoring and Learning Centers, Career Services, and Library Services. The college also offers
assistance with basic life needs through the Care Center. These services include mental health
resources, emergency financial assistance, safe housing, transportation, and technology. If you find
yourself in need, you can reach out to any faculty member or visit this website Student Support (opens
in new window) to learn more about the help that we can provide. [alternate link:
https://www.waketech.edu/studentsupport]
Student Activities
Wake Tech is continually developing new ways for you to get involved with the College! For
information about the Student Centers, Student Government Association, Clubs and Organizations,
Athletics, and more, please visit the College Catalog (opens in new window). [alternate link:
https://www.waketech.edu/catalog/student-services-and-activities]
Technical Support
Wake Tech has several technology platforms to help you succeed. You may find that technical
questions come up regarding your use of technology and Wake Tech is here to help. For technical
support, including Blackboard, WTCC email, MS Teams, and Self Service visit the IT Helpdesk page
(opens in new window). [alternate link: https://www.waketech.edu/help-center/its/topics]
Student Code of Conduct, Rights, and Responsibilities
You may have questions about your rights and responsibilities as a student. Wake Tech has a range of
policies to address such concerns. For information about the Academic Integrity Policy, Complaints,
Title IX Policy, Student Appeals, and more, please visit the College Catalog (opens in new window).
[alternate link: https://www.waketech.edu/catalog/student-code-conduct-rights-and-responsibilities]
Academic Policies
There are several Wake Tech policies related to academics that you might need to reference in order
to succeed in your classes. If you have questions about the Attendance Policy, Student Email Policy,
Absences for Religious Observances, Withdrawal Policies, Grades, and more, please visit the College
Catalog (opens in new window). [alternate link: https://www.waketech.edu/catalog/academicinformation]
Student Information Privacy
Wake Tech is committed to protecting your privacy. The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act
(FERPA) is a federal law enacted in 1974 that protects the privacy of student education records. To
find out more about College policies and procedures that support your privacy, please visit the College
Catalog (opens in new window). [alternate link: https://www.waketech.edu/catalog/registration-andstudent-records]
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Campus Policies
There are several Wake Tech policies related to campus procedures that you might need to reference
to feel comfortable on campus. For information about College Police and Safety, the Acceptable Use of
College Resources Policy, (Student Dress, Pets, Visitors and Children on Campus, and more, please
visit the College Catalog (opens in new window). [alternate link:
https://www.waketech.edu/catalog/campus-policies-and-procedures]
Registration & Student Records
For information about the Class Schedules, Registration Dates, Transcript Requests, Transfer Credits,
Program of Study Changes, and more, please visit the College Catalog (opens in new window).
[alternate link: https://www.waketech.edu/catalog/registration-and-student-records]
Financial Aid
Wake Tech is here to answer your financial aid questions. For information about Enrollment
Requirements, Grants, Loans, Scholarships, and more, please visit the College Catalog (opens in new
window). [alternate link: https://www.waketech.edu/catalog/financial-aid]
Inclement Weather/Wake Tech WARN
North Carolina can have some unpredictable weather. For up-to-date information about Emergency
Closings, please sign up for the College alert system, Wake Tech WARN (opens in new window).
[alternate link: https://www.waketech.edu/about-wake-tech/administrative-offices/campuspolice/waketech-warn] For more information about the inclement weather policy, please visit the
College Catalog (opens in new window). [alternate link: https://www.waketech.edu/catalog/campuspolicies-and-procedures]
Course Schedule
This schedule is tentative and subject to change based upon the needs of the class. Schedule updates
will be posted to Blackboard in our weekly announcements.
I’ve set our schedule as if we meet twice weekly to keep the course moving and allow you a semblance of a
“normal” course schedule. You are each welcome to work ahead as needed, just not behind. But keep in
mind that all submissions need to be in line with the course materials.
Week 1: 1/7 – 1/16
Students should take a day or two to get familiar with our course in BlackBoard, complete the Course
Entry Quiz, and watch all intro videos. Then:
1. Complete CEQ: Students will be removed from the course if the CEQ is not completed by 1/16. (1/7)
2. Once you complete the CEQ, you will be able to access the Week 1 folder. The first weekly folder will be
locked until the CEQ is complete; the rest of the weekly folders will open on Saturdays at midnight as per our
course schedule.
3. Sign Policy Agreement (1/8)
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4. Introductory DB: introduce yourself to your classmates (see DB prompt for specifics) and respond to at least
one classmate (see syllabus section on Discussion Boards for expectations on this part of our coursework).
(1/8)
5. Open, read, and take notes on link in weekly folder on writing a college level essay (including video in link)
and the writing process.
6. Read Lumen’s “Academic Conventions,” complete quiz in weekly folder (1/12)
7. Journal on college major (1/15)
___
Week 2: 1/16 – 1/23
No Class on 1/19 (college closed); Monday due date moved to Tuesday
1. Project One opens
2. Read “Navigating Genres,” by Kerry Dirk
“Understanding Discourse Communities,” by Dan Melzer
3. DB: Beginning discussion of discourse communities (1/20)
4. Read in RW (Rules for Writers) pp. 65-66, “Summarize to Deepen Your Understanding”; read PowerPoint in
weekly folder on Summary writing.
5. DB: summarize either the Dirk or Melzer essay; remember to follow the material in the weekly folder and in
RW on Summary writing (1/22)
6. Summary quiz (1/22)
___
Week 3: 1/23 – 1/30
1. Journal: Topic Proposal Discourse community and annotated bibliography (1/26)
2. Read:
“No Good Writers” and “Audience, Purpose, and Context”
3. Journal on readings (1/29)
4. Read in RW: “Writing Papers in APA Style” (starts p. 483)
5. APA Quiz (1/29)
___
Week 4: 1/30 – 2/6
1. By the start of this week, you should have more than half your sources for Project 1, with your annotations
for each drafted. By the end of this week, you should either take your drafts of Project 1 to ENG TLC on
campus or use the Virtual ENG TLC services.
Read “Gendered Discourse at Work”
2. Read Material in weekly folder on research
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3. DB on article (2/2)
4. DB on research for your Bib (2/5)
5. Quiz on Research materials from weekly folder (2/5)
___
Week 5: 2/6 – 2/13
1. By the start of this week, you should have a full draft of your Project 1 complete. I very strongly advise each
of you using the ENG Tutoring and Learning Centers this week while the class is peer editing.
2. Peer edit week: Please follow the directions carefully
3. Upload your draft of the annotated bib to the large class DB for this project by end of day on Monday (2/9)
4. Open, download, read, and annotate at least 1 classmate’s bibliography, answering the questions in DB.
Then upload and return by end of day on Thursday (2/12)
___
Week 6: 2/13 – 2/20
1. Monday 2/16: you still have time to use the Tutoring and Learning Centers for help on Project
2. Journal starting Project Two (2/16)
3. Materials on Discourse Communities
4. Materials on Project Two Rhetorical Analysis
5. Discourse Analysis Quiz (2/19)
6. Project One: Annotated Bib due by Noon on 2/16: reminder to upload all sources to
the link in the weekly folder that is directly before the Project 1 upload link. I also have
a short handout reminding students how to download sources as a PDF in the Library
folder and again in the upload link.
___
Week 7: 2/20 – 2/27
1. MLA citations: Read in RW, “Writing Papers in MLA Style” (starts p. 399)
2. MLA quiz (2/23); thesis and source integration quiz (2/23)
3. Read: sample essay in Project 2 folder and apply ideas of focusing writing on audience as you draft
Project 2
4. Read materials in weekly folder on thesis and topic sentences; apply to draft of Project 2: by end of week 7,
you should have your full outline of Project 2 complete, a thesis that aligns with the topic sentences, enough
topic sentences to push well past the 5 paragraph essay model, and all your sources.
5. Read in RW, “Punctuation” (starts p. 291)
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6. Punctuation Quiz (2/26)
___
Week 8: 2/27 – 3/6
1. Read: “Murder! (Rhetorically Speaking),” by Janet Boyd and read: Lumen’s “Guide to Using Sources in Your
Paper”; Read in RW p. 2: Writing paragraphs (starts p. 20)
2. DB on reading (3/2)
4. Read: “Annoying Ways People Use Sources”
5. Quiz on reading (3/5)
7. By the end of week 8, you should have your body paragraphs drafted, and you be incorporating your sources
as shown in the readings from this week.
___
Week 9: 3/6 – 3/13
1. By the start of week 9, you should have a full and complete draft, working on your revisions. Make sure to
read Revision materials in weekly folder and apply to your drafts!
2. Read in RW: “Grammar” (starts p. 195)
3. Quiz: Sentence basics (3/9)
4. DB: find at least one source for your 2nd project; cite that source in both MLA and APA (making sure to
correct all citation builder errors). What do you see as the differences in citations methodologies? (3/12)
5. By the end of week 9/ start of week 10, you should be making time to use the services of the Tutoring and
Learning Centers.
___
Spring Break: 3/16-3/20
Week 10: 3/20 – 3/27
1. Peer edit week: Please follow the directions carefully
2. Upload your draft of the Project 2 to the large class DB for this project by end of day on Monday (3/23)
3. Open, download, read, and annotate at least 1 classmate’s essay, answering the questions in DB. Then
upload and return by end of day on Thursday (3/26)
___
Week 11: 3/27 – 4/3
1. If you have time on the morning of 3/30, I advise using the services of the Tutoring and Learning Centers.
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1. Project Two: Due by Noon on 3/30; reminder to upload all sources to the link in the weekly folder that
is directly before the Project 2 upload link.
2. Project 3 opens
3. Journal: proposal starting Project 3 (4/1)
___
Week 12: 4/3 – 4/10
1. By the start of week 12, you should have the full outline to Project 3 underway and all your sources located.
2. Problem Solution readings in weekly folder
3. Quiz on Problem Solution readings (4/6)
4. Quiz on sample essay for Project 3 (4/9)
___
Week 13: 4/10 – 4/17
1. By the start of this week, you should have your body paragraphs drafted.
2. Read “Research as a Cure for Ignorance”
3. DB on research (4/13)
4. Read in RW: Draft an Introduction pp. 14; Draft a Conclusion pp. 19; Draft the body pp. 16
RW sections on thesis: Draft and revise a working thesis pp. 7, How to Solver Problems with Thesis pp. 9
5. Journal: Intro/conclusion writings (4/16)
6. By the end of this week, you need to have a complete draft of Project 3.
___
Week 14: 4/17 – 4/24
1. Make sure you have built time into this week to use the English Tutoring and Learning Center. We will also
be peer editing Project 3 this week.
2. Use this week to revise and edit the full draft: see recent announcements; read in RW section 56 “Integrating
Sources,” including signal phrases (make sure to review and take notes)
3. Upload draft of Project 3 for peer editing (4/20)
4. Return classmate’s draft of Project 3 (4/23)
5. Quiz on signal phrases and walking out of quotes (4/23)
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___
Week 15: 4/24 – 5/1
1. Project Three due by Noon 4/27: reminder to upload all sources to the link in the weekly folder that is
directly before the Project 3 upload link.
2. Journal Reflection writing (4/30)
3. Grammar fun quiz based on the grammar concepts at the end of each weekly folder
(4/30)
___
Week 16: Finals Week
Final presentation is due by Noon on 5/4: NO LATE SUBMISSIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED
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