English 376: Professional Development Workshop
Office: 213
Simpkins Hall Office: 023
Simpkins Hall
Phone: 298-1633
(office) Phone: 298-2375
(office)
298-1103 (department)
Email: cl-morrow@wiu.edu Email: tw-helwig@wiu.edu
Wed.
1:00 pm – 3:00 pm Wed.
1:00-2:00 pm
Thurs. 3:30 pm – 4:30 pm Fri. 12:30-2:00 pm
and by appointment. and by appointment.
English 376 is a junior-level preparatory
experience for the English major. In
this course, you will learn how to apply for internships and jobs, make key
career decisions, and prepare an application to graduate school. The junior year is the ideal time for
students to consider these questions, allowing you to take advantage of the
fall of your senior year to finalize the applications you will prepare as
juniors. For those of you taking this
course as seniors, there is still tremendous benefit to this process and even
more immediate rewards (i.e., employment).
These are skills that will help you throughout your professional career.
This class focuses on the preparation of a job letter,
a resumé, and a personal statement that clarifies
your professional possibilities and goals.
The larger aspiration of the course is to model for students reflection
on future personal and professional goals and definition of the ways in which
the work for the major prepares you for success.
This semester we will meet 5 times as a
class. In these sessions we will share
our professional interests, our experiences in the major, and our goals for the
future; we will attempt to clarify, in very specific terms, how what we have
done in English studies translates into other areas of work and interest; we
will learn how to prepare an effective dossier; and we will, ultimately, work
together at building up a strong portfolio that accurately reflects both our
work in the past and our goals for the future.
With these larger goals in mind, this class will be tailored to each
individual student. Diversity of
experience and career paths will be emphasized in our discussions and in our
approaches to the real purpose or end-goal of our meetings: gainful and satisfying
employment or study after graduation.
Students will identify marketable skills they have acquired in the
English major.
Students will articulate and package these desirable job skills in
well-written, flawlessly
edited letters of application and resumes.
Students will explore career and graduate school opportunities.
Students will assemble a portfolio based upon a cover letter, a
resumé, and a personal statement.
Jan. 22nd
Introduction to Seminar
Discussion
of Portfolio
Reflecting on
your experience of the Major: Skill Identification and Conceptualizing
Strengths
Feb. 5th Professional Development Seminar: Preparing the Business Resume & Job
Letter
Guest Speaker: Bradley Dilger,
English and Journalism Dept.
Feb. 19 Cover
Letter and Resumé Workshop
Guest Speaker: TBA
Mar. 5 Professional
Development Seminar: Applying to
Graduate Programs
Guest Speaker: TBA
Mar. 26 General
Workshop
Guest Speaker: Jeff Biggers,
freelance writer and author of The United
States of Appalachia: How Southern Mountaineers Brought Independence, Culture,
and Enlightenment to America (2007).
Mar 30- Apr. 10 Individual
Conferences
April. 16 Final Portfolios Due
Students
will sign up for an individual conference with the faculty member of their
section between March 30th and April 10th. Students are required to submit hardcopies of
completed drafts of all portfolio documents to their faculty member at least 48
hours in advance of their meeting. The
conference will focus on necessary revisions for the portfolio documents. Students cannot submit their final portfolio
without attending an individual conference with their professor.
On April 16th, students will submit
their final portfolio in a manila folder (not envelope) with a typed label indicating
the student’s name, semester and year.
The portfolio will include:
1. 4-page narrative on your professional goals, related experience,
skills both gained in the major and outside of it, and a plan of steps to take
to achieve the goals.
2. A sample resumé.
3. One of the following options:
o
a cover letter written in response to a specific (included) job
advertisement.
o
a statement of intent for a graduate or professional program and a
“screen shot” of the program.
o
an application to an internship and a “screen shot” of the program.
4.
Rough drafts of
documents from individual conferences.
Portfolios will be evaluated on the overall
quality and completeness as well as the overall quality and completeness of the
revisions.
Attendance: This
course is required to graduate with a degree in English. Given the small number of class meetings,
they are all required unless you have a documented medical excuse. One letter grade deductions will be made for
each absence.
Participation: This course will be
comprised of guest speakers and workshops.
Students are expected to participate regularly by asking questions of
both the faculty members and the guest speakers and to remain active and
engaged during the workshop portions. Failure
to maintain regular participation can negatively affect your final grade.
Grades: Grades are
earned according to the following standard: A = excellent; B = good; C =
satisfactory; D = minimum passing; F = failure.
Students with Disabilities: In accordance with University policy and the Americans with
Disabilities Act (ADA), academic accommodations may be made for any student who
notifies the instructor of the need for an accommodation. It is imperative that you take the initiative
to bring such needs to the instructor’s attention, as she is not legally
permitted to inquire about such particular needs of students. Students who may require special assistance
in emergency evacuations (i.e., fire, tornado, etc.) should contact the
instructor as to the most appropriate procedures to follow in such an
emergency. Contact Disability Support
Services at 298-2512 for additional services.
Student
Behavior: Students are expected to behave with
respect toward the course, their fellow students, and the instructor. Cell phones and other electronic devices are
prohibited in the classroom.
Conversations and other disruptive behavior that interferes with
teaching and/or learning will not be tolerated and can result in an assigned classroom
seat or expulsion from the class.
Continued disruptive behavior on the part of a student can result in an
"F" in the course. Please see
the Code of Student Conduct: http://www.wiu.edu/policies/stucode.shtml.