13/3/2017 1 COM223 WRITING FOR STRATEGIC COMMUNICATION: COURSE OVERVIEW David Lee | SIM University Course Description COM223e Writing for Strategic Communication equips students with the professional writing skills needed to support an organization’s key strategic communication functions. These strategic communication functions include  Persuasive Writing  Public Relations Writing (including writing news releases, media invites/pitches, as well as writing for social media)  Organizational writing The course adopts an applied, practical approach designed to develop a student’s writing skills as a current or aspiring communication professional. Self-directed online learning is complemented by face-to-face seminars where real-world examples and case studies provide the context for interactive discussion. Course Objectives Theory  Describe the writing process  Identify traits of effective writing across an organization’s strategic communication functions Application  Apply effective writing techniques across an organization’s strategic communication functions  Demonstrate the ability to research and write effective public speeches  Demonstrate the ability to research and write key public relations documents including news releases, fact sheets, executive biographies and for an organization’s social media  Demonstrate effective writing strategies to embark on key types of organizational communication including letters, memos, and e-mails13/3/2017 2 Course Material Online Course Material (Blackboard) 2-3 chapters in each study unit Introduction to concepts and techniques with examples Self-paced learning exercises, reflection activities, and quizzes Tutorial Approach  Introduction to key topics of the week  Structured practice activities  Peer feedback/learning  Come prepared to write, give each other feedback, and reflect! Course Assessment ASSESSMENT WEIGHT ALLOCATION Pre-Class Quiz 10% TMAs (TMA01 & TMA02) 40% EQP 50%  UniSIM’s assessment strategy consists of two components, Overall Continuous Assessment (OCAS) and Overall Examinable Component (OES) that make up the overall course assessment score. OCAS: TMA01 and TMA02 are weighted at 50% each. Both TMA01 and TMA02 combined will constitute 100% of OCAS.  OES: Examination is 100% of this component.  To be sure of a pass result you need to achieve scores of 40% in each component. Your overall rank score is the weighted average of both components.13/3/2017 3 TMAs Let’s have a quick look at the TMAs Key Dates  Seminar (Face-to-Face) Dates*  Mar 14 (Tue)  Apr 1 (Sat)  Apr 11 (Tue) * Please verify against your UniSIM course schedule Key Dates  TMA Deadlines*  TMA01: Mar 27 (Mon), 11:59 p.m.  TMA02: Apr 17 (Mon), 11:59 p.m.  ECA*  Release: Apr 8 (Sat), 12:00 p.m.  Submission: May 8 (Mon), 12:00 p.m. * Please verify against your UniSIM course schedule  UniSIM Automatic Mark-deduction Scheme for TMA  12-hour grace period from the given deadline  After which 10 marks will be automatically deducted for each 24- hour block that an assignment is late  Assignments with more than 50 marks deduction will be assigned a zero mark13/3/2017 4 .