WRTC 545 Ethical and Legal Issues in WRTC 1

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Instructor: Dr. Michael J. Klein Contact: kleinmj@jmu.edu or 568-3763
Office: Harrison Hall 2264 Office Hours: contact via email
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This course is an advanced study of the ethical and legal issues confronted by accounting professionals through
work-world technical communication. The course examines the role of ethics in the field, the nexus of ethics and
the law, ethical theories and critical thinking in moral reasoning, falsification of information or data in written or
graphic form, ownership of information, confidentiality, copyright and trademark laws, conflicts of interest, and
causes of unethical behavior.
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Upon successful completion of this course, you will
Become familiar with the conventions of writing in professional environments
Become familiar with general principles of ethics
Learn how ethical principles are applied in accounting
Craft an argument for a specific course of action
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May and May. Effective Writing: A Handbook for Accountants, 9
th
ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson, 2012.
ISBN: 978-0-13-256724-4
Handouts posted to our Canvas site
A good dictionary and handbook of grammar (recommended)
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COURSE WEBSITE
The course websitelocated on Canvascontains course materials, including readings, project prompts and
activity guides.
UNIVERSITY WRITING CENTER
Those of you who would like additional feedback on your work can meet with a writing consultant at the
University Writing Center. To set up an appointment, call 568-1759, stop by the office, located on the fourth floor
of Wilson Hall, or access the Centers website: http://www.jmu.edu/uwc/.
UNIVERSITY OMBUDSPERSON
If you should suffer a prolonged illness that causes you to miss a significant amount of the semester (more than
one week), you must contact the University Ombudsperson at 568-2804 as soon as possible with details as to how
long you think youll be out. The Ombudsperson will then contact all of your professors for you.

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I will usually respond to emails within 6 hours during a weekday, 48 hours over a weekend.
WRTC 545 Ethical and Legal Issues in WRTC 2
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SHORT WRITING ASSIGNMENTS WEIGHT 60%
You will prepare memos and letters addressing a variety of ethics-based issues during the course.
FORMAL REPORT WEIGHT 40%
You will prepare a report analyzing a case study related to your accounting field from chapter 11 of the course text.
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Module 1: Review the writing process
Materials: Read chapters 1-3
Assessment: Researching an employer (due 5/21)*

Module 2: Become familiar with the conventions of writing in professional environments
Materials: Read chapters 4-5 and 9-10; Read Memo and Letter Guidelines
Assessment: Chapter 4 exercises and Omit Needless Words (due 5/24)

Module 3: Become familiar with general principles of ethics
Materials: Watch Ethical Theory parts 1 and 2; Read Introduction to Ethical Reasoning
Assessment: Ethical Dilemmas (due 5/28)

Module 4: Learn how ethical principles are applied in accounting
Materials: Watch Accounting Ethics parts 1-3; Read Ethics of Accounting and chapter 7
Assessment: Accounting Dilemmas (due 5/31)

Module 5: Craft an argument for a specific course of action
Materials: Read chapters 8 and 11
Activities: Peer review (draft submitted 6/4; reviewed draft returned to author 6/5)
Assessment: Formal Report (due 6/7)



*Responses/writing assignments due by 8 p.m. EDT.
WRTC 545 Ethical and Legal Issues in WRTC 3
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Your course grade is determined by the compilation of the weighted scores for projects and activities:
88%-89% = B+
94%-99% = A 84%-87% = B 70%-79% = C 0%-69% = F
90%-93% = A- 80%-83% = B-
GRADING CRITERIA
A This assignment is superior and is of a near professional quality, meeting or exceeding all the objectives of
the assignment. The content is sophisticated, thorough, and well suited for the audience; the information
and design is well organized, understandable, usable, and formatted to be accessible and attractive; the
mechanics and grammar are correct.
B This assignment is competent, but requires improvement in style, organization, design; or it contains easily
correctable errors in grammar, format, or content; or the content is superficial.
C This assignment is unsatisfactory for a graduate course. It may meet some of the objectives of the
assignment but ignores others. The paper needs significant improvement in concept, details, development,
organization, grammar, or format. It may be formally correct but superficial in content.
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Complete readings and assignments in a timely manner
Talk to meif you need help with a project or are unclear about a concept, send me an email
Use course resourcesour course website contains readings, project prompts and other relevant course
materials that can help you successfully complete the course.
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As this is an online course, it is imperative that you have consistent and reliable access to the Internet.
Save all work frequently and keep backup copies of all assignments throughout the duration of the course.
As this course is only three weeks long, the class will move at steady pace throughout the semester. You
will need to complete and submit your projects when they are due. If you do not turn in your work on
time, and you have not discussed this with me previously, then every day late will reduce your project
grade by 10%.
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University policies on Academic Honesty, Adding and Dropping Courses, Disability Accommodations, Inclement
Weather, and Religious Accommodations can be found at http://www.jmu.edu/syllabus.
The university policy on adding and dropping classes can be found at
http://www.jmu.edu/registrar/summer_basic.shtml.