Syllabus

Schedule

Course learning modules are divided into weeks. Each week starts on Wednesday at 12:00 am Eastern Time (ET) and closes on Wednesday at 11:59 pm ET, with the exception of Week 8, which ends on Sunday. All assignments must be submitted by 11:59 pm ET on the due date.

Course Schedule at a Glance

Learning Modules	Topics	Assignments and Due Dates
Week 1 05/01-05/08	Introduction to Technical Writing for Various Audiences	Introductory Discussion Discussion – Initial post by Sunday, 05/05, responses by Wednesday, 05/08
Week 2 05/08 – 05/15	Evaluating and Using Research for Presentations and Papers	Discussion – Initial post by Sunday, 05/12, responses by Wednesday, 05/15
Week 3 05/15-05/22	Organization, Style, and Visual Design for Presentations and Papers	Discussion – Initial post by Sunday, 05/19, responses by Wednesday, 05/22 Brochure – Wednesday, 05/22
Week 4 05/22-05/29	Email, Text Messages, Memos, and Letters	Discussion – Initial post by Sunday,05/26, responses by Wednesday, 05/29 Memo – Wednesday, 05/29
Week 5 05/29-06/05	Technical Definitions, Specifications, and Instructions/Procedure Manuals	Discussion – Initial post by Sunday, 06/02, responses by Wednesday, 06/05 Instruction and Procedure Manual – Wednesday, 06/05 Oral Presentation – Wednesday, 06/05
Week 6 06/05-06/12	Reports and Proposals	Discussion – Initial post by Sunday, 06/09, responses by Wednesday, 06/12 Proposal – Wednesday, 06/12
Week 7 06/12-06/19	Oral Presentations and Webinars	Discussion – Initial post by Sunday, 06/16, responses by Wednesday, 06/19 Oral Presentation – Wednesday, 06/19
Week 8 06/19-06/23	Social Media, Blogs, and Web Pages	Discussion – Initial post by Friday, 06/21, responses by Sunday, 06/23 Blog – Sunday, 06/23

Weekly Course Schedule

Week 1 – Introduction to Technical Writing for Various Audiences

Learning Outcomes:

• Choose a strategy to connect with an audience
• Describe an item using identifying words and phrases
• Evaluate the effectiveness of a written description
• Support a position using evidence and reason

Course Materials:

Lannon, Gurak, and Scholder. (2017). Technical Communication. (14th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.

• Ch. 1, Intro to Technical Communication, Pgs. 2-10
• Ch. 2, Meeting the Needs of Specific Audiences, Pgs. 15-30
• Ch. 3, Persuading Your Audience, Pgs. 33-53
• Ch. 4, Weighting the Ethical Issues, Pgs. 59-73
• Ch. 5, Teamwork and Global Considerations (Optional)
• Ch. 6, An Overview of the Technical Writing Process, Pgs. 101-116 

Assignments:

Introductory Discussion: Please use this forum to introduce yourselves to your instructor and your classmates. Briefly share your academic and professional backgrounds. What are you most interested in learning about during this course? What questions do you hope to have answered?

Discussion Question: Write a one-paragraph description of an item others would be familiar with, but don’t actually identify what it is. Be sure to use clear and concise language to describe the item and its characteristics; however, don’t describe the item’s purpose. Respond to at least two of your classmates’ posts, guessing what their item might be and explaining which parts of their descriptions were most effective. Be sure to use APA format for your citations and references. Please remember to respond to at least two of your classmate’s posts. Refer to the Discussion Rubric for submission guidelines.

Week 2 – Evaluating and Using Research for Presentations and Papers

Learning Outcomes:

• Evaluate and interpret sources
• Differentiate between primary and secondary sources
• Evaluate sources based on currency, reliability, and other factors
• Recognize common errors in reasoning and statistical analysis

Course Materials:

Lannon, Gurak, and Scholder. (2017). Technical Communication. (14th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.

• Ch. 7, Thinking Critically about the Research Process, Pgs. 121-145
• Ch. 8, Evaluating and Interpreting Information, Pgs. 148-166
• Ch. 9, Summarizing Research Findings and Other Information, Pgs. 169-180 

Assignment:

Discussion Question: Select an article from the Internet that addresses recent advancements, challenges, or successes in Healthcare Informatics. The article may be from a scientific or a popular source. before posting, be sure to check the discussion board to ensure that another student hasn’t already selected the same article. For your initial post, summarize the information provided in the article. Be sure to also explain whether the article is a primary or secondary source. Discuss also whether a variety of angles were used in reporting the information and the article’s currency and reliability. Additionally, describe any errors in reasoning or statistical analysis that you recognize in the article. Be sure to either attach a copy of the article or include a hyperlink to it.

Week 3 – Organization, Style, and Visual Design for Presentations and Papers

Learning Outcomes:

• Use an introduction-body-conclusion structure to organize information for a global audience
• Write effective paragraphs for an informative health brochure.
• Use appropriate visuals that help to convey a message 
• Write clear sentences that can be understood in one reading
• Write concise sentences that convey meaning in the fewest words
• Write fluently, providing clear connections, variety, and emphasis
• Use precise language that conveys your exact meaning
• Use tone that connects with your audience and avoids bias
• Use words that do not have unintended legal and ethical consequences
• Explain why visuals are important in technical communication
• Explain when to use visuals in scientific and technical communication
• Describe the various types of visuals to consider based on the information being presented.

Course Materials:

Lannon, Gurak, and Scholder. (2017). Technical Communication. (14th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.

• Ch. 10, Organizing for Readers, Pgs. 185-199
• Ch. 11, Editing for a Professional Style and Tone, Pgs. 202-203
• Ch. 12, Designing Visual Information, Pgs. 237-275
• Ch. 14, Designing Pages and Documents, Pgs. 283-304

Recommended:

• Nicholson, N., Atcherson, S.R., Martin, P., Spragins, M.G., Schlagenhauf, L., & Zraick, R.I. (2016). Readability, user-friendliness, and key content analysis of newborn hearing screening brochures. The Journal of Early Hearing Detection and Intervention, 1(1), 66-77.

Assignments:

Discussion Question: For this discussion board, search for online examples of visual presentations (brochures, flyers, poster boards, etc.). Choose one example that is effective in its design/delivery and one that is ineffective. Before posting, be sure to check the discussion board to ensure another student hasn’t already selected the same examples. For your initial post, describe why the one visual presentation is effective and the other is not. Be sure to provide links to each example. In addition to your evaluation, discuss the importance of using visuals for scientific and technical communication. Discuss when they should be used and what types should be considered based on the information being presented. 

Brochure:

For this assignment, you will develop a bi-fold or tri-fold brochure that outlines the benefits of using the patient portal of an EHR. Your brochure should demonstrate to patients how using the portal will help them to track and monitor their health, access health information and resources, and schedule appointments. It should also include brief instructions about how to access the portal. For this assignment, you may want to use the free templates that are available from MS Word, Canva (https://www.canva.com/), or AdobeSpark (https://spark.adobe.com/make/brochure-maker/).

Use the following guidelines for this assignment:

• Use an introduction-body-conclusion structure to organize the information for a global audience.
• Utilize effective paragraphing 
• Use appropriate visuals (photos, charts, graphs, etc.) that help to convey your message and/or make it easier for the reader to understand the information you’re presenting.  
• Use precise, simple, easy to understand language. Sentences should be clear and understandable in one reading
• Write concise sentences that convey meaning in the fewest words
• Write fluently, providing clear connections, variety, and emphasis
• Achieve a tone that connects with your audience and avoids bias
• Avoid language that may have unintended legal and ethical consequences 
• Consider a variety of techniques for designing a reader-friendly document 

Week 4 –  Email, Text Messages, Memos, and Letters

Learning Outcomes:

• Discuss the components of a workplace email
• Describe ethical and legal issues affecting email use
• Write a properly formatted workplace memo
• Analyze a memo’s audience and purpose
• Write a memo and letter using a tone that is appropriate to the purpose and audience 

Course Materials:

Lannon, Gurak, and Scholder. (2017). Technical Communication. (14th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.

• Ch. 14, Email and Text Messages, Pgs.  309-320
• Ch. 15, Workplace Memos and Letters, Pgs. 324-361

Recommended:

• Abroms, L.C., Whittaker, R., Free, C., Van Alstyne, J.M., & Schindler-Ruwisch, J.M. (2015). Developing and Pretesting a Text Messaging Program for Health Behavior Change: Recommended Steps. JMIR Mhealth Uhelath 3(4), E107. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4704898/
• Malka, S. T., Kessler, C. S., Abraham, J., Emmet, T. W., & Wilbur, L. (2015). Professional E-mail Communication Among Health Care Providers: Proposing Evidence-Based Guidelines. Journal of the American Medical Colleges 90(1), 25-29. Retrieved from https://journals.lww.com/academicmedicine/Fulltext/2015/01000/
• McMurty, K. (2014). Managing Email Overload in the Workplace  . Performance Improvement 53(7), 31-37. 

Assignments:

Discussion Question:

Unfortunately, employee misuse of computers, the internet, and email is a common problem for many employers. Understanding the problem is the first step in addressing the issue. Your initial post should have two parts:

• Part I: Search online for a news article that addresses the misuse of computers, the Internet, and/or email in the workplace. Choose an article you think your classmates should read on the topic. After you have determined that another student hasn’t already selected the article, post a link to the article along with a summary of the article’s main points.  
• Part II:  Discuss the components of a workplace email message and what you should consider when writing them.  Also, describe some of the ethical and legal issues affecting email use. 

In your responses to classmates, discuss your thoughts on the articles. What ethical or legal issues were posed? What solutions?

Memo:

This assignment will require you to develop a professional memo for a company’s internet and computer usage for employees. Here is the scenario:

You have recently been hired by The HealthCare Group, a Federally Qualified Healthcare Center (FQHC).Dr. Susan Williams, CEO of the agency, has asked you to write a concise, formal memo regarding e-mail use, Internet use and “the expectation of privacy” in the healthcare workplace. 

As the HealthCare Group has reached a certain level of growth, the agency must codify its communications policies. Dr. Williams asks you to perform initial research on the general state of affairs regarding e-mail use, Internet use and the expectation of privacy in the corporate workplace. She then wants you to develop a working set of recommendations (that may be modified later), based on your research, for employees regarding their use of e-mail and the Internet at work. 

Dr. Williams offers a series of questions to get you thinking but wants you to choose the focus of your memo based on your interests and experience, your research and, ultimately, your recommendations.  Here are her questions for you to consider:

• • Generally, what do employees assume about their privacy in the workplace?
  • What assumptions about privacy do employees typically have about e-mail and Internet use?
  • Is e-mail and Internet use typically monitored by private companies or public agencies? If use is monitored, why? Are there specific situations that might trigger monitoring? What are they? How do the technologies work that monitor use? Must employees be notified if they are being monitored?
  • What does the United States Constitution say about workplace privacy? What do the courts say? Are there cases pertaining to the use of e-mail and the Internet and the expectation of privacy? What are they?
  • Is workplace communication a different concept than, say, communication between individuals? How?
  • Do you see a common attitude or set of policies regarding e-mail and Internet use, and the expectation of privacy, that The Williams Group should adopt?
  • What are your recommendations?

Week 5 – Technical Definitions, Specifications, and Instruction/Procedure Manuals

Learning Outcomes:

• Determine when audience and purpose indicate the need for definition
• Describe the audience and purpose of instructions in the workplace
• Recognize various formats for instructions
• Identify the main components of instructions
• Produce an illustrated, step-by-step instruction/procedure manual for specific users

Course Materials:

Lannon, Gurak, and Scholder. (2017). Technical Communication. (14th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.

• Ch. 17, Technical Definitions, Pgs.  395-410
• Ch. 18, Technical Descriptions, Specifications, and Marketing Materials, Pgs. 414-434
• Ch. 19, Instructions and Procedures, Pgs. 440-467

Assignments:

Discussion Question:

When your audience requires only a general understanding of a term, simple, brief definitions are usually adequate. However, some documents need more detail and an expanded definition may be required.

Choose a term or definition that is particular to your field,  and expand on it using questions from Figure 17.2 in Chapter 17 of the text: 

• What does it not mean?
• How does it work?
• What are its parts?
• What does it look like?
• How does it reassemble or differ from something else?
• What is needed to make it work or occur?
• How is it used or applied?
• How did its name originate?
• What is its history?   

Though you might not use all of these questions to expand your definition, try to use the ones that you might expect from your audience.

Instruction and Procedure Manual

The electronic health record (EHR) is used by a variety of staff in the healthcare setting for a wide range of reasons. For example, front end staff will use the EHR to schedule patients for appointments, check them in, and check for insurance coverage. However, a nurse would use the system to record patient health information and document patient encounters.

While working in the health informatics field, you may be called upon by your employer to develop training and instruction/procedure manuals for the different groups. Instructional manuals are one of the most common forms of writing in business and healthcare. These manuals have many purposes: they can be used to train new employees, function as operational policies and procedures, and be used to document the expertise of a group of workers.

Instructions: This assignment will require students to develop an illustrated, step-by-step instruction and procedure manual for a specific group of users (health care providers, nurses, dietitians, medical assistants, or another audience) of an EHR.

The instruction manual will only need to cover one function — for example, a step-by-step process for documenting a patient encounter or checking-in a patient — but should be thorough and include all of the required steps for the procedure.

You may select an EHR that you currently use and/or familiar with or you may research one from the internet.  Here are some internet-based tutorials for various EHR systems that might help you along:

• Oscar McMaster EMR Demonstration
• Oscar EMR – Encounter Overview
• Documentation and EMR for Practice Perfect Tutorial
• How To Use Mchart EMR: Registering, Scheduling, Checking In/Out a Patient
• How to Use Mchart EMR: Charting Functions: 
• NextGen Tutorial
• Patient Charting and Documentation: Using an EHR for Nurses and Allied Health Professionals

Your final document should be 5-10 pages, use correct APA formatting and citations, and include the following elements:

• An APA style Cover Page
• A 1-page Introduction describing the audience and purpose of the manual as well as the process that will be covered
• A Steps and Explanations section (3-page minimum)
• A  1-2 page Conclusion that provides nonexpert readers with an explanation of the process as a whole within its context, as well as a description of its implications, advantages, or limitations
• A correctly formatted APA Reference Page

Week 6 – Reports and Proposals

Learning Outcomes:

• Describe the difference between informational and analytical reports
• Develop an effective and persuasive proposal
• Use typical elements of an effective proposal

Course Materials:

Lannon, Gurak, and Scholder. (2017). Technical Communication. (14th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.

• Ch. 20, Informal Reports, Pgs. 472-489
• Ch. 21, Formal and Analytical Reports, Pgs. 493-532 
• Ch. 22, Proposals, Pgs. 537-569

Recommended:

• Proctor, E.K., Powell, B.J., Baumann, A.A., Hamilton, A.M., & Santens, R.L. (2012). Writing implementation research grant proposals: ten key ingredients. Implementation Science 7(96). Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1186/1748-5908-7-96 
• Wu, Y.P., Thompson, D., Aroian, K.J., McQuaid, E.L., & Deatrick, J.A. (2016). Commentary: Writing and Evaluating Qualitative Research Reports. Journal of Pediatric Psychology 41(5), 493-505. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1093/jpepsy/jsw032

Assignments:

Discussion Question: For this discussion board, we will review informal reports that desperately need improvement.  For your initial post, create a scenario for a meeting, such as a club meeting, community meeting, or neighborhood council meeting. Alternatively, you can use an actual meeting that you have recently attended. Provide a basic description of the meeting and what it might have covered (or did cover). Then, have a little fun, and create a sloppy, incomplete, inappropriate (within reason!), vague, and ineffectively formatted minutes report for the meeting. Attach the document to your initial post (your minutes report and the initial document will count together for the minimum word count). In addition to your meeting minutes, explain whether the meeting minutes would be considered an informational or analytical report. Then respond to at least two of your classmates’ posts, providing a peer review report in response to their documents. Use Figure 20.9 on page 490 in Chapter 20 in of your text as a guide.  

Proposal: Although most healthcare facilities have long-since implemented an electronic health record (EHR) system, there are still some who have not. In fact, some smaller doctor’s offices and auxiliary health service providers still have not implemented an EHR and rely on paper documentation. Additionally, some facilities are still in the process of updating their old EHR to a newer product. Therefore, staff working in the health informatics field may be called upon to provide research and recommendations for choosing and implementing an EHR in their place of employment.  

Instructions: For this assignment, you will develop a comprehensive proposal to implement a chosen EHR for a healthcare facility. This persuasive proposal will address why an EHR is needed, recommend a system based on your research, describe why the chosen system is a realistic and cost-effective solution; will detail what type of training and implementation requirements will be involved, and will address any anticipated objections to your solution. Base your proposal on the example template found on page 552 in Chapter 22 in your text. Note that not all of the components listed in the template are required, and you can rearrange, combine, divide, or delete elements as needed for your final product. While preparing your report, remember to consider the proposal process: that audiences expect to be persuaded by a proposal and to include the elements that are typically part of an effective proposal.  

Your document should be approximately 4-8 pages, use APA formatting, and include the following:

• • Cover Page
  • Introduction
  • Plan
  • Conclusion

Assignments should demonstrate an understanding of the proposal process and audience persuasion. Assignments should also reflect the elements of an effective proposal.

Week 7 – Oral Presentations and Webinars

Learning Outcomes:

• Describe the advantages and drawbacks of oral presentations
• Describe the pitfalls of oral presentations and how to avoid them
• Develop and deliver an effective oral presentation  
• Systematically plan and prepare an oral presentation 

Course Materials:

Lannon, Gurak, and Scholder. (2017). Technical Communication. (14th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.

• Ch. 23, Oral Presentations and Video Conferencing, Pgs. 573-599

Assignment Resource: 

• (2018). Recording a presentation. Retrieved from UNE Success website.

Assignments:

Discussion Question: Search the internet for an example of a bad professional training presentation. There are many available on YouTube. For your initial post, provide a link to the presentation and give a summary of the training, describe why the presentation is poorly developed, and explain what can be done to improve it. Before posting, be sure to check the discussion board to ensure another student hasn’t already selected the presentation. Additionally, describe whether any of the problems shown in your selected presentations are ones that you have made yourself (e.g. too many ‘ums’). What have you done — or what might you do in the future — to avoid these pitfalls? Review at least two of your peers’ posts and selected training videos, and respond to their suggested improvements. What additional suggestions do you have?   In both your initial and your follow-up posts, be sure to address the advantages and drawbacks of oral presentations.  Also, describe some of the pitfalls of oral presentations and how you might avoid them.  

Oral Presentation:

For this assignment, you will create and deliver a 15-20-minute-long training presentation based on the Instructions and Procedures manual you developed during Week 5. Use the steps and strategies presented in your reading to create a well planned, professional presentation.

Capture your presentation using Screencast-O-Matic (https://screencast-o-matic.com/) or another similar platform.  

Your presentation should have both a verbal and visual component, and it should also be professionally presented. For instance, if you show yourself in the video, you should dress professionally, and have a clean, uncluttered background.  

As with the assignment for Week 5, your video lecture should include the following elements:

• An Introduction describing the audience and purpose of the presentation as the process that will be covered
• Steps and Explanations 
• A Conclusion that provides nonexpert audience members with an explanation of the process as a whole within its context, as well as a description of its implications, advantages, or limitations
• APA References

Week 8 – Social Media, Blogs, and Web Pages

Learning Outcomes:

• Determine the audience and purpose of a variety of social media platforms
• Describe when to use various social media platforms for healthcare communication
• Examine the ethical and legal issues considerations around social media on the job
• Develop a professional blog

Course Materials:

Lannon, Gurak, and Scholder. (2017). Technical communication. (14th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.

• Ch. 24, Blogs, Wikis, and Web Pages, Pgs. 603-614
• Ch. 25, Social Media, Pgs. 618-626

Recommended:

• Archambault, P. M., van de Belt, T. H., Grajales III, F. J., Eysenbach, G., Aubin, K., Gold, I., … Légaré, F. (2012). Wikis and collaborative writing applications in health care: A scoping review protocol. JMIR Research Protocols, 1(1), e1. Retrieved from http://doi.org/10.2196/resprot.1993
• Ford, E.W., Huerta, T.R., Shilhavy, R.A.M., & Minachemi, N. (2012). Effective US health system websites: Establishing benchmarks and standards for effective consumer engagement.  Journal of Healthcare Management, 57,1. 
• Gupta, A., Tyagi, M., & Sharma, D. (2013). Use of social media marketing in healthcare.   Journal of Health Management. 15(2), 293-302. 

Assignments:

Discussion Question: Social media is an important tool for today’s communications. Millions of individuals worldwide use platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn for both personal and professional purposes. For this discussion board, describe how at least two social media platforms could be used for a healthcare agency  (e.g., a Facebook page could promote an agency and its special events). Additionally, describe the pros and cons of using social media platforms for healthcare agencies. In particular, consider audience and purpose, ethical and legal issues, and how it can be used for technical/scientific communication.    

Blog: A blog is a type of website where content is presented in a reverse chronological order. Content is often added as an entry or blog post. The only real difference between a blog and other types of websites is that blogs are regularly updated with new content in order to provide relevant, current, information for the intended audience. Blogs are often a part of a larger website, and they can be either internal or external. Blogs can create credibility on specific topics for the individual/agency developing them, and they can communicate important information. Websites for healthcare agencies often have a blog section where content is regularly created and updated to inform and educate patients. 

For this assignment, you will develop a professional blog post of 750-1000 words that details the use of an EHR and other informatics-related databases (e.g. Dartmouth Atlas http://www.dartmouthatlas.org/, UDS Mapper https://www.udsmapper.org/) and how they can be used in combination to monitor Population Health indicators for a healthcare agency. For example, EHR-derived data might establish that 10% of the patient population served by a healthcare agency is obese/overweight, but the UDS mapper shows that 45% of the population of the community as a whole that the agency serves is obese/overweight. From the combined information it can be extrapolated that the healthcare agency needs to do more to encourage obese/overweight individuals to become patients in their facility, so their patient population better reflects the community they serve. Similarly, Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) might use other community data sources to determine what resources, if any, the community has to address obesity/overweight and whether the environment lends itself to residents being physically active or inactive.     

Students may submit this assignment as a Word document, or they may create their own blog site using a free blogging platform such as Blogger (https://www.blogger.com), WordPress (https://wordpress.com), Wix (https://www.wix.com/), Weebly (https://www.weebly.com/), or any other site and attach the link. Use APA formatting and citations for this assignment.

Student Resources

Online Student Support

Your Student Support Specialist is a resource for you. Please don't hesitate to contact them for assistance, including, but not limited to course planning, current problems or issues in a course, technology concerns, or personal emergencies.

Questions? Visit the Student Support Health Informatics page

APA Style Guide

• https://www.apastyle.org

UNE Libraries:

• Library Access for all students: Your library login ID and password are the same as the ones you use to log into Blackboard/Brightspace.
• MSIN Databases: https://library.une.edu/library-materials/find/research-by-subject/health-informatics/
• Library Questions: Ask a librarian or phone library staff at (207) 602-2361 or (207) 221-4330.

UNE Student Academic Success Center

The Student Academic Success Center (SASC) offers a range of services to support your academic achievement, including tutoring, writing support, test prep and studying strategies, learning style consultations, and many online resources. To make an appointment for tutoring, writing support, or a learning specialist consultation, go to une.tutortrac.com. To access our online resources, including links, guides, and video tutorials, please visit:

• UNE Student Academic Success Center

Accommodations

Any student who would like to request, or ask any questions regarding, academic adjustments or accommodations must contact the Student Access Center at (207) 221-4438 or pcstudentaccess@une.edu. Student Access Center staff will evaluate the student's documentation and determine eligibility of accommodation(s) through the Student Access Center registration procedure.

Online Peer Support

Togetherall is a 24/7 communication and emotional support platform monitored by trained clinicians. It’s a safe place online to get things off your chest, have conversations, express yourself creatively, and learn how to manage your mental health. If sharing isn’t your thing, Togetherall has other tools and courses to help you look after yourself with plenty of resources to explore. Whether you’re struggling to cope, feeling low, or just need a place to talk, Togetherall can help you explore your feelings in a safe supportive environment. You can join Togetherall using your UNE email address.

Information Technology Services (ITS)

Students should notify their Student Support Specialist and instructor in the event of a problem relating to a course. This notification should occur promptly and proactively to support timely resolution.

ITS Contact: Toll-Free Help Desk 24 hours/7 days per week at 1-877-518-4673.

Career Ready Program

The College of Professional Studies supports its online students and alumni in their career journey!

The Career Ready Program provides tools and resources to help students explore and hone in on their career goals, search for jobs, create and improve professional documents, build professional network, learn interview skills, grow as a professional, and more. Come back often, at any time, as you move through your journey from career readiness as a student to career growth, satisfaction, and success as alumni.

Policies

Technology Requirements

Please review the technical requirements for UNE Online Graduate Programs: Technical Requirements

Turnitin Originality Check and Plagiarism Detection Tool

The College of Professional Studies uses Turnitin to help deter plagiarism and to foster the proper attribution of sources. Turnitin provides comparative reports for submitted assignments that reflect similarities in other written works. This can include, but is not limited to, previously submitted assignments, internet articles, research journals, and academic databases.

Make sure to cite your sources appropriately as well as use your own words in synthesizing information from published literature. Webinars and workshops, included early in your coursework, will help guide best practices in APA citation and academic writing.

You can learn more about Turnitin in the guide on how to navigate your Similarity Report.

Information Technology Services (ITS)

ITS Contact: Toll Free Help Desk 24 hours/7 days per week at 1-877-518-4673

Course Evaluation Policy

Course surveys are one of the most important tools that University of New England uses for evaluating the quality of your education, and for providing meaningful feedback to instructors on their teaching. In order to assure that the feedback is both comprehensive and precise, we need to receive it from each student for each course. Evaluation access is distributed via UNE email at the beginning of the last week of the course.

Late Policy

Assignments: Late assignments will be accepted up to 3 days late; however, there is a 10% grade reduction (from the total points) for the late submission. After three days the assignment will not be accepted.

Discussion posts: If the initial post is submitted late, but still within the discussion board week, there will be a 10% grade reduction from the total discussion grade (e.g., a 3 point discussion will be reduced by 0.3 points). Any posts submitted after the end of the Discussion Board week will not be graded.

Please make every effort ahead of time to contact your instructor and your student support specialist if you are not able to meet an assignment deadline. Arrangements for extenuating circumstances may be considered by faculty.

Attendance Policy

8 week: Students taking online graduate courses through the College of Professional Studies will be administratively dropped for non-participation if a graded assignment/discussion post is not submitted before Sunday at 11:59 pm ET of the first week of the term. Reinstatement is at the purview of the Dean's Office.

16 week: Students taking online graduate courses through the College of Professional Studies will be administratively dropped for non-participation if a graded assignment/discussion post is not submitted before Friday at 11:59 pm ET of the second week of the term. Reinstatement is at the purview of the Dean's Office.

Student Handbook Online - Policies and Procedures

The policies contained within this document apply to all students in the College of Professional Studies. It is each student's responsibility to know the contents of this handbook.

UNE Online Student Handbook

UNE Course Withdrawal

Please contact your student support specialist if you are considering dropping or withdrawing from a course. The last day to drop for 100% tuition refund is the 2nd day of the course. Financial Aid charges may still apply. Students using Financial Aid should contact the Financial Aid Office prior to withdrawing from a course.

Academic Integrity

The University of New England values academic integrity in all aspects of the educational experience. Academic dishonesty in any form undermines this standard and devalues the original contributions of others. It is the responsibility of all members of the University community to actively uphold the integrity of the academy; failure to act, for any reason, is not acceptable. For information about plagiarism and academic misconduct, please visit UNE Plagiarism Policies.

Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to the following:

1. Cheating, copying, or the offering or receiving of unauthorized assistance or information.
2. Fabrication or falsification of data, results, or sources for papers or reports.
3. Action which destroys or alters the work of another student.
4. Multiple submissions of the same paper or report for assignments in more than one course without permission of each instructor.
5. Plagiarism, the appropriation of records, research, materials, ideas, or the language of other persons or writers and the submission of them as one's own.

Charges of academic dishonesty will be reviewed by the Program Director. Penalties for students found responsible for violations may depend upon the seriousness and circumstances of the violation, the degree of premeditation involved, and/or the student’s previous record of violations. Appeal of a decision may be made to the Dean whose decision will be final. Student appeals will take place through the grievance process outlined in the student handbook.