INSTRUCTOR: AJ Miceli
OFFICE LOCATION: Rm. 007 Scottino Hall
PHONES: 871-7492 (Office) 454-2976 (Home)
E-mail:  miceli@gannon.edu (primary gannon address)
             ajmiceli@verizon.net (personal e-mail)
ONLINE SYLLABUS -- http://www.ajmiceli.com/syllabus/comm321-2004.html
AOL Instant Messenger:  AJMiceli66
Scheduled Office Hours: MWF 11:15A - 12:00 Noon    TR 8:45A -- 9:20A
Others by appointment

REQUIRED TEXTS:  Broadcast Copywriting, Seventh Edition, by Peter B. Orlik

Upon completion of this course the student should be able:

• to develop creative broadcast advertising from a marketing perspective, from the formulation of the advertising objective through the idea and production stages; and,
• to use electronic tools for writing and distributing broadcast/electronic copy; and,
• to value individual and collaborative effort in the writing environment; and,
• to judge superlative broadcast/electronic copy based upon recognized criteria for excellence.

Though there are no specific prerequisites for this course, some familiarity with broadcast concepts will be presumed during the lectures.

• We will cover the chapters of the book in order.
• The text is very clear, so I plan to move through the chapters speedily. Please keep up in your reading.
• Less than half of the course will consist of full lectures. On many days we will be doing writing and rewriting in class using an overhead projector. Class attendance will, therefore, be critical to your survival.
• If you have any questions please ask them in class or contact me outside of class. I will try to be as available as possible.

There will be two exams -- a mid-term and a final -- with each counting for 25% of the final grade. Exams will be as objective as possible under the circumstances.

There will be a minimum of ten written assignments.

• Written assignments will be due at 9:00AM on the day of the following class in my office in Scottino Hall (the reasoning for this will be presented in class), or they will be electronically "collected" online at 9:00AM on the due date.
• NO assignments will be accepted late -- NO EXCEPTIONS.
• Misspellings will NOT be tolerated. Learn to use a dictionary and/or spell checker.
• Typos will be judged on a case-by-case basis. Learn to proofread your material.
• During the semester you will be taught script formats. All scripts must be turned in using the proper format. Some electronic assignments will come with pre-formatted templates for you to use.
• Assignments will be graded on the use of format, spelling, grammar, style, the appropriateness and creativity of the basic idea, and the wording of the script.
• Assignments will be graded on a scale of one to ten. Late or missed assignments will be counted as zeros. The sum of these grades (or the average times ten, if there are more than ten assignments) will count for 50% of your final grade. If you miss more than two assignments, the writing component of your grade will be counted as a zero.
• I will try to make corrections and suggest rewrites on your paper and/or your electronic submission, but it is not always possible to be clear enough about your problems or about possible corrections in the small amount of space provided. I invite you to see me in my office for a more lengthy and personal solution to this problem.
• The Internet course server that we are using has a "threaded" discussion area available. You will be expected to contribute to the discussions on the server by posting comments about current commercials, etc.

The primary method for you turn in assignments will be via e-mail.   Hardcopy will be accepted only if servers are down or if you are having computer trouble.

Your attendance is expected. Attendance will be taken daily. Rules regarding freshman attendance and absences found in the student handbook will be followed.

For a much fuller treatment of the attendance policy, see pp. 117-118 of the 2004-2005 Student Handbook.

Academic honesty is an extremely important virtue of students and scholars. Any students, therefore, found guilty of serious academic dishonesty (e.g. cheating during exams, plagiarism, etc.) may receive a failing grade for the course. See pp. 118-121 of the 2004-2005 Student Handbook for the Gannon University Code of Academic Integrity.

SUPPLEMENTAL READING/RESEARCH: You should be reading periodicals like Broadcasting and Cable and Ad Age regularly. There are also more sites popping up on the World Wide Web on a regular basis. Two good sites are the Money Section of USA Today Online at:

http://www.usatoday.com/money/index/ad001.htm

and Ad Age Online at:

http://www.adage.com

You will also find useful copywriting links available in the online course materials for this course.

GRADING SCALE:

    91-100 = A
    88-90 = B+
    81-87 = B
    78-80 = C+
    70-77 = C
    60-69 = D
    59 and below = F

Assignment/Exam	Due Date
Assignment #1 (Punctuation)	Sep. 9
Assignment #2 (Appeals)	Sep. 23
Assignment #3 (Radio 1)	Sep. 30
Assignment #4 (Radio 2)	Oct. 7
Mid-Term Exam	Oct. 12
Assignment #5 (Radio 3)	Oct. 21
Assignment #6 (Radio 4)	Oct. 28
Assignment #7 (TV 1)	Nov. 11
Assignment #8 (TV 2)	Nov. 18
Assignment #9 (TV 3)	Dec. 2
Assignment #10 (TV 4)	Dec. 10
Final Exam During regularly scheduled final exam time.	Dec. 16 8:30AM