COMM 313: Editorial Processes
Instructor: Ross Collins, Ph.D.

Good Afternoon!
This is spring semester at North Dakota State University, Fargo. You are reading the syllabus for COMM 313, Editorial Processes. You may get in touch with instructor Ross Collins at 231-7295, or by stopping at Minard 321A during office hours, ***. E-mail: Ross.Collins@ndsu.nodak.edu
Required text: Baskette, Sissors, Brooks, The Art of Editing, 5th ed., 1992.

Course objectives announced

FARGO, N.D.--A professor at North Dakota State University here today announced course objectives for MCom 313, Editorial Processes. According to Ross Collins, students are expected to learn:

"My objective is to turn beginning mass communications students into precise and creative editors," said Collins. "Editing is critical for credibility and quality in any written publication."
Collins added that the course would not only cover newspaper editing, but would emphasize editing for all sorts of publications, including newsletters, magazines and brochures.

Collins attendance policy:

What can you expect?

While some professors follow strict rules regarding attendance, Ross Collins believes students should be given the opportunity to make their own decisions. "I do not take roll," said Collins. "We're all adults here. You decide whether you want to come to class."
Collins warned, however, that lectures will not merely "parrot the text." He said he tries to add information not found in the book, or cover some areas in greater detail, so that students benefit from as much information as possible. "Of course, lecture material will be on the exams, so if you skip class, how will you learn that material?"
In addition the instructor notes that a number of in-class assignments will be given, using the 50-minute sessions to mimic the kinds of deadlines real editors face every day. "The deadline aspect means that you can't make up the work outside of class. So if you happen to miss that day, you have to take an F for the work."
Collins did admit with a sigh that students occasionally must skip class for good reasons. "So okay, I'll give you a break: miss up to two daily assignments, and at the end of the semester, I'll drop the two Fs from your final grade computation. Think of it as a bank account for emergencies."

What to expect: projects and examinations

Here is a comprehensive list of tools you'll need for MCom 203, Editing for the Media:

Highly recommended: AP Stylebook, published by the Associated Press.
Strunk and White, Elements of Style, Macmillan Publishing Co, 1979.
A dictionary.

You'll need to prepare for a midterm, and a final project. In-class assignments will help you master the many skills you need to edit with precision. You'll be doing some of your editing on the word processor.

The final grade will be based on:
Midterm, 30 percent.
Final project, 35 percent.
Daily assignments, 35 percent.

Note: If you need accommodations for learning or have special needs, please let the instructor know as soon as possible.

Note: Work in this course must adhere to the NDSU Code of Academic Responsibility and Conduct. This addresses cheating, plagiarism, fabrication, or facilitating dishonesty. Instructors have the right to respond to a student’s dishonesty by failing the student for the particular assignment or test, or even the entire course, or recommend the student drop the course.

Daily bonus!

Good editors learn to pay keen attention to detail. To help you improve your own skills, the instructor offers you this challenge: for every error you find in any published material, you will receive ONE FREE POINT of extra credit. This includes typos, misspellings, fact errors, grammar errors, usage errors. (Style is not included, as it depends on the publication.) Just photocopy, identify the source, correct the error, and sign you name. Each fifteen points is worth an extra grade-A assignment!

Tentative Schedule

Week One
Introduction, importance of editing. Read chapters 1 and 2.

Week Two
The words. Learn proofreader marks. Begin study of grammar. Read chapter 3. Study Appendix II. (Martin Luther King Jr. Day, no classes.)

Week Three
The words, continued. Grammar, spelling, punctuation, style, etc. Read chapter 4. Study Appendix I.

Week Four
The words, continued. News values. Read chapters 5 and 6.

Week Five
More copy editing exercises. The wire. Read chapters 7, 8 and 9.

Week Six
General semantics, headlines. Read chapters 10 and 11.

Week Seven
(Presidents' Day, no classes.)
Heads, continued. Typography. Read chapters 12 and 13.

Week Eight
Midterm
The pictures: photography and design. Read chapters 11 and 12.

Week Nine
Make-up: on paper. Read chapter 12.

Week Ten
Make-up: computerized pagination. Read chapters 13 and 14.

Week Eleven
Exercises in page layout. Read chapter 15.

Week Twelve
Copy-handling, computerized pagination cont. Read chapter 16.

Week Thirteen
PageMaker exercises. (Easter break, no classes.)

Week Fourteen
On-screen cont.; printers and publishing. Read chapter 18.

Week Fifteen
On-screen, cont. Read chapter 19.

Week Sixteen
Advanced design and graphics, wrap-up.

Final Exam period: final project is due 4:30 p.m. on this date, or before.

Want to Know More?

Dan L. Lattimore and John W. Windhauser, The Editorial Process. 1984.
Tom Lichty, Design Principles for Desktop Publishers, Second Edition. 1994.
Theodore E. Conover, Graphic Communications Today. Second Edition. 1990.

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