Professional Writers May Better Prepare Business Students for Employment Kyle Weins, CEO of iFixit, recently published an editorial on the Harvard Business Review Blog Network entitled: “I won’t hire people who use poor grammar. Here’s why.” The editorial echoes the complaint of many employers who worry that college graduates lack basic writing skills. In 2004, The College Board surveyed 120 American corporation and found that about 35% of companies felt one-third or fewer of new hires had the writing skills valued by their firm. PROFESSIONAL BUSINESS WRITER PROJECT The School of Business Administration (SBA) at the University of San Diego recognized the need to improve undergraduate business writing skills and in 2011 began a pilot project to address this need. The goal was to find a cost effective way of using professional business writers as instructional assistants in regular business courses. Phase I During one recent semester, the SBA enlisted a part-time Writing Coordinator to develop and supervise the initial phase of the project. The Coordinator’s goal during this phase was to explore opportunities and limitations of pairing professional business writers with professors and addressing the writing needs of current undergraduate students. Pursuant to this goal, the Writing Coordinator worked with two sections of an upper division Management course. The course was a designated “writing” course that fulfilled a core curriculum requirement for graduation. As a designated writing course, only 20 students were enrolled in each section. Students were given six writing projects during the semester. The Coordinator graded the first three projects and provided written feedback to each student. Students purchased a required business-writing guide and the written feedback corresponded to sections within the writing guide. In Phase I, the Writing Coordinator determined most students could be grouped into one of three writing competency classifications: • • •
Students who already write reasonably well, but need motivation and minor editing. Students who are seriously deficient in business writing skills (with or without motivation) and need intensive instruction. Students who have deficient writing skills because English is their second language.
The Writing Coordinator also concluded that establishing an effective business writing program requires structure and standardization across courses. Phase II Because of these observations, the Writing Coordinator hired two additional writing professionals for the following semester. The project moved from the Management course (a designated writing course limited to 20 students per section) into two sections of a non-writing, Business Law course with 35 students in each section. In cooperation with the professor, the Coordinator developed two common writing projects and a uniform evaluation rubric for students. The two business writing professionals were familiarized with the writing projects and the grading rubric. One was assigned to each class section. The writing professionals provided both grading and written feedback for the two writing projects.
Electronic copy available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2232878
The writing professionals also met with each of their students individually for one-half hour required tutorials to review the first draft of each writing project. They tailored their interaction with students depending on the student’s writing competency classification. Through this approach, students demonstrated improvement between the first and second assignments. The average grade increased from the first draft of the first paper (81.3) to the first draft of the second paper (83.7), and the increase was statistically significant. The average grade increased from the second draft on the first paper (87.5) to the second draft of the second paper (90.2), and the increase was also statistically significant. We believe the observed student writing improvement is the result of three techniques: • • •
Use of a standardized, professionally developed grading rubric, Use of standardized writing projects developed with input from the Coordinator and writing professionals, and Individual, face-to-face student meetings with the writing professionals and instruction tailored to each student’s competency classification.
IS THIS APPROACH ECONOMICALLY FEASIBLE? Retaining a writing coordinator and writing professionals is expensive, but can yield benefits that make the investment cost effective. Because the level of integration between the coordinator, the writing professionals, the professor, and the university is high, the university’s legal counsel advised using employee status for all parties rather than independent contractor status. However, the coordinator and writing professionals work less than 20 hours per week, which is equivalent to part-time. Therefore, the university is not required to provide regular employee benefits to the coordinator or the professional writers. Wages are the only substantial variable expense. Other than copies and reference material, all costs are fixed. Further, writing professionals allow the university to leverage class size. Writing courses normally mandate small enrollments (20 students per class at our university). Employing a writing professional for each class allows larger enrollments at much less expense than adding an additional adjunct or full-time instructor. Some universities taking this approach have employed students as writing tutors, which can reduce the cost even more. Creating an effective business writing program – and documenting its success – can lead to fundraising opportunities. Donors and Advisory Board members at our university have expressed high interest in developing student writing skills. The SBA Dean has received substantial donations during this project for the express purpose of implementing the findings of our project into a permanent part of our business curriculum. SUMMARY The SBA business writing project at our university was intended to find a cost effective way of utilizing writing professionals as instructional assistants within regular business courses. Our results indicate that professional business writers are not only effective in improving student writing, but can support larger enrollments in business courses that fulfill both major requirements and core writing competency. Further, high-level writing ability is a skill that many business graduates lack, and improvements in this area may should result in higher employee satisfaction from employers when hiring USD graduates. Lastly, writing improvement projects resonate with donors, many of whom understand the importance of strong written
Electronic copy available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2232878
communication skills. All told, this makes the use of professional writers a viable option for a business program. A competence in business writing is essential in today’s business. We adopted Scott Kunkel’s 80/20 Guide to Business Writing to improve writing competencies.1 Kunkel aptly makes the following universal suggestions for professional business writing: • • • • • • • • •
Shorter is better Accentuate the positive Use headings Prepare an outline Use short paragraphs Choose the right word Use colloquial expressions and clichés carefully Use pronouns correctly Use attributions correctly.
When paired with this guide, business professionals should become better acquainted with successful writing conventions. Authors: Thomas M Dalton, Ph.D., CPA Professor of Accounting and Taxation Director of Undergraduate Programs University of San Diego School of Business Administration Email:
[email protected] 619-260-4102 Susan Pyke, B.A., M.A. Director of Donor Services at Rancho Santa Fe Foundation Email:
[email protected] Richard E. Custin, M.Ed., J.D., LL.M. Visiting Professor of Social and Legal Research University of San Diego School of Business Administration Email:
[email protected] 619-260-4854 Contributor: Safa Mahzari Degree Candidate, Finance, University of San Diego School of Business Administration Email:
[email protected]
1 Scott Kunkel, 80/20 Guide to Business Writing, 11-‐16 (Kunkel Publishing Company, 2009)
