Communication in our Curriculum:

In our accountancy courses, select papers and presentations are evaluated based on four criteria:

1. Coherence	The organization and unity of your information.
2. Clarity	How clearly and directly you present information.
3. Conciseness	The simplicity and precision of your language and information.
4. Mechanics	Your use of proper grammar, punctuation and spelling.

While these criteria may seem simple at first, adhering to them can be a struggle. What often helps is knowing how these criteria are graded.

Rubrics & Feedback Guides:

• Written Communication Grading Rubric
• Written Communication Grading Symbols and Explanations
• In-class Presentation Evaluation Form

 

Academic Integrity:

Academic integrity also is extremely important here at Illinois, as both a part of our Student Honor Code and as a solid building block for your future professional responsibilities. Therefore, it's crucial for you to properly reference and cite outside sources, and to avoid any potential concerns or issues in regards to plagiarism.

Unsure about the essentials of proper citation and plagiarism avoidance? Visit:

• What Constitutes Plagiarism
• Reference and Citation Styles

 

Communication Guides:

Have communication questions? Here are some handy documents on various topics:

• Avoiding Casual/Opinionated Language and Using Numbers/Symbols Appropriately

• Punctuation Chart

• Article Use

• Top 10 Business Writing Mistakes to Avoid

• Student's Guide to Executive Summary Writing

• Student's Guide to Memo Writing

• Student's Guide to Report Writing

• Student's Guide to Letter Writing

• Student's Guide to Oral Presentations

 

Additional Communication Resources:

• The University of Illinois Writers Workshop: With five on-campus locations, the Writers Workshop is open during fall and spring semesters and is available to any enrolled Illinois student at no additional charge. Students can schedule an individual, 50-minute appointment to review a specific paper, assignment, or any other written document. You can schedule an appointment online at illinois.mywconline.com or call (217) 333-8796.

• Purdue University's Online Writing Lab (OWL) : Purdue's OWL is one of the most extensive collections of writing advice on the web. The handouts are generally short but useful and offer plenty of examples. About half of the handouts address punctuation and grammatical issues and others focus on style, reference formats, and advice about the writing process itself ("When You Start to Write," "Overcoming Writer's Block," "Developing an Outline").

• University of Wisconsin-Madison Writing Center: This is one of the more extensive online sources about different documentation styles and covers APA, MLA, and Chicago/Turabian (a footnote or endnote system).

• Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute's Center for Communication Practices: This is a hyperlinked style and punctuation guide. It is very nicely written and has plenty of examples. It extensively discusses fifty of the most common problems with punctuation and mechanics, including commas, semicolons, colons, dashes, parentheses, ellipsis dots, and hyphens.