The Business Administration Department recognizes the importance of the use of correct grammar and writing mechanics in formal organizational communication.   Our majors are expected to be successful participants in formal organizations and we hold all students taking courses in the Business Administration Department to writing standards that would be appropriate in professional organizational settings.  Those standards will be a factor in evaluating all written work that is submitted.  They are itemized below.  (This emphasis on the form of written work does not replace nor diminish the importance of the content of that work.)

Writing Standards

1. Use complete sentences (independent clauses).  Do not use sentence “fragments.”  A complete sentence has both a subject and a verb.
    

2. Use the apostrophe correctly with possessive case situations; likewise, use contractions correctly.  [Examples:  The instructor’s action was appropriate.  The computer is hers.  It’s not time to go.]
    

3. Once a word is established as singular or plural at the first of a sentence, keep all words that refer to the word in agreement throughout the sentence.
    

4. Use correct verb tense.  Likewise, use correct agreement with subjects and verbs.  For example, a plural subject needs a plural verb.
    

5. Avoid dummy (vague) subjects.  Dummy subjects, such as “it” and “there,” add unnecessary words to sentences.  Restructure sentences to ensure clarity.
    

6. Use active voice sentences to emphasize who is performing the action in a sentence.  Use passive voice sentences only when necessary, such as not placing blame.
    

7. Use a comma to separate words, phrases, or clauses in a series (more than two items).
    

8. Use a comma to separate long independent clauses (complete thought) in a compound sentence when the clauses are joined by coordinating conjunctions such as “and,” “but,” and “or.” 
    

9. Use a comma to separate two consecutive, parallel adjectives modifying a single noun.
    

10. Use a comma when introductory words, long prepositional phrases, participial phrases, and infinitive phrases introduce the main clause.
     

11. Use a comma to separate a nonessential word, phrase, or clause from the rest of the sentence.
     

12. Use a semicolon between two complete thoughts (independent clauses) when the two thoughts contain related ideas.  Do not construct run-on sentences (also known as comma splices).
     

13. Use a colon to introduce upcoming points:  quotations, a series of items, emphatic word, explanations, etc.
     

14. Capitalize the first letter of proper names, such as specific places, organizations, ethnic groups, months, holidays, historic events, etc.
     

15. Use figures to express numbers over nine in a sentence; write out numbers from one to nine.  Do not use a figure to start a sentence.
     

16. Be able to proofread in order to catch spelling, typos, and grammatical mistakes.
     

17. Make items parallel in form when they behave similarly in a sentence or a list.
     

18. Use words that include people rather than words that exclude or show bias
     

19. Use headings in documents to show organization for ease of comprehension of material.
     

20. Use conciseness and clarity in all writing.