CSIS 496 Senior Seminar
Guidelines for Grading Writing Assignments

Students should know what the characteristics of a good paper are.  The following are characteristics that I will be using to grade writing assignments during the course of this term.

1. the depth of content, development of ideas, or quality of argument
2. the organization of the whole and the coherence of the parts (transition & flow)
3. the mechanical and grammatical correctness of the text (including spelling)

Normally, the first will be double or triple weighted in comparison with the others.

.	Very Weak	Weak	Average	Strong	Exceptional
Content	.	.	.	.	.
Organization	.	.	.	.	.
Correctness	.	.	.	.	.

further details . . .

Academic and Professional Guidelines for Grading Writing Assignments:

The "A" Paper

• Meets and exceeds all standards.
• Is free from grammatical errors.
• Conveys a super understanding of audience, situation, and purpose analysis.
• Has a special quality – for example, uses particularly engaging or persuasive prose style.
• Contains thorough, complete, and accurate information.
• Has a good visual display.
• Is well developed and organized.
• Contains appropriate examples and citations.
• Shows excellent development through the composing process.
• Your company or organization would be pleased to distribute your document as it would represent the company or organization well.
• In fact, the document might gain you a promotion, or your supervisor would likely call upon you again to do this kind of work.

The "B" Paper

• Is a very good paper that meets the standards for the assignment and engages the reader.
• May contain some minor flaws, small departures from standards that can be fixed or overcome without much trouble.
• Well-written and well-produced with a solid understanding of audience, situation and purpose.
• Contains proper citations and examples and is sufficiently well developed and organized.
• Shows some development through the composing process.
• Although the document would certainly represent the company well, your supervisor may see some areas in which you need to improve and is willing to help such and able and hardworking employee.

The "C" Paper

• Is adequate in meeting standards but may contain several flaws.
• A paper that does the job but does not engage the reader or stick in the reader’s mind.
• May fail to answer one or two major questions about the topic.
• Sources may be handled awkwardly.
• May contain serious grammatical errors.
• May not be sufficiently developed.
• The document could only be sent out to your organization’s audiences, clients, or users with revision.
• Your supervisor has some doubts about your communication ability and motivation and will need to work closely with you to develop your communication skills. (Some supervisors will not be willing to do this)

The "D" Paper

• Forces the reader to do too much work to understand or read the paper because of serious grammatical problems or incomplete information.
• Fails to meet an important requirement of the assignment.
• Your organization and company would not send out this document.
• In fact, your supervisor would probably reassign the task to another employee and seriously consider your future with the company.

The "F" Paper

• Work not completed or paper does not address the assignment. Sorry—time to find another job or career.