Writing skills, the ability to convey a thought in written form, are integral to success in business, as well as other professional careers.Wheeling Jesuit encourages all students to continually seek to enhance their writing skills.Assistance in doing so is available at the Academic Resource Center (x4473) The Faculty of the Business & Technology Department contributes to the objective by evaluating every significant writing assignment – papers, projects, examinations – in its courses in accordance with the following criteria:

A Writing Grade of “A”
Assignments which earn a writing grade of “A” demonstrate excellent writing skills with a clearly defined thesis.They offer exceptional supporting evidence and development that is effectively organized with proper diction and sentence variety.Essays demonstrate a perfect or nearly perfect mechanics including spelling and punctuation and a good range of vocabulary. They clearly accomplish the objectives of the writing assignment. </p>

A Writing Grade of “B”
Assignments which earn a writing grade of “B” show a clearly defined thesis with adequate development, and competent writing with some variety in sentence structure. While they accomplish the objectives of the assignment, they may show less supporting evidence than assignments grades “A” and/or they may include minor flaws in sentence style and punctuation and/or a few spelling errors.

A Writing Grade of “C”
Assignments which earn a writing grade of “C” demonstrate average composition skills and a thesis that is supported by a minimal amount of development. Sentence structure may be acceptable, but sentence variety is lacking. The assignment may include some errors in mechanics and/or punctuation and spelling, but not so much that these errors preclude accomplishment of the objectives of the assignment.

A Writing Grade of “D”
Assignments which earn a writing grade of “D” contain an unclear thesis statement with insufficient support or development. They are compounded by errors in grammar, usage and/or punctuation and spelling, show minimal sentence variety and organization, and may indicate inadequate diction and a lack of clarity. They are often unacceptably brief.

A Writing Grade of “F”
Assignments which earn a writing grade of “F” address that assignment unclearly or may not show any defined thesis. Such assignments often lack proper development and organization, may show numerous errors in grammar, punctuation, and usage, and demonstrate poor spelling, all to a significant degree. Such papers are often too short to accomplish the assigned objective.

The instructor will determine the extent to which writing grades influence the overall final grade for the course. Writing grades of “A” or “B” may earn extra points toward the overall final grade. Writing grades of “D” or “F” may diminish the overall final grade. Students earning a grade of “C” or lower on any significant writing assignment will be expected to seek assistance from the assignment tutor at the Academic Resource Center. When necessary, the student, the tutor and the instructor will devise a specific plan aimed at improvement of the student’s writing skills.