Overview
This Departmental Syllabus, which applies to all sections of ENGL 1301 across Austin Community College, supplements the section-specific syllabus that your instructor will give you. The instructor’s syllabus will include the specific class structure for your section, along with the instructor’s contact information, office hours, the location and time of the course, required books and materials, reading and writing assignments, grading and other policies (such as lateness and attendance), a course schedule of assignments and deadlines for the semester, and the instructor’s description of the course.
The following headings and the information they contain apply to all course sections and cannot be changed by individual professors. This information does not need to be duplicated in section syllabi.
Catalog Description
English Composition I (3 Credit Hours)
Intensive study of and practice in writing processes, from invention and researching to drafting, revising, and editing, both individually and collaboratively. Emphasis on effective rhetorical choices, including audience, purpose, arrangement, and style. Focus on writing the academic essay as a vehicle for learning, communicating, and critical analysis.
Alternate Delivery Options
English Composition I: ESOL — ENGL 1301 ESOL is the equivalent of ENGL 1301 and is designed to help students who are non-native speakers of English develop the skills they will need to succeed academically.
English Composition I: ONL, DLS, HYC — Distance Learning gives ACC students the opportunity to earn credit through non-traditional courses that are taught fully or partially online. Course content and transferability are identical to classes offered on campus.
English Composition I: Competency-Based — Intensive study of and practice in the writing process, from invention to drafting, both individually and collaboratively. Emphasis on effective rhetorical choices, including audience, purpose, arrangement, and style. Focus on writing the academic essay as a vehicle for learning, communicating, and critical analysis.
Corequisite Courses (Composition and INRW Paired Courses)
Coreqs are designed to accelerate students who are not TSI complete to college-level courses and eventual on-time academic completion. Coreq students enroll concurrently in an Integrated Reading and Writing (INRW) course paired with a Composition I course.
Coreq courses are traditionally developed around a theme to bridge Integrated Reading and Writing and English Composition I courses to create an integrated experience. Both courses focus on critical reading and thinking skills and writing skills. Many of the INRW course assignments scaffold to the expected outcomes in Composition I. While English Composition I primarily focuses on writing and research skills with reading and thinking skills blended throughout, INRW concentrates on the reading process and text comprehension and interpretation, with writing as a means to communicate ideas and viewpoints. Students in Coreq courses may experience cross-disciplinary vocabulary development, concept connections, and topic discussions as well as reflections
Course Rationale
The goals of Composition I are to promote critical thinking, reading, and writing in the service of clear and effective communication. Students will become aware of their own as well as others’ rhetorical choices and will develop their voice through critical analysis, research, understanding of the writing process, and collaborative learning. All of these skills are applicable to future collegiate study, professional work, and civic life. A successful completion of Composition I will provide the foundation for work that will be done in Composition II.
Prerequisites
One of the following must apply:
- TSI exempt
- TSI Assessment Scores:
- TSI 1.0 Reading 351; Writing–Essay 4/Objective 340
- TSI 2.0 ELAR 945; Essay 5
- TSI 2.0 ELAR 910–944; Diagnostic Test (DT) 5–6; Essay 5
- Grade of C or better in INRW 0230, 0430, or 0340
- Grade of C or better in Writing 4 (ESOL 0374) and Reading and Vocabulary 4 (ESOL 0314).
Instructors will assign required texts/materials for individual courses. It is the responsibility of the student to acquire required texts/materials. Instructors will retain either electronic or physical copies of course work for one semester following enrollment. Students are responsible for making copies of any papers they want to keep for their files.
Learning Outcomes
Course Learning Outcomes
Upon completion of ENGL 1301, students should be able to
- Demonstrate knowledge of individual and collaborative writing processes
- Develop ideas with appropriate support and attribution
- Write in a style appropriate to audience and purpose
- Read, reflect, and respond critically to a variety of texts
- Use Edited American English in academic essays
Program Learning Outcomes
The following outcomes are developed in all Composition courses:
- expanded critical reading ability;
- strengthened written communication skills, characterized by
- ability to write to the specifications of an assignment;
- ability to develop a thesis, locate and select credible sources applicable to the thesis, and write an essay of the specified length that responds to the thesis;
- ability to use standard American English writing conventions (grammar, spelling, usage, punctuation, and formatting) and the ability to communicate to readers with clarity and fluency.
- improved critical thinking, characterized by
- examination of multiple components of a larger issue,
- synthesis and evaluation of multiple perspectives,
- consideration of moral/ethical questions.
General Education Competencies
Upon completion of the general education component of an associate’s degree, students will demonstrate competence in:
- Critical Thinking Skills (CT) — creative thinking, innovation, inquiry, and analysis, evaluation and synthesis of information
- Communication Skills (COM) — effective development, interpretation and expression of ideas through written, oral and visual communication
- Teamwork (TW) — ability to consider different points of view and to work effectively with others to support a shared purpose or goal
- Social Responsibility (SR) — intercultural competence, knowledge of civic responsibility, and the ability to engage effectively in regional, national, and global communities
- Personal Responsibility (PR) — ability to connect choices, actions and consequences to ethical decision-making
Requirements: Essays and Assignments
- Faculty will require multiple writing assignments over the course of the semester for a total minimum of 4000 words (including revisions and short writing assignments). Professors will provide specific written guidelines for each assignment.
- Faculty will guide students in developing their writing and their own voice through multiple drafts, with a focus on the recursive nature of the writing process as it involves the following components:
- prewriting/planning — choosing a topic, reading and brainstorming, formulating ideas, analyzing audience, determining purpose, crafting an outline;
- drafting — developing ideas with appropriate forms of support, being open to discovery;
- rewriting/revising — recursive improvement of the text as a whole, in addition to editing content, clarifying organization, and proofreading.
- Faculty will assign low-stakes writing assignments such as journals, free-writing, self-reflection, and reading responses to allow students to experience writing as a means of thinking, learning, and discovery.
- Faculty will assign essays that teach students to develop ideas using rhetorical purposes (expressive, referential, persuasive, and/or literary) and rhetorical strategies (narration, description, definition, comparison, etc.). Other methods of analysis may be taught at discretion of the instructor.
- Faculty will teach researched or “source interactive” writing, focusing on research as an ongoing activity rather than as a singular event. Students will learn to blend their voices with other voices in accordance with the rhetorical demands of the assignment. They will learn to find and evaluate source material. Faculty will sequence assignments to increase facility in synthesizing source material, culminating in students engaging with three distinct sources/perspectives in addition to their own.
- Faculty will teach the importance of academic honesty and will discuss documentation as a tool that varies by discipline but always supports ethical practice, heightened credibility, and continued inquiry.
- Faculty will teach the use of MLA documentation. Instructors may, at their own discretion, also incorporate the use of discipline-specific documentation styles supported by the ACC library. Faculty are encouraged to draw from the ACC Library Research Success Tutorials.
Student Technology Support
Students who do not have the necessary technology to complete their ACC courses can request to borrow devices from Student Technology Services. Available devices include iPads, webcams, headsets, calculators, etc. Students must be registered for a credit course, Adult Education, or Continuing Education course to be eligible. For more information, including how to request a device, visit austincc.edu/sts (opens in new tab) .
Student Technology Services offers phone, live-chat, and email-based technical support for students and can provide support on topics such as password resets, accessing or using Blackboard, access to technology, etc. To view hours of operation and ways to request support, visit austincc.edu/sts (opens in new tab) .
Use & Retention of Student Work
Written artifacts from this course may be used for research and publicity purposes after the course has ended. Papers and anything used will have student names removed to maintain student confidentiality. If you do not want your written work used for these purposes, please send an email to your instructor that states you would like to opt out. Opting out will have no effect on your grade.
Professors will retain either electronic or physical copies of course work for one semester following enrollment. Students are responsible for making copies of any papers they want to keep for their files.
Section-Specific Policies
The following headings are required in all section syllabi, but individual professors will set their own specific requirements and policies for each one.
Required Texts & Materials
Individual professors will assign required texts and materials for their sections. Students are responsible for acquiring those texts and materials in a timely manner. The section syllabus will indicate if no textbook purchase is required (ZTC) or if open educational resources (OER) are used.
Instructional Methodology
Individual professors will indicate their most common methods for instructing students, including (but not limited to) lecture, discussion, small group activities, writing workshops, and service learning.
Distance Education Information
Sections with any distance education component will specify whether they are fully online, hybrid, or hy-flex and whether they are synchronous or asynchronous. They will also specify any technology requirements for students. This is only required for distance education sections.
Assignment Information
Individual professors will provide their own information on the types of assignments they will include (such as essays, in-class writing, quizzes, journals, homework, group work, presentations, etc.) and will provide an overview of major essays or papers. As a group, all assignments must meet the requirements outlined above under the heading Requirements: Essays and Assignments .
Grading System
Individual professors will provide grading criteria and explain their grading system in detail. Professors may use a range of methodologies to assign grades for individual assignments and for the course, but all assignments (such as essays, in-class writing, quizzes, journals, homework, group work, presentations, etc.) will align with course goals and learning outcomes.
Course Outline and Calendar
Individual professors will provide a course outline and calendar of important due dates for their sections. This outline may include any special themes, units, or guiding principles unique to certain sections.
Attendance / Participation
Individual professors will enforce their own policies for attendance and participation, including whether and how attendance is taken and whether and how participation is assessed. However, early in the semester, all professors are required to certify attendance by a deadline set by ACC. Students who have not attended class by that date will be withdrawn. In online sections, logging into the class learning system (i.e., Blackboard) or completing work may count as attendance.
Withdrawals
Individual professors will enforce their own withdrawal policies based on progress and attendance. However, it is important to know that the Texas State Legislature passed a bill stating that students who first enroll in public colleges and universities beginning in fall 2007 and thereafter may not withdraw from more than six classes during their undergraduate college career. See ACC Student Handbook for further information.
The instructor may establish deadlines by which students must complete a specific number of assignments, amount of progress, or level of attendance in order to remain in a class. If students do not meet the instructor’s requirements, they may be subject to WITHDRAWAL from the course. It is the student’s responsibility to know an instructor’s withdrawal policies.
Missed Exams & Late Work
Individual professors will enforce their own policies for missing and late work. This may include whether or not late work is accepted, when it is accepted, and what penalty may be assessed.
Incompletes
Individual professors will have their own policies as to Incompletes as a final grade. Students should be certain that they know what their professor’s policy is.
Use of Artificial Intelligence
While the firm expectation for all courses is that student work will reflect authentic (student-generated) effort and original critical thinking, the use of AI tools may support student learning and equip them to engage critically with artificial intelligence academically, professionally, and personally.
Introduction
The Composition and Literary Studies department recognizes that AI technology offers both risks and opportunities for writers. Individual CLS faculty have the freedom to set their own specific policies on whether and how students can use both types of AI in their classes. They may opt to disallow all AI or allow certain types within certain parameters. Please consult individual instructors’ syllabi for policies and information about the seven sections below that are specific to your course or section.
Definition
In setting policies, we think about two types of AI:
- Instructive AI (Grammarly, Packback, etc.), which can help check existing writing
- Generative AI (ChatGPT, Gemini, etc.), which can generate writing and images from scratch
Rationale
CLS expects students to put their own effort into each step of the writing process, including generating ideas, drafting, and revising. Even when AI is allowed, it should not substitute for a student’s critical thinking. Instructors may check for individual effort and originality in various ways, including in-class writing, conferences, and peer review.
CLS requires that all final assignments reflect a student’s unique ideas stated in their original words and sentences. Any ideas or phrasing that are not directly from a student must be properly attributed to their sources. Even when AI is allowed, it should not be used to generate content that will be graded as if it were a student’s own.
CLS requires that any use of Generative or Instructional AI, even as part of prewriting, must be documented. Individual instructors will explain their standards and methods for this documentation.
CLS requires that instructors’ individual policies discuss the data privacy, bias, accuracy, and plagiarism risks of Generative AI. Students must be able to make an informed decision before using this technology.
Resources
Instructors may provide resources, tutorials, and guidelines for using AI tools. Students are expected to utilize these to ensure responsible use.
Assessments
If the use of AI is part of a course or assignment grading rubric, students may be evaluated on how effectively and ethically they use and integrate AI in their work.
Penalties
Assignments that do not reflect a student’s original work, do not properly attribute sources, and/or do not adhere to relevant usage permissions are a form of academic dishonesty and are subject to the college’s Academic Integrity Process. Specific consequences for academic dishonesty should be outlined in the instructor’s syllabus.
Exceptions
Instructors may set specific expectations, limitations, and exceptions (such as for accommodations) regarding the use of generative AI tools in their classes, which should be clearly stated in the syllabus.
Usage Permissions
Expectations regarding whether and how students use AI tools in a course will be explained clearly in the instructor’s individual syllabus.
Academic Misconduct and Plagiarism
Austin Community College values academic integrity in the educational process. Acts of academic dishonesty/misconduct undermine the learning process, present a disadvantage to students who earn credit honestly, and subvert the academic mission of the institution. The potential consequences of fraudulent credentials raise additional concerns for individuals and communities beyond campus who rely on institutions of higher learning to certify students’ academic achievements and expect to benefit from the claimed knowledge and skills of their graduates. Students must follow all instructions given by faculty or designated college representatives when taking examinations, placement assessments, tests, quizzes, and evaluations. Actions constituting scholastic dishonesty include, but are not limited to, plagiarism, cheating, fabrication, collusion, falsifying documents, or the inappropriate use of the college’s information technology resources. Further information is available at austincc.edu/about-acc/academic-integrity-and-disciplinary-process (opens in new tab) .
Plagiarism can be defined as using the words and ideas of another writer without acknowledging the debt. Plagiarism takes many forms, including the omission of parenthetical citations, the failure to place quotation marks around direct or modified content taken from another source, and another person writing the essay for the student. It is of utmost importance for students to understand that in academic and professional life, plagiarism of any kind is absolutely unacceptable. Therefore, acts of plagiarism, major or minor, may have serious repercussions, which could include a failing grade, expulsion from the class, and/or disciplinary action on the part of the College. Specific policies can be found in individual faculty syllabi; College policies can be found in the ACC Student Handbook.
Plagiarism also includes collusion, a problem that happens when someone other than the student contributes a substantial portion of the essay for the student. Please note that having a friend or paid tutor contribute to a paper in the form of adding content or extensive revising or editing will be considered collusion, a form of plagiarism.
Last updated August 18, 2026