Students are also encouraged to foster their communication skills by joining and leading campus clubs and social organizations and by participating in specialized activities such as debate and Toastmaster s International. In spite of required courses and faculty encouragement, businessmen report that frequently business school graduates are poor communicators. Business school instructors may wonder what more can be done. Many professors correct errors of composition and make suggestions for improvement when reading student papers. Professors may also lower the paper grade because of poor quality writing.
Professors also remind students that good writing skills are important.
One additional practice is to inform students prior to preparation and submission of written materials exactly what the class standards are for written communication. The minimum writing standard for assignments is a maximum of one gross writing error per page of a double-spaced typescript. Slight differences of style, such as use or absence of commas in some instances, are not gross writing errors. Upon resubmission, with the first submission attached, the paper will be given a grade one grade lower than the paper normally would have earned if it had not been rejected initially. With modern word processors and attention to composition, the suggested writing standards are not difficult to meet.