Cover Letter
07/29/2009

Cover letters are relatively simple, one page documents that explain your resume.  Remember that you have to write a separate cover letter for each job you apply for (but it's okay to cut and paste parts of other cover letters in order to personalize the document).  Format a cover letter the way you would any other letter.

Your cover letter should contain the following elements.

SALUTATION AND RETURN ADDRESS
Whenever possible try to send your resume and cover letter to a specific person within the organization, even if it means getting on the phone to find out this information.  It's well worth your time to ensure that your document doesn't go astray.  If you just can't get the name of a specific person, including the heading "Attn:  Personnel Director" in the inside address.  Your salutation will be a simple "To Whom It May Concern" or "Dear Sir or Madam."

OPENING
State the job you're applying for and how you heard about it (newspaper, friend, current employee?).

BODY
Explain how that collection of facts about you on your resume is directly relevant to the position sought.

CONCLUSION
Specifically request an interview.  If you didn't put your phone number and/or e-mail address in the return address, state it here.

Put "enclosure" beneath your signature because you'll be enclosing your resume.

Academic Honesty

Plagiarism is academic dishonesty, and I will not tolerate it in its various and sundry forms. Plagiarism is when you represent someone's writing as your own.  It is plagiarism to take material verbatim from another source without surrounding it with quotation marks and properly documenting the source. It is also plagiarism to paraphrase words from another source without giving it credit. It is plagiarism to have someone else write a paper for you or submit someone else's work for a grade. Plagiarism isn't limited to information found in books or assignments previously submitted by other students.  Taking sources from the internet without attributing them is also plagiarism. I expect my students to have a clear understanding of how to document outside sources (and we'll even go over this concept in Freshman Composition), so there's no excuse for failing to give credit where it is due. 

I will keep out a sharp eye for plagiarism and may randomly audit a set of assignments by submitting some of them to turnitin.com or checking the internet or the vast files kept by my colleagues to ensure that everyone is doing his/her own work. Students suspected of plagiarism will be turned over to the Dean of Students for disciplinary action. If the Dean of Students rules that a student has plagiarized an essay, that assignment will receive a zero, and thus, the student will receive an F for the course since one of the class requirements is that students not have a zero on any major assignment. Students who plagiarize have basically lied to me, and will be dealt with harshly.