Writing Capabilities Brochure

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Writing Skills Whether you need to brush up on your grammar or want to write more professional reports, these courses get results.

Courses are scheduled throughout the year across the U.S. Please visit graduateschool.edu for dates and locations.

Writing Skills Strengthen your business writing skills. Learn to compose coherent and convincing written products. Tap into the services of the Graduate School to promote and ensure the use of plain language throughout your organization!

English Basics Essentials of English ENGL7000D 5 Days • 3.0 CEU • Tuition $1,225 Gain greater confidence in your writing skills by developing a solid, practical foundation in proper English usage. Review rules of the language, including subject-verb agreement, plural and possessive forms, and verbs and pronouns, as well as trends in grammar and usage.

Writing Essentials Grammar and Usage ENGL7005D 3 Days • 1.8 CEU • Tuition $825 Communicate better — improve your understanding of grammar and sentence structure. Learn proper usage of punctuation, abbreviations and capitalization, and how to eliminate unnecessary words and phrases. Brush up on the rules of grammar and style and test yourself on the most frequent writing blunders.

Fundamentals of Writing WRIT7010D 3 Days • 1.8 CEU • Tuition $825 Learn to communicate clearly and effectively. This three-day course takes beginning writers from concept to finished document, including organization of ideas, sentence construction and flow, and basic principles of grammar.

Writing for Results WRIT7110D 2 Days • 1.2 CEU • Tuition $675 Learn practical techniques for adding power to written reports, executive summaries and memos. Learn how to select the best style to fit your topic, purpose and audience; analyze the reader before putting pen to paper; and tailor your documents to strengthen your message and get results.

Clear Writing through Critical Thinking WRIT7100D 3 Days • 1.8 CEU • Tuition $825 Communicate better by improving the clarity of your business writing. Enhance your ability to organize information, anticipate questions, draw sound conclusions and logically communicate your message.

Specialized Editing for Impact EDIT7100D 2 Days • 1.2 CEU • Tuition $645 Dramatically improve the impact of your writing and editing projects. Learn to create effective opening and closing statements and construct seamless sentences and smooth paragraph transitions, as well as eliminate jargon and redundancy to produce clear and concise communications.

Effective Government Correspondence WRIT7007D 2 Days • 1.2 CEU • Tuition $675 Avoid the most common government correspondence pitfalls. Receive step-by-step instructions to effectively respond to a wide variety of correspondence and tips and techniques for streamlining the drafting process. You also learn strategies for reviewing, proofreading and revising a draft for completeness, conciseness and readability.

The Graduate School is registered with the National Association of State Board of Accountancy (NASBA) as a sponsor of continuing professional education on the National Registry of CPE Sponsors. State boards of accountancy have final authority on the acceptance of individual courses for CPE credit. Complaints regarding registered sponsors may be addressed to: National Registry of CPE Sponsors, 150 Fourth Avenue, Suite 700, Nashville, TN, 37219-2417. Web site: www.nasba.org. In addition, the Graduate School has sponsorship agreements with the New Jersey, New York and Texas Boards of Accountancy which recognizes us as an approved source for continuing education and auditing professional education. All of the sessions listed in this brochure are instructor-led/group-live programs unless otherwise indicated.

Proofreading

Technical Writing

EDIT7001D 2 Days • 1.2 CEU • Tuition $675 Save yourself and others from professional embarrassment by refining your proofreading skills. Packed with exercises, checklists and tips, this course covers standard proofreading marks and terms; various methods of proofreading; and punctuation, capitalization and abbreviation rules.

WRIT8100D 3 Days • 1.8 CEU • Tuition $875 Master proven techniques for writing clear, concise technical documents by applying proven readability formulas and incorporating an easy six-step writing process. Learn how to conduct an audience analysis, eliminate common writing mistakes, organize your document and employ other methods to produce reliable, readable work.

Report Writing WRIT7020D 3 Days • 1.8 CEU • Tuition $825 Get beyond writer’s block and learn to write reports that hold your readers’ interest and generate positive results. Learn to choose the right style and tone, organize content, pinpoint your audience’s needs, incorporate research, limit your scope and context, and discover other methods for writing logical, user-friendly reports.

Informal Rulemaking – How to Make It Work PGMT7510D Learn the principles for drafting proposed rules, final rules, interim final rules, notices and other rulemaking documents. Taught and developed by Thomas O. Gessel, a former federal attorney who specializes in informal rulemaking and drafter of the current edition of the “Reg Map,” you learn how to create Federal Register documents that are easily understood, how to complete your assignments on time and otherwise meet the expectations of reviewers.

Distance Education If you can’t attend a class, we also offer time-tested paper-based courses, as well as high-end GS Connect courses offering streaming audio and visual course content over the Web, both with instructor interaction and feedback.

The Basics of Clear Government Writing (GS Connect)

WRIT7986A 4 Weeks • 1.2 CEU • Tuition $475 Ensure you meet government standards for clear, effective documents written in plain language. Learn techniques to help you improve the readability of your documents.

Fundamentals of Writing (GS Connect) WRIT7510A 3 Weeks • 1.8 CEU • Tuition $425 Learn to construct well-written documents by writing effective, clear, and concise sentences and paragraphs and organizing documents for maximum effectiveness.

Writing for Web 2.0 (GS Connect)

Learn Anytime, Anywhere. We offer courses designed by experienced instructors who understand the needs of working students. Our distance education options include paper-, CD- and Web-based courses as well as our dynamic GS Connect platform, which allows you to interact in real time with instructors and communicate with classmates. Just choose the mode that’s right for you— our flexible formats and delivery methods mean you can learn anytime, anywhere.

For a complete listing of available distance courses, visit graduateschool.edu/alternatives or call us at (888) 744-GRAD.

WRIT8003A 3 Weeks • 1.2 CEU • Tuition $225 Update your core competencies with an important new skill: effective, Web-specific writing. Learn to craft powerful online messages that resonate with your audience.

Writing Workshop (GS Classic) WRIT7109A 6 Months • 1.2 CEU • Tuition $245 Work one-on-one with a skilled writing instructor and learn how to produce more polished business documents. Pinpoint the specific writing competencies you want to improve, implement a personalized plan, and track your progress. You hone your skills by submitting work-related written products for individualized instructor review, feedback and coaching.

Audit Report Writing Audit report writing requires special skills and techniques. These courses, offered by the Government Audit Training Institute as part of the Graduate School curriculum, will help you fine-tune and enhance your report-writing skills.

Advanced Audit Report Writing for Supervisors (GS Connect) AUDT9431A 4 Weeks • 20 CPE • Tuition $695 Seasoned auditors know that well-written audit reports can influence decision makers while informing others. Learn how to write high-impact objectives that produce high-impact executive summaries with a focus on quality outcomes.

Audit Report Writing (GS Connect) AUDT8431A 4 Weeks • 20 CPE • Tuition $595 Learn how to communicate results by documenting audit findings and making them available to the public. Apply the audit report writing process and discover specific grammar issues that make audit report writing different from other forms of writing.

Get It, Write ! AUDT9009G 1 Day • 8 CPE • Tuition $395 Influence decision makers and achieve results by writing more compelling and convincing reports. Learn tools and techniques to fine-tune your reports and achieve greater impact. Special attention will be given to writing the executive summary, using advance organizers and adding visual aids. Participants will achieve the greatest benefit if they have already completed Writing Value-Added Audit Reports (AUDT 8521G) or Writing Audit Reports by Objectives (AUDT 8511G).

Writing Audit Reports by Objectives AUDT8511G 3 Days • 24 CPE • Tuition $795 Learn how to write audit objectives to form an outline of the message, as well as how to use a report conference to reach agreement on the message before writing. Develop tools for organizing the report message to answer the audit objectives and for writing a finding synopsis.

Writing Value-Added Audit Reports AUDT8521G 3 Days • 24 CPE • Tuition $795 Learn to write persuasive audit reports that are easy to read and understand and that demonstrate added value to the audited organization. Learn techniques that help the busy reader grasp the basic logic of the report at a glance and satisfy the needs of multiple readers.

Written Communication for Auditors AUDT8611G 3 Days • 22 CPE • Tuition $825 Acquire the writing tools you need to produce professional audit documents that comply with Generally Accepted Government Auditing Standards (GAGAS). Learn to develop strong messages in response to audit objectives, support those messages with compelling evidence, develop the appropriate elements of a finding and organize your writing to eliminate unnecessary information.

We can help strengthen writing skills throughout your organization. We can provide on-site consulting services and customized training designed to improve your organization’s internal and external communications through: • Development of standards for writing and speaking that are tailored to your agency’s mission

• Crafting of internal communication policies or regulations • Creation of a corporate style manual to ensure standardization of correspondence

• Customized training courses using agency-specific writing

examples, to ensure staff writing and communications skills are of the highest quality

• Development of in-house procedures and guidelines to increase productivity and reduce risks

• Design of agency-specific job aids • Integrating software applications to increase the quality and speed of large or small writing projects

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Writing Skills Club Quarters, the official hotel of the Graduate School, will extend special terms to participants of Graduate School classes at all Club Quarters locations. Club Quarters currently has hotels in Washington, DC, New York City (four locations), Boston, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Chicago (two locations) and Houston. Participants identifying themselves to Club Quarters with the code words “Graduate School” will receive GSA per diem room rates and individual daily meal/ beverage credits! For reservations by telephone, please call (212) 575-0006. Reservations may also be made online at www.clubquarters.com.

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