About The Clinic - Central to the mission of the College of Business is excellence in undergraduate business education. Writing proficiency is one of the foundations of success in education and subsequent careers. The Bracken Business Communications Clinic (BBCC) provides one-on-one writing support to students enrolled in business courses in their pursuit of academic and professional development. The BBCC is staffed by business writing professionals who coach students on oral presentations and written assignments, including basic grammar, punctuation, sentence structure and tenses, and business themes, content and organization of material. In the past, students have used the BBCC for help with resumes, executive summaries, memos, articles, papers and more. Students can access useful writing tips under "Tips to Improve Your Business Writing" on this page.

Students enrolled in business courses may schedule an appointment with a communications coach in the BBCC through our 24-hour online scheduling service:
http://web-appointments.com/popup.php?kn=15162

Hours of Operation

• Monday through Thursday - 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Fridays - 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
• The BBCC opens the second week of each semester and closes the Wednesday of finals week.

Location: Reid 314-A

To Make an Appointment

• Go to http://web-appointments.com/popup.php?kn=15162
• Click on Select This Service, located below "BBCC Consultation."
• Select the date on the calendar on the left-hand side of the browser window.
• Select the time of the appointment.
• Fill out the required information fields. If you are a first-time user, complete all of the information requested on the right side. Otherwise, simply log in.
• Click on Submit Your Request.
• Note: Prior to selecting the date of your appointment, you can schedule an appointment with a specific coach by selecting the coach's name in the drop-down menu next to "Show availabilities for."
• When you make an appointment, you will receive an email confirmation. Within this email is a link which allows you to "review and/or modify" your appointment.
• Save this email confirmation in case you need to cancel or reschedule your appointment.

To Cancel or Reschedule an Appointment

• After you made an appointment, you received an email confirmation. Within this email is a link which allows you to "review and/or modify" your appointment. Click on this link.
• In the upper right hand corner of the "Details of the Appointment" page, click to either reschedule or cancel your appointment.
• Click "Confirm Rescheduling." You will receive an electronic confirmation that your appointment has been canceled and then rescheduled.
• If you "click to cancel" an appointment, the system will prompt you with another "cancel this appointment" box. You will receive an electronic confirmation that your appointment has been canceled.

Each appointment is 1/2 hour long. A 1/2 hour appointment can address issues found in a two-three page paper. The maximum time that can be reserved, on any given day, is one hour. To schedule two back-to-back appointments, please choose the same coach for both appointments through the scroll down menu entitled "Show availabilities for." The box will default to "All (no preference)" and will randomly assign coaches without a specific name designation.

What to Bring to an Appointment

BBCC coaches encourage each student to bring a finished draft AND a copy of the assignment to the appointment (if you have scheduled an appointment for brainstorming, you only need to bring a copy of the assignment). Bring a zip drive with an electronic copy of your paper if you choose to make changes via the computer. If your appointment is for a group presentation or writing project, plan ahead to have as many group members at the appointment as possible. The BBCC has one station that may accommodate groups of up to four students for work on group projects.

Tips to Improve Your Business Writing

The following handouts are available as PDF's to help you improve your business writing. Another useful resource is The Gregg Reference Manual for answers to questions regarding style, grammar, usage and formatting.

BBCC Student Fact Sheet

Three Writing Basics: Sentence, Paragraph, Title

Transitions

APA Guide for References

Proofreading: The Final Step

Ten Most Common Writing Errors

Quick and Dirty Comma Rules

Plurals and Possessives