Oral Communication Competency

1. Delivery original oral messages for a specific purpose, occasion, and type of audience.
2. Make effective use of both verbal and non-verbal delivery in presentations.

The course submission must reflect the following information:

Courses approved to fulfill the Oral Communication Competency requirement must be one of two types:

1. A 0- (or more) credit hour course in which the oral communication component is a significant portion of the course work and final grade. The course should include: 1) instruction in the theory and practice of oral communication, 2) guided speaking practice throughout the term, and 3) instructor critique and feedback on speaking performance.
2. A set of two companion courses:

1. • a prerequisite course of 0- (or more) credit hours that provides students with instruction in the theory and practice of oral communication, and
   • a subsequent course of 0- (or more) credit hours in which students apply learned principles of oral communication through guided speaking practice. Students’ performance is then evaluated and critiqued by the instructor to determine whether they have met the oral communication learning objectives.

Note: Oral communication courses in languages other than English can be approved for the OCC designation.

Oral Communication Competency courses help students become flexible and proficient oral communicators for professional purposes. The course objectives, course materials, activities, and grading criteria should reflect how students will achieve this outcome.

• The course must include explicit instruction in the theory and practice of oral communication in the form of readings and/or lectures.
  • When submitting a curricular request, include a description of how the course(s) will address the OCC criteria concerning instruction in the theory and practice of oral communication.
• Students must receive multiple opportunities for guided speaking practice throughout the term.
  • Students should receive instructor critique and feedback on these assignments so that they learn to create oral messages as a process, including guided practice, critique, and revision.
  • While instructor feedback is required, peer feedback is also welcome.

• A sample assignment or two aligned with the OCC student learning objectives.

These submitted materials should illustrate how students will be assessed on their achievement of the Oral Communication Competency student learning objectives.

Credit hours:

• Graduation Requirement courses can be less than 3 credit hours if desired.
  • State-Mandated Writing courses cannot be less than 3 credit hours.
• Variable credit hour courses should have a clear justification (ex: internship, seminar with rotating topics).

Note: Only college-level courses (1000 or higher) are approved for the CoreFSU curriculum.

There are two components of required syllabus language:

1. Statements approved by the Faculty Senate, and
2. Statements for each CoreFSU designation the course is certified for

Faculty Senate required syllabus language:

All syllabi are required to include the syllabus language statements approved by the FSU Faculty Senate, available at https://facsenate.fsu.edu/Curriculum-Resources/syllabus-language.

CoreFSU required syllabus language:

The following statement can either be 1) adapted specifically to the course content, or 2) pasted verbatim into the syllabus. In either case, the meaning of the language should be clearly communicated to students.

This course has been approved as meeting the requirements for Oral Communication Competency and will help you become a flexible and proficient oral communicator for professional purposes.

By the end of this course, you will demonstrate the ability to:

1. Deliver original oral messages for a specific purpose, occasion, and type of audience.
2. Make effective use of both verbal and non-verbal delivery in presentations.

In order to fulfill FSU’s Oral Communication Competency Requirement, you must earn a “C–” or better in the course.

• Oral Communication Competency can be combined with any General Education designation.
• Oral Communication can be combined with any of the University Wide Graduation Requirements.
  • If you choose to add a writing designation to your course proposal, note that a course can only fulfill one type of Writing requirement.
    • A course may be E-Series/State-Mandated Writing “W” or Upper-Division Writing.
  • Note that a course can carry either the Scholarship in Practice (SIP) or Formative Experience designation, but not both.

Yes. While there is no strictly required format for syllabi, our office has created the following document that you may use to facilitate the process of creating a CoreFSU syllabus: Syllabus Guide - Oral Communication Competency

• Faculty may contact Kestrel Strickland with any questions about CoreFSU course design, as well as questions about using the Curricular Request Application (CRA) to submit curricular requests for CoreFSU approval.
• You may also browse the FAQ for commonly asked questions and answers.