Comma, Comma

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ReneHart

Delurking to ask a question that has been bugging me as of late. Which is correct?

Direct all facets of daily operations including administration/finance, curriculum/instruction, athletics and extracurricular activities, facilities, fundraising, grant writing/development, and community relations.

OR

Direct all facets of daily operations, including administration/finance, curriculum/instruction, athletics and extracurricular activities, facilities, fundraising, grant writing/development, and community relations.

AND

Does the answer change if "such as" is substituted for "including?"

Thanks!

Rene'
 
Cathy C

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IMO, I would write it without the comma. Insertion of a comma at that point indicates an incomplete sentence. Since there's no continuation of the sentence after the list, it's not required.
 
maestrowork

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Direct operations (to what)?

With the comma, we assume there's something after the long list... and without the context, I thought it was "direct all operations [to the appropriate personel]," in which case the comma is needed, instead of "direct something" (as in being a director).

In this case, I wouldn't use the comma. However, I would suggestion using a comma followed by "which include."
 
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Jamesaritchie

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Comma

You must use the comma. But the sentence as a whole makes no sense unless it's part of a larger body of instructions, or part of a list of things someone is supposed to do. If it is, then it's made complete by being part of the body of instructions or part of a list. Either way, the comma has to be there.

"Direct all facets of daily operations" IS a complete sentence, and must be separated from the verb "including" by a comma.
 

ReneHart

Thanks all for the input. I should have mentioned that I write resumes, and that sentence comes from a project I was working on earlier today.

<<Direct all facets of daily operations (MEANING "BUSINESS OPERATIONS"), including administration/finance, curriculum/instruction, athletics and extracurricular activities, facilities, fundraising, grant writing/development, and community relations.>>

I have always used the comma for the reasons JAR made. Otherwise, it all runs together when I read it.
 
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