Final Recommendation Report Assignment Guidelines
- Getting Started
- What idea do you have to improve something at your job or in your community?
- Is it a new process or policy?
- Is it a new position that should be created?
- Is it a new program that could be created?
- Who would care about this idea? In other words, who should be your intended audience?
- Is it your boss? Your boss's boss? A board? An elected official?
- What do you need to do in this report to convince your audience that your idea is worth implementing?
- Your report must include recommendations! Remember that you are writing a recommendation report.
- Example Ideas (from previous students)
- Recommendations for a training program to better acclimate new employees
- Recommendations to change operations to enhance efficiency at a bank
- Recommendations for an after-school program from a non-profit agency
- Recommendations to provide raises to staff employees
- Recommendations to implement a new technology package
- Recommendations to streamline student organization offerings
- General Guidelines
- 12-20 pages in length (including all components)
- Must follow an appropriate format for a business report at the highest level (may or may not use a template for all or a few of the components)
- Must be free from errors
- Must be submitted as one, complete document in the dropbox; multiple files will not be accepted
- Research Required
- Must include information from 7-10 secondary sources
- Sources judged on validity and appropriateness
- Sources must be incorporated using MLA or APA standards
- GALILEO is the recommended search tool (not Google)
- Must include primary research
- Survey questions created by the student
- Must have no fewer than 15 responses
- Goal is to have 3-5 survey questions
- 1-3 Interviews (should be cited on works cited page)
- Must include at least 3 charts, graphs, or other visuals appropriately labeled, inserted, and titled
- Required Elements
- Remember that adding what is required at the base level is regarded as meets expectations not exceeds expectations.
- To receive a higher grade, you should go above and beyond what is listed as required.
- The rubric helps guide you - be sure to review it!
- Letter of Transmittal
- Letter of transmittal should be written to your intended audience
- Should be the first page of the report and written following business letter standards
- Should be written in full block format
- What should be included:
- An explanation of why the report was completed
- Key recommendations and reasons for those recommendations
- A request for feedback
- Title Page
- Your name and title/rank
- your company name (if applicable)
- date of submission
- name of the company or organization for which you have prepared your document
- a full and accurate title
- Do not use a template in Word - format your own
- Table of Contents
- Pagination should begin after the TOC
- See "Starting Page Numbering at a Specific Page" videos under Optional Assignments in Module 8
- Can be very detailed or show the larger categories - the choice is yours.
- Should include the preliminary material paginated correctly with lower-case Roman numerals
- Abstract
- The word abstract should be centered as the title
- The abstract should be approximately 150 words and should summarize the document as a whole.
- Introduction
- Background and any historical information
- Statement of the problem (your reason for writing the report)
- Purpose statement (what you hope to accomplish by writing this report)
- Scope of your report (what you will cover in the report)
- Discussion section
- Longest portion of your report (at least 900 words)
- Provide information about your topic in this section
- Use your research, interviews, and data develop your ideas
- Show different options for recommendations
- Use headings, formatting, and transitions to help guide your reader
- Written mostly like a research paper
- Provide a budget (if money is needed)
- Provide a timeline (if needed)
- Either a budget or a timeline must be included as a chart
- Conclusion and Recommendations
- Can be separate sections if desired, or can be combined
- Wrap up information found in the report
- Don't start something new in this section; you should have referenced the information at least initially in the previous sections
- Recommendations are traditionally numbered
- Works cited page
- List all sources cited and consulted in the report
- Remember that citations show that you used someone's idea, not their words. Quotation marks are also needed if you have used someone's words.
- In-text citations must be used throughout and correctly, in addition to providing a works cited page.
- Citations may follow APA or MLA format, but the style must be consistent throughout.
- Appendix
- You must have at least one piece of information listed in the appendix.
- Ideas for the appendix:
- Additional charts or graphs that do not fit within the report but may add more context
- Glossary of unfamiliar terms (useful if you are writing for a business that uses a lot of jargon or acronyms)
- An annotated bibliography of useful sources for your intended audience.
- A press release
- Review the "How to Write an Appendix" Video under Optional Assignments in Module 8