Assignment: Problem/Opportunity Identification
This term, your team will be writing a proposal to an important partner, The Lundquist College of Business Executive Council on Experiential Learning & Leadership (ExCELL) to address a critical project to be implemented in Fall 2018. For this assignment, you will write a memo that focuses on a specific constituency and a problem on which you would like to focus. Ultimately, you will try to convince your teammates they should adopt your choice of constituency and community issue for your team's proposal project.
Choosing a Problem/Constituency
With these criteria in mind, think creatively and broadly about leadership and experiential learning. For example, you might choose to focus on service-learning, project-based learning or outdoor education. Your task is not to come up with a solution to a problem, but rather to :
1. Describe a significant problem
2. Pick specific constituency (group of people) in the community and,
3. Provide evidence for the problem. For example, you might provide evidence for the following problems:
• Low career-readiness, job preparedness
• Lack of experience with leadership, communication or decision-making skills
• Physical of mental health of college students
Note that each of these problems has many possible solutions. That's good. You'll know that you have identified a problem instead of a solution when there are many possible ways to address it. We often make the mistake of offering a "solution disguised as a problem." For example, "not enough parking in Eugene" is not a problem but a solution in disguise (i.e., more parking). If the problem you've identified has an obvious solution, then you haven't traced the problem back far enough.
Note, too, that most promising opportunities identify a specific constituency with a significant problem. You might choose to focus on, for example, youth, college students, seniors, female athletes, underrepresented populations or international student. As you conduct research and attempt to define the particular need, consider the following questions:
• What is the need? Why is it a problem? In other words, who is affected, how are they affected and how is the problem related to the ExCELL's mission?
• How is it a problem? What are the underlying, salient drivers/causes/features of the problem? Identify those and back them up with evidence.
• What are the current efforts in the community and how/why have they failed to sufficiently address the problem? In other words, why aren't they working?
• What is the ultimate goal to be achieved by addressing the problem. Do not suggest a solution here but an overarching goal. Do not suggest how you would achieve the goal in this assignment.
Formal Guidelines
Write a 1-page (maximum) single-spaced memorandum addressed to EXCELL that:
1. Creates an opening paragraph that:
1. Clearly states the specific constituency and the community problem
2. Provides a preview of what follows in your memo
2. Develops an argument that:
1. Provides sufficient credible evidence*, including numbers, to show the problem exists
2. Given limited funds, explains why EXCELL should fund a project addressing this issue
3. Closes with a wrap of the constituency, the problem, and why it's important to focus on this issue.
1. Provides sufficient credible evidence*, including numbers, to show the problem exists
2. Given limited funds, explains why EXCEL should fund a project addressing this issue
3. Clearly states the goal any solution must achieve
How you organize this information in your memo is up to you based on your argument and rhetorical goals.
Keep your memo to one page, single-spaced, 12 pt. font, 1" margins. Follow the attached formatting guidelines to produce high skim value and clear organization..
Format your assignment according to the following formatting requirements:
1. The answer should be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides.
2. The response also includes a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student's name, the course title, and the date. The cover page is not included in the required page length.
3. Also include a reference page. The Citations and references should follow APA format. The reference page is not included in the required page length.