Paper 2InstructionsPaper 2 Proposal for Your Final Research.docx

Paper 2
Instructions
Paper 2: Proposal for Your Final Researched Proposal (10%)
NOTE: Before attempting this assignment, watch the following
webinar, "Powerful Strategies for Writing Persuasive &
Profitable Sales Letters, Ads, & Proposals." It contains
important information and strategies that will help you write a
persuasive proposal.
https://youtu.be/MG97WoH6lNk
Next, write a memorandum addressed to your instructor:
(1) describing an actual problem in your office, school, church,
or volunteer organization that you do not have the authority to
correct,
(2) identifying the specific decision maker (by name and
position) who can act on a researched report you propose to
write (as Paper 6--see Syllabus for description of Paper 6),
(3) your proposed solution,
(4) including a list in MLA Works Cited format of at least three
of your required eight specific sources (not just a litany of
generic excuses such as, "I plan to use articles from the
newspaper and the web"), and
(5) a Gantt Chart depicting the timing of your expected progress
on the problem-solving researched proposal you are asking
permission to pursue as the final paper in this course.
Use the underlined words/phrases in the numbered list in this
paragraph as the headings in the body of this memorandum to
me. As always, you will also include an introduction paragraph
explaining why you are writing, and a conclusion with a clear
call to action or request.
Grading criteria:
· Describes the problem or project you want to work on and
explain its significance

· Explains your proposed solution in adequate detail
· Describes the benefits of your research to your organization
· At least three appropriate sources in MLA format
· Summarizes research from your cited sources
· Correct Gantt Chart with adequate detail
· Uses emphatic, concise, fluent sentences
· Contains no proofreading errors
Sample Topics for Final Report
Here are a few topics for which students have written successful
final reports in the past. Hopefully they will help give you some
ideas for your own topic. Please note that each of these topics
deals with a specific problem or issue in a specific school,
church, organization, etc. with which the student is personally
involved. Again:
The issue or problem you address should be a LOCAL problem
for which your report might actually do some good in your
workplace, school, church, educational institution, non-profit
organization, etc. You cannot solve the national debt crisis or
issues such as immigration, abortion, or climate change with a
brief class project. Again, look around you and find a LOCAL
problem to research and analyze and propose a solution for.
NOTE: If your topic does not fit the assignment, I reserve the
right to ask you to redo this assignment with a new topic, so be
sure to follow the instructions carefully. If you have any
questions or reason to believe your topic might not fit, contact
me via email BEFORE you write the proposal.
Problem:
Many students at YOUR school are financially “illiterate” and
often make unwise choices and decisions about money.
Proposed solution:
Implementation of a Personal Finance Education Workshop at
XXX University
Intended audience:
Student Development Director, Counseling or Career Center
Director
***

Problem:
Children at a SPECIFIC school or daycare center are vulnerable
to predators.
Proposed solution:
Develop policies to help children be more secure and help
parents feel better about leaving their children at the facility.
Intended audience:
daycare director, principle of school, school board, etc.
***
Problem:
Hackers have accessed personal data of employees and/or
customers at YOUR company or organization.
Proposed solution:
Develop or find an existing tool (software and/or hardware) to
make data more secure.
Intended audience:
President of company or organization.
***
Problem:
Employee productivity (at YOUR company) is being reduced by
dropping off kids at various daycare centers around town, and
they are spending large amounts of money on daycare.
Proposed solution:
Create an onsite daycare center.
Intended audience:
President of Company, Human Resources Director
***
Problem:
Military dependents (on YOUR base/post) are struggling,
emotionally and financially, while service members are
deployed overseas.
Proposed solution:
Create a support group on/near XXX military base or post.
Intended audience:
Base Commander, Dependent Liaison Officer
***

Problem:
Employee productivity (in YOUR company) is being reduced
because some employees are abusing internet access by
shopping online, using Facebook, etc. during work hours.
Proposed solution:
Create a fair internet usage policy that works for everyone.
Intended audience:
Human Resource Director, Company President
***
Problem:
Students (at YOUR school) are joining a specific student club,
fraternity/sorority,etc., but many are not participating in
activities and functions. (Could also apply to “grownup”
volunteer organizations, civic clubs, church-related ministries,
etc.)
Proposed solution:
Propose ways to help members remain interested/involved in the
organization.
Intended audience:
President/officers/board of directors of club or organization.
NOTE: The sample topics above are presented to give you an
idea of the types of problems that would be acceptable to write
about for this assignment. The problem you address may of
course be different. If you still need help deciding on a topic,
contact me via email as soon as possible (not the day before or
the day that the proposal is due) and I will help you.
Due Date
Sep 7, 2015 12:59 AM
Paper 5
Instructions
Paper 5: Progress Report (5%)
Develop and present to your instructor a detailed 400-500-word
progress report (in business memo format) describing (1) the

progress you have made, (2) challenges yet to be overcome, and
(3) the remaining steps you need to take before your researched
proposal (Paper 6) is completely developed and submitted.
Include a timeline in Gantt Chart or table format.
Make your own headings --ex. Progress Made, Challenges,
Remaining Steps.
Due Date
Oct 1, 2015 12:59 AM
Paper 6
Instructions
Paper 6: Final Problem-Solving Researched Proposal (25%)
A persuasive researched-based proposal addressed to a specific,
named decision maker, stating a real problem in your
workplace, school, church, or volunteer organization and
offering a solution to the decision-maker, in at least 3,500 but
no more than 5,000 words (for the aggregate "package"),
including, in this order:
1. Letter of Transmittal to the decision maker
2. Title Page (listing the decision maker’s name and title, the
title of your proposal, your name and position, and the date)
3. Executive Summary
4. Table of Contents (listing every section and beginning page
number)
5. List of Illustrations (the illustration titles and page numbers
where your illustrations appear)

6. Introduction
7. A series of Text sections separated by specific headings and
including at least three integrated and sourced graphic aids (that
is, incorporated on the same pages that discuss each) and in-text
MLA format citations reporting at least eight external
references..
8. Conclusion(s)
9. Recommendations – a series of step-by-step actions for the
decision maker to take to implement your proposed solution
10. A Works Cited Page (so titled) with at least eight references
in MLA format (must follow MLA format guidelines and must
consist of at least three different TYPES of sources – no more
than three of any given type, except no more than two personal
interviews). ALL references MUST be used in in-text MLA-
style citations in the body of the report. In-text citations contain
the first word of the Works Cited entry and the page number, in
parentheses.
Graphics MUST NOT be on stand-alone pages, only on the page
with text that refers to them specifically. NO “clip art”
accepted; graphics must contribute something not explained by
text alone. Graphics created by you should be labeled (Author);
those created by you from another source, such as statistics you
found in an article, should be labeled: (Author, derived from
Jones 3).
At least THREE different types of sources must be used (for
example, newspapers, magazines, internet, interviews, books,
journals). No more than three of any type other than interviews
may count toward the eight required and no more than TWO
interviews may count (more of any kind of reference can be
used, if necessary – they just don't count toward the eight total).
"Internet" sources are references found ONLY on the Internet; a
newspaper article obtained from the paper's website counts as a
newspaper article, not as an Internet reference. Works Cited
Internet sources MUST include the section title, the home page
title, the author (if available), and the date of your access, the
date of publication, in addition to the URL (in the order

specified by the MLA guidelines).
PAGINATION:
· Neither the Letter of Transmittal (or Routing Slip) or Title
page contain page numbers.
· The Executive Summary through the List of Illustrations are
lower case Roman numerals.
· The first page of the report is not numbered.
· Page two of the report through the end of the document are
labeled with Arabic numerals. Location on the page is up to the
writer but should be consistent. If the pagination feature of
your word processor proves too troublesome, simply insert the
page numbers manually (followed by a hard page return to
assure they appear where they should).
PEER REVIEW of this project will be accomplished by your
drafting a list of possible sources (Annotated Biblography)
and an Executive Summary in advance of creating this report
and sharing and Annotated Bibliography and the Executive
Summary in your Study Group.
Due Date
Oct 8, 2015 12:59 AM
E I SI
Edwin G. Sapp, Instructor
A Gantt chart is a type of bar chart that illustrates a project
schedule. Gantt charts illustrate the start and finish dates of the
terminal elements and
summary elements of a project and the dependency relationships
between activities. Gantt charts can be used to show current
schedule status
using percent-complete shadings and a vertical "TODAY" line.

The first known Gantt chart was developed in 1896 by Karol
Adamiecki, who called it a harmonogram. Adamiecki did not
publish his chart until
1931, however, and then only in Polish. The chart is commonly
known after Henry Gantt (1861–1919), who designed his chart
sometime between
1910 and 1915.
Although now regarded as a common charting technique, Gantt
charts were considered revolutionary when they were
introduced. In recognition of
Henry Gantt’s contributions, the Henry Laurence Gantt prize is
awarded for distinguished achievement in management and in
community service.
This chart is used also in Information Technology to represent
data that has been collected. (first three paragraphs appear in
Wikipedia Gantt chart
entry, citing these three sources:
Engineering Magazine, New York, 1910; republished as Work,
Wages and
Profits, Easton, Pennsylvania, Hive Publishing Company, 1974,
ISBN 0879600489.
7). Project Management 100 Success
Secrets . Lulu.com. p. 76. ISBN 0980459907.
http://books.google.com/books?id=dgB-
QWHlnrUC&pg=PA76&dq=Adamiecki+Gantt&as_brr=3&sig=J
p-
mgVODNRJpxqBRM1PYJbs7mOU.
Telford, 1994, ISBN 0727725939, Google Print, p.18)

There are two easy ways to create a Gantt chart to incorporate
in the status report for a project in this class: (1) use free
software, or (2) create
a table in MS Word or Corel WordPerfect.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0879600489
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Book_Num
ber
p-mgVODNRJpxqBRM1PYJbs7mOU
p-mgVODNRJpxqBRM1PYJbs7mOU
http://books.google.com/books?id=5ekyoWaeZ1UC&pg=PA18-
IA7&dq=Adamiecki+Gantt&as_brr=3&sig=xe_RAipoqlvhnu0xL
kIsxx-8OAQ
CREATING A GANTT CHART USING FREE SOFTWARE:
One free Gantt chart creator is found on
http://www.ganttproject.biz/ and an example of its output
appears below:
This chart depicts milestones in completing “The Johnson
Genealogy Project.” The goal of the project is “to provide a
written history and
genealogy of the Johnson family from 1730 to the present for
sale and distribution to family and historical organizations.”
$ Birth, death, marriage, and issue information must be from
official sources or verified by at least one other source to be

considered [email protected]
rather than [email protected]
$ Generation stories must be documented by notation as to
WHO said WHAT about an ancestor, WHEN it was said, and
HOW it was known.
[email protected] stories may be used if labeled as such, but
every effort must be made to identify the SOURCE of the story.
$ Only events and activities actually affecting a particular
generation should be developed for the book. For example, the
flu epidemic of 1917
impacted most AmericansCdid any Johnson contract or die from
the flu?
$ Identification of subjects of photographs, portraits, and
related graphic items must be documented. The time period and
circumstances
surrounding the picture should be described wherever possible.
Note that the entire project is addressed in this depiction – not
merely the collection, processing, and verification of the
information involved.
Note also that the actual Gantt chart for a complex project
would have many more elements and the resulting
interdependences would also be
included. This depiction of a project leads to a NETWORK
DIAGRAM, also called a PERT CHART (Program Evaluation
Review Technique) or
CRITICAL PATH chart. All of these techniques are used in
Project Management, together with Lean Manufacturing
concepts, including Six Sigma.
If you are writing for managers using any of these applications,
you should become thoroughly familiar with them.
To insert a Gantt chart from this program into your text file,
export the completed chart as a JPG file and paste it in as a

picture.
http://www.ganttproject.biz/
CREATING A GANTT CHART USING TABLE TOOLS:
You can create a simple Gantt chart by creating a table in MS
Word or Corel WordPerfect. Because this involves creating a
cell for each unit of
time, we will reduce the detail to weeks and create a 13 by 9
cell table (which is NOT as precise as the Gantt Project
software, but will do for your
proposal to produce a researched proposal for a company or
community).
Now we will adjust the cell width and fill in the X and Y axes
information:
Johnson Family Book Dec Jan Feb
Week 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2
Research Family
Get Pictures
Anecdotes
Verify
Draft
Review
Publish

Finally, we can adjust lines, color cells to distinguish different
activities and their specific durations, and remove the lines
between the cells that are
colored to represent the activities (using the “merge cells”
command). Here is the finished product:
OHNSON AMILY OOK Dec Jan Feb
Week 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2
Research Family
Get Pictures
Anecdotes
Verify
Draft
Review
Publish
Note that the activities that take less time than the time period
selected (in this example, one week) lose their accuracy in this
scale (note the
Review and Publish time lines); however, using a cell to
represent a day would create a 76-cell width which, if reduced,
would result in a Gantt chart
that would be too small to read.
The number of steps required to explain the sequence and
relationship of tasks you will need to complete to turn in your
researched proposal on
time are small and the time can be expressed accurately enough
in whole weeks, so the table version is adequate as a planning

effort for this
assignment.
The Gantt Chart is a very useful planning and status checking
tool that can keep a manager on track in completing a complex
project on time. A
good Gantt Chart (one that includes all of the key steps needed
to complete a project) can avert disaster as you complete a
complex project
bounded by non-negotiable time constraints (such as a paper
due on a specific day).
PERT CHARTS
A PERT chart is a project management tool used to schedule,
organize, and coordinate tasks within a project. PERT stands for
Program Evaluation
Review Technique, a methodology developed by the U.S. Navy
in the 1950s to manage the Polaris submarine missile program.
A similar
methodology, the Critical Path Method (CPM) was developed
for project management in the private sector at about the same
time.
A PERT chart presents a graphic illustration of a project as a
network diagram consisting of numbered nodes (either circles or
rectangles)
representing events, or milestones in the project linked by
labeled vectors (directional lines) representing tasks in the
project. The direction of the
arrows on the lines indicates the sequence of tasks. In the
diagram, for example, the tasks between nodes 1, 2, 4, 8, and 10
must be completed in
sequence. These are called dependent or serial tasks. The tasks

between nodes 1 and 2, and nodes 1 and 3 are not dependent on
the completion
of one to start the other and can be undertaken simultaneously.
These tasks are called parallel or concurrent tasks. Tasks that
must be completed
in sequence but that don't require resources or completion time
are considered to have event dependency. These are represented
by dotted lines
with arrows and are called dummy activities. For example, the
dashed arrow linking nodes 6 and 9 indicates that the system
files must be
converted before the user test can take place, but that the
resources and time required to prepare for the user test (writing
the user manual and
user training) are on another path. Numbers on the opposite
sides of the vectors indicate the time allotted for the task.
The PERT chart is sometimes preferred over the Gantt Chart,
another popular project management charting method, because it
clearly illustrates
task dependencies. On the other hand, the PERT chart can be
much more difficult to interpret, especially on complex
projects. Frequently, project
managers use both techniques.
(http://searchsoftwarequality.techtarget.com/definition/PERT-
chart)
APPLICATION EXAMPLE:
At CIA, Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT) compliance
verification required analysis of overhead photography to
discover any alteration to
Soviet missile silos (nuclear warheads were larger, requiring
visible construction modifications). Discrepancies spotted then

required a check of
millions of photographs by six analysts requiring at least 72
hours (432 analyst hours). I developed a PERT program that
allowed one analyst to
recover critical stage photos in less than two hours. This chart
depicted visible stages in the construction process, the time
required for each
stage, with other factors including weather and holiday stand-
downs. One analyst could search backwards from the date of the
photo depicting
the current stage of modifications to the silo by searching only
the dozen or so photos from the most likely date for the
preceding identifiable
stage. While it could be argued by the Soviets that a single
photo did not represent a violation; an aggregate of photos
showing the stages of
modifying the silo could not be contested.
http://searchsoftwarequality.techtarget.com/definition/PERT-
chart

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