WRT333
Strategic Plan, Feasibility Study, or IMRAD article
Given Oct. 18 | Due Nov. 12
Options: 1—Strategic Plan | 2—Feasibility Study | 3—IMRAD Article
Option 1: The Strategic Plan
notes
Examples: A research office 5-year plan (MSWord) | A university 25-year long-range strategic plan
For this option, you will write a strategic plan. A plan is not a forecast. A strategic plan is about things to be done in the future, but we acknowledge that we do not know in advance what the future will bring. Future uncertainty ("We can't really plan because there is so much we don't know about the future.") is no excuse for not planning, however. Forecasting (uncertain when it tries to predict the future) and planning (addressing foreseen major changes) are quite different and should not be confused.
A strategic plan sets the stage for future action in the real world. As such, it is best viewed as a living document, part of a continuing process of planning, implementing, evaluating, and planning some more. That was the meaning of President Eisenhower's "Plans are nothing; planning is everything." In this context, future uncertainties are encompassed by allowing for future revisions of the plan. Creating a regular planning cycle (3-5 years) is an essential aspect of strategic planning, requiring a review and renewal of the plan from time to time.
Task: Having listened to the discussion of strategic planning in class, review the handouts. Your task is then to write a strategic plan of your own. You are asked to develop an entire strategic plan, from vision and mission statements through a list of milestones, from your own life. The plan should be personal, drawing from the real world, and applicable to you as an individual or as a member of a group.
Review the major components of the plan (see notes). If you are writing a personal plan, you may omit, at your discretion, the component "Programs." If you are not clear on the meaning of the other components, you are responsible for asking the instructor, in class, during an office hour, or via email.
- If you choose a plan for a group, you may want to discuss with group leaders the fact that you are doing this, and that it may benefit the group to join you in the exercise (although you will most likely complete the assignment before the group gets around to meeting). Alternatively, you can complete this exercise, writing a plan for the group alone. If you decide to then propose your plan for adoption by the group, our discussion of leadership styles for collaborative writing situations should be of use to you.
- If you choose a plan for yourself, your may want to use this exercise to reflect on long-term goals, and what you want to accomplish over the next 3-5 years. Your goals should be personal ("I'm going to be a better human being by..." or "I'm going to develop my ability to enjoy my leisure time by becoming / building a..." or "I'm going to become happy/effective/invaluable in the workplace by developing my capacities to...".). There is no limit to the nature of goals, each of which which may have many dimensions (social, psychological, economic, etc.).
The focus of the strategic plan is going to be on creating a vision of your future, a map to get there, an awareness of what you have going for you and against you, and a set of specific things you are going to do along the way. That is, it is less focused on solving a particular problem of today; rather, it focuses on deciding where you want to be, how you are going to get there, and what you expect to encounter along the way.
There is a long time allocated for this assignment; you will need self-discipline in pacing your work. As a guideline, you should have completed your first draft of vision and missions statements, background, and issues within 2 weeks.. Also in that period, you should have written a brief outline of your first ideas for the environmental analysis (internal and external SWOT), with lists for each (e.g., 3 strengths, 2 weaknesses, etc.)
Option 2: The Feasibility Study
This option requires you to develop a feasibility study, exploring a decision involving two or more competing choices. The feasibility study should document thinking about the major decisions that go into reaching a final conclusion of which choice to pursue.
Task: Review your class notes on the discussion of the feasibility study and read the materials provided. Make sure that you understand the major components, which are required in your plan
- Needs analysis
- System Identification, including exogenous and overt variables
- Problem formulation
- Generation of system alternatives
- Determination of physical, social and political realizability
Your choice of a focus for this study is up to you. Should you decide to pursue this option, you are strongly urged to discuss it with Dr. Logan before proceding. Either meet with him before or after class or make an office visit.
Option 3: The IMRAD Article
This option is recommended for only for students in the natural sciences with experience in research internships (e.g., Coastal Institute Fellows) or other research background and with a strong interest in graduate school or future technical careers in the natural sciences.
Task:: Choose a scientic topic with which you are familiar and have original experimental data available to you. This may be through your own work or in collaboration with a graduate student or faculty member with whom you have already worked. You are to work up the data into suitable tables or graphs, and then to draft an IMRAD article presenting your information in a manner suitable for submission to a scientific journal.
To pursue this option, write a brief statement outlining your topic and describing the nature and scope of your observations (the data you are going to write about). Submit this to Dr. Logan for an initial discussion and approval before proceding. If approved, Dr. Logan will assist in developing a tentative outline of the paper, following an IMRAD format. The paper will be taken through a series of drafts to bring it to professional standards of writing.
It is strongly advised that students considering this option choose a narrow research topic, one that may be eventually linked with others in a larger paper. That is, pursue one line of reasoning from intitial formulation of research territory (see notes on IMRAD introduction) through methods, results, and conclusions.
Dr. Logan is available to assist you with preliminary analysis of data (data summary, means, measures of variance or error) and graphing, using MS Excel.