Proposal Memo

This discussion will enable you to plan for the third writing assignment. For this discussion, you will propose some problem you wish to solve, either in the workplace or your community, a target audience—specifically the decision-maker that you will eventually write to—and some primary research you would like to do.

Your third assignment in WRTG 394 involves writing a memo requesting permission to conduct research on the topic for your research report.  You should focus on the following as you prepare your memo:

Be specific - your assignment directions (located in the assignment area of the classroom) give you good examples of ways in which you can make sure that you are proposing a solution to a specific problem. You must answer the question, "How will MY workplace or community (this should be narrowly defined as your neighborhood, apartment community, base housing community, etc.) be made better by the solution(s) I recommend?"

Identify a specific decision maker (or makers if, for example, you are proposing a solution to a workplace issue in your department that might require action by the HR director as well as your dept. head). Examples of such persons might be your apartment community manager, the director of base housing where you are stationed, your department head in your workplace, or your commander for your military unit.

Suggest some primary research - such as interviews with co-workers, photographs showing a problem like the need for recycling or going to a paperless office, or screen captures showing the large numbers of emails employees must deal with on a daily basis. (Due to the Coronavirus pandemic, students may now complete WA #4, the research report, without using primary research [see the WA #4 assignment directions for details]. HOWEVER - for WA #3, you should complete the section of the proposal memo related to primary research by discussing the primary research you would conduct if you were able to do so. This is to help you become familiar with how primary research is gathered and how it is used in reports - something you should know for future use.)