Statement of purpose

Classroom Recycling Group

Ward Edwards 3612

Warrensburg, MO 64093

September 10, 2017

Business Communications

Ward Edwards 3612

Warrensburg, MO 64093

Dear Classmates,

We have all had that handout or piece of scratch paper that we just don’t want to take with us.

We crumple it up and then what do we do with it? Do we go looking for a recycling bin in the

hallway? Or do we just toss it in the trash on our way out the door? Most simply throw it away

due to limited recycling options. We are focusing our project on looking into ways of expanding

these options in the university’s classrooms. We find ourselves qualified for this job because we

are:

● Time conscious

● Organized

● Enthusiastic about the problem

Background, Problem and Purpose

The University of Central Missouri has an existing problem of limited recycling options on

campus, and we all have an impact on this. The average American produces 900,000 pounds of

waste per year; and around half of this could be recycled (Recycling Coalition of Utah, n.d.). We

all see the need to recycle; no one will say they are against recycling. In fact, it is beneficial to

us all in various ways: economically, ecologically, and healthwise (Sawe, 2017). However, a

survey of college students finds that there is a lack of commitment from students which mirrors

a lack of commitment from universities (Emmanuel and Adams, 2011). Through research this

project hopes to discover better options for recycling within the classroom.

Proposed Plan

We will collect information from several perspectives on campus. This project will be a

collaborative effort. To make sure new members of our team are included, we will work in pairs.

Then we will meet up as a whole group to compare each member’s progress. To collect the

information required for this project, we have developed the following plan:

Interview. We will be collecting data by interviewing various people around campus such as:

● Staff

● Administrators

● Students

● Faculty

These interviews will include simple and relatable questions so that we can get the best

possible responses. The purpose of interviewing students at UCM is to see if they recycle and

have any issues with our accessibility to recycle. Janitorial staff will be interviewed to assess

how a change in recycling practices will affect their workload. Teaching faculty will also be

interviewed to see if they have any concerns about our limited access to recycling options in

classrooms or offices. Lastly we will conduct an interview with an administrator for ideas on how

much it would cost to have more recycling options.

Survey. We will produce a survey to get a wide range of answers to have an understanding of

the issue. The survey will be aimed at students and faculty since they will most likely use any

new recycling options. They will have simple questions and will cover our cause. In addition,

they will help us collect data on the issue quickly and accurately.

Schedule. For this project we have made a projected schedule. Please refer to the table below,

Research Plan, for more information.

Research Plan

Research

Tasks

Dates of Research

October November

17th -24th 25th -29th 30th – 5th 6th -7th 8th

Conduct

Interviews

Prewriting and

Drafting

Correct and

Revise

Finishing

Touches

Due

After final teams are made, we will modify the research plan to fit the new team member’s

needs.

Staffing

Our team is looking for qualities in our new members that we possess ourselves. We believe it

is important for team members to possess the following traits:

● Goal oriented

● Time management skills

● Well organized

● Team player

We are looking for members that see the importance of recycling and making a change to our

campus. Members that have a passion for what they are doing are better equipped to dedicate

time and effort to the issue.

Budget

As a team, we do not need a monetary budget to solve this problem. Please reference the

Budget Table below to see the breakdown of anticipated hours required. To make this project

run smoothly and meet the deadline each teammate will have to work out of class. We are

predicting the minimum time each team member will have to invest outside of class will be

around thirteen hours for the whole project.

Budget Table

Task Total Hours Per

Task

Group Meeting 3

Research Tasks 2

Prewriting 3

Revising 3

Extra Time to Format 2

TOTAL HOURS 13

Authorization

This proposal outlines the potential we have to directly impact the future of our campus. It is an

issue we can all stand behind. It appears to be an issue with several viable solutions, thus

providing a need to research the problem further. Approve our project via a link on Blackboard.

We ask you to vote so that we may move forward.

Sincerely,

Kimberly Bertrand, Gloria Guier, and Joseph Reinkemeyer

References

Emanuel, R., & Adams, J. N. (2011). College students' perceptions of campus

sustainability. International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, 12(1), 79-92.

doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/14676371111098320

Recycling Coalition of Utah. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://utahrecycles.org/get-the-facts/

Sawe, B. E. (2017). How Does Recycling Help the Environment? Retrieved Sept. 01, 2017,

from http://www.worldatlas.com/articles/how-does-recycling-help-the-environment.html