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English 216: PROJECT 5 Grading Rubric     400 points

English 216 Project 5: A Recommendation Report Using a Problem-solving Model Project 5 Essentials:  Technical Writing Topics from your textbook:  Recommendation Reports,  Problem-Solving Reports  Feasibility Reports  Proposals  Front and Back Matter for a formal report  Researching your subject  Using data and other supporting evidence persuasively, writing a document that will have multiple audiences  Using graphics in technical reports Goals:  To write a practical and persuasive problem-solving report that recommends a course of action based partly on a feasibility study; to write a report that may have multiple audiences with different audiences reading different parts;  to demonstrate a clear understanding of and the ability to write front matter for such a report (i.e., letters of transmittal, informative abstracts, executive summaries tables of content) as well as the back matter (references/works cited, appendices);  to carry out and make use of research that supports the report’s recommendations, including primary and secondary research.  Word Count: This report does not have a word limit but it does have a page limit. See further information below under “Report Requirements.” PROJECT OVERVIEW Project 5, a written culmination of a semester-long process of learning technical writing, is to be:  a real-world problem-solving exercise, based on research and analysis, that will offer a recommendation to a specific audience in response to a specific problem (or opportunity);  this report is not be just research and synthesis, but also should be a recommendation report based on a problem-solving process that includes a feasibility study;  According the Merriam Webster’s 11th Collegiate Dictionary, the word feasible means “capable of being done or carried out ,” and one way to make your recommendation persuasive is to show that it is “capable of being done”.  a feasibility report looks at whether a thing is capable of being done. To make Project 5 report more concrete and realistic, the problem or opportunity you study should be something local to Northern New Mexico. (Note: if you live elsewhere taking this online class, the problem or opportunity should be local to where you live.) You should recommend a course of action that would be of actual use in the workplace or community. You want your report to show that what you’re recommending is “capable of being done,” based on your study; so, for example, you probably wouldn’t want to propose a deep-sea-fishing charter business in Santa Fe (maybe a travel agency that books deepsea-fishing vacations in Mexico―but not an actual boat-charter business here, unless the climate changes really radically). In your book’s discussion of the problem-solving model, once you have identified the problem (or opportunity) you will be studying, then you’ll need to look at different possible responses and determine which one is optimal: The local problem topic should be:  Feasible and fixes the problem or responds to the opportunity;  come up with ideas about an actual problem or opportunity in your community or workplace, something that could make a good difference if addressed. For now, just brainstorm; a little later, you’ll post a more focused version of this on the discussion board in the form of a problem or opportunity statement and initial ideas about potential solutions or responses to the problem or opportunity.  After research and analysis of the problem/opportunity and of feasible solutions, you’ll be ready to make a recommendation for working with the problem or opportunity in a recommendation report following the same model as the one in Chapter 13 of TC. REPORT REQUIREMENTS Length this report is to have a 12-page maximum body (that is, no more than 12 pages in the body) and will also have both front and back matter. I mention this partly to give you a sense of how big the topic you choose can be. I will let you know if a topic seems a little “too small” or “too big” (or “just right”) when I respond to your initial topic statement. Required Sections The report is composed of the following parts. Except for two optional sections in the below list, all of these sections must be included: • letter of transmittal • cover • title page • informative abstract • table of contents • list of illustrations • executive summary • body of the report (12 page limit)* • glossary (optional) • list of symbols (optional) • works cited. • appendices (two required appendices will be your organized research notes” and “Peer-edited Rough Draft”; others are optional. The research notes should be partitioned by subject or in some other sensible way that makes them more useful. They might even be partitioned into separate appendices.) *The body of the report should have subsections, with headings, but those subsections will differ depending on your topic. PAST STUDENT TOPICS Note that many of these are still rather general and would need to be substantially focused to be workable. All topics need a real-world context, a concrete and local problem or opportunity that the report will analyze and offer appropriate (again concrete) responses to. Project 5 topics should lend themselves to having specific audiences who need to be persuaded that the report’s recommendations are good ideas. It’s probably best to envision an audience has the power to say yes or no to the overall recommendation or to funding it. • Feasibility of using wind energy at Santa Fe Community College • Proposal for setting up a solar grid in an off-the-grid community far from a power plant • Feasibility of installing alternative energy sources (wind, solar, some combination) in someone’s home or business • Study of whether Taos Pueblo should buy a visitors’ van and limit access to its plaza • Study on ending gross receipts taxes with recommendations for alternative funding sources • Comparative (feasibility) report on the proposed short tax form versus the current form • Feasibility of expanding a woodworking business • Feasibility of opening a club for minors in Santa Fe • Proposal for preventing bedsores in nursing home patients • Feasibility of introducing a kayak program at SFCC • Feasibility of building a home/commercial pottery studio • Report on funding alternatives for a college education for non-traditional students • Study on providing benefits to a restaurant’s employees as a way to reduce turnover and improve working conditions TOPICS THAT HAVEN’T WORKED THAT WELL • Topics that were too general and/or abstract, for example, autism, obesity, drunk driving, teen pregnancies (these are good general topics, but they weren’t local, concrete, and specific enough. However, if there existed some local aspect of the problem to study, then it could be turned into a workable topic–for example, if it was clear many students with autism were not having their educational needs met at a certain school, then that would be the problem to study and a proposal for how to address the needs of the students.