30 points
Due at the beginning of class, Monday, February 16, 2009
The given scenario is hypothetical, but realistic, and the task contains several documents from different information sources. While your personal experiences and values are important, this task is self-contained, so you should base your response(s) on the information in the provided documents.
The open-ended performance task allows us to assess your critical thinking and quantitative reasoning skills. In addition, your presentation and writing will be considered when your submittal is scored.
Scenario:
You are a student at Juniata College, a small (1500 student),
4-year, private, liberal arts school in central Pennsylvania. You matriculated
at Juniata at the beginning of the Fall 2007 semester, planning to major in
Environmental Science. Your father (and his father) are especially happy with
your choice, since they both work for DCNR (the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation
and Natural Resources), and they look forward to you doing the same.
During the fall of your freshman year, you notice several announcements regarding the upcoming Student Government elections. You had a nice experience in student government while in high school, and with encouragement from some friends on your residence hall floor, on a whim, you decide to run for Treasurer. Between a series of eye-catching and humorous campaign posters, your vocal (but not annoyingly so) set of friends and supporters, and dearth of competition (there is just one other candidate for Treasurer, a student named Ron Livengood), you win the election.
Almost as soon as you take office during your freshman year (2007-08), you
encounter several challenges as Treasurer. Rather than being discouraged, you
found that you enjoyed solving the problems and you felt that you are made a
positive difference. Overall, you greatly enjoyed the experience, and now as
a sophomore during the 2008-09 academic year, you look forward to meeting whatever
additional challenges arise.
Challenge:
In your position, you work closely with the Director of Student
Activities, Bruce Stacy, particularly on issues involving funding for student
clubs and organizations. In the Juniata by-laws, the Student Government Treasurer
works in conjunction with the Director of Student Activities, to allocate money
to each club and organization. In fact, last year, Bruce Stacy was so impressed
with your funding proposal, that he implemented it as is. Currently it is a
hectic time for you, since the budget for the 2009-10 academic year must be
submitted in three weeks (February 23). In addition, Bruce Stacy has received
complaints from a few students regarding funding. Interestingly, although there
have been just a few students complaining, they have been unusually vocal and
persistent.
Task:
In response to the funding controversy, Bruce Stacy has asked
you to write a letter by
Monday, February 16, at 8:00 a.m.,
answering the allegations. His two main concerns are answering whether the funding
allocations are fair and equitable, and answering why the funding was cut when
the student enrollment was rising. So at the very least you will be sure to
address his two concerns in your letter, although you realize there may be additional
points to be made. From working with Bruce Stacy over the last year and a half,
you know that he really values visual aids like graphs and charts, so you consider
ways to incorporate these in your letter, where appropriate.
Supporting Documents:
Document A: Email received
by Director of Student Activities
Document B: Letter from Pres. Rudyard
Document C: Excerpt (page 7) from the Student
Activities Annual Report
Document D: Excerpt (page 34) from
the Institutional Research Report
Document E: Article from April 2008
student newspaper, The Juniatian