Project 02

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, you should base your response(s) on the information in the provided documents, in addition to your research into furnishings for the new meeting space.

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:
As in Project 01, 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. You have been class Treasurer since your freshman year, and it’s been your favorite experience as a student. In particular, you enjoy working with the Director of Student Activities, Bruce Stacy, who has mentored you and relied on your advice in decision making.

Challenge:
Juniata's most generous benefactor is the Laysmall Foundation. When representatives of the foundation toured the campus recently, they were disappointed in the condition of the meeting facilities in the Office of Student Activities, and promised Bo Shoutsled, Juniata College's Vice President of Finance, that they would donate funds for an improved meeting room. Bo Shoutsled has in turn asked Bruce Stacy to come up with a plan for the renovation. While the Juniata Facilities Department will handle any remodeling and painting (at no charge to Student Activities), the challenge is to determine what new furniture and electronic equipment to purchase for the space.

A complicating factor is that while theLaysmall Foundation has guaranteed the funding (up to $10,000), for tax purposes they will only be able to make the donation after the end of the year, on December 31. However, from a budgetary and tax standpoint, it is in Juniata's best interests to make the purchases before the end of the fiscal year. To resolve this difficulty, Bo Shoutsled is recommending a short-term loan to cover the immediate purchases, which will then be paid off when the lon Viesmall Foundation makes its donation in the future.

Finally, Bruce Stacy will be leaving in a day to give the keynote address at the Conference for the Student Activities Directors, and he asked for your help in starting the renovations.

Task:
As mentioned above, Bruce Stacy will be leaving town, and he has asked you to write the preliminary recommendation for renovation and financing, and upload it in Moodle, by Monday, November 09 (due at 9:00am). Your report will have three components: (1) A description or diagram of the renovated space, including the suggested furniture or appliance purchases, (2) A list of the suggested purchases and their prices (with documentation, such as a URL) (3) Analysis of each loan option, including the total interest paid over the life of the loan, with a recommendation on which to choose.

As mentioned above, Bo and Bruce will want to verify the prices of all your suggested purchases, so you will have to provide documentation for them, such as a URL, showing the item and its price. While doing your research, you are well aware that you can recommend up to $10,000 in purchases, but no higher. And you will use your total suggested purchase price as the loan amount in the payment table Bo Shoutsled is requesting. While the financing decision will ultimately be made by Bo Shoutsled, your report is sure to influence his decision, and it is a critical in facilitating the remodeling. The financial stabiliy of the Laysmall Foundation might also impact your loan recommendation.

Supporting Documents:
Document A: Offer letter fromLaysmall Foundation to renovate meeting space
Document B: Email from Bo Shoutsled to Bruce Stacy
Document C: Excerpt from web-page with loan offer from Countrywide.com
Document D: Advertisement with loan offer from BankOfAmerica.com
Document E: Excerpt from Juniatian newspaper