Full Course Description

This course offers students practice writing for a business or professional audience as they develop, research, and revise an independent project. The purpose of the class is to prepare students to think as managers capable of putting information to practical use. We begin by working on the resume and cover letter, both as professional documents and as examples of presenting information to a specific audience. Then each student develops an independent class project through several stages of revision, culminating in a final paper. Topics are freely chosen, though students taking the course usually propose business, sports management, education, government, or entrepreneurial initiatives. Past students have proposed the following: 

• To set up a student service offering web page design assistance to Rutgers professors

• To offer a special training program to coaches of Little League baseball teams

• To start a program to improve motivation and reduce employee turnover at a local restaurant

• To increase attendance and fan involvement at Rutgers Women's Basketball games

• To set up a web page offering student evaluations of courses at Rutgers

• To institute new policies to control binge drinking on campus

• To start a stress reduction program at a local workplace

• To begin a telecommuting program in a telephone sales setting as a way of retaining staff while solving office space problems

• To create a commuter lounge in the Hill Center basement with an emphasis on stress reduction and relaxation

• To start an onsite childcare program to improve productivity and reduce employee turnover

• To introduce e-mail communication and web-accessible cameras to a daycare center as a way of communicating with and reassuring working parents

• To expand an aftercare program for elementary school children to include educational enrichment based on the experiential learning model

• To start an on-campus food delivery service

All students are welcome and a wide range of proposals are possible for the class. The only requirement is that proposals provide a researched rationale for a project designed to address a specific problem. In the course of the term, students complete assignments intended to help them develop and expand their projects. These assignments are designed by individual instructors, but usually include the following: 

• An initial one-page draft of the project idea.

• An annotated bibliography of more than six sources.

• A one-page memo naming the imagined audience for your project.

• A midterm paper of approximately six pages, focused on your research (which takes the form of a proposal memo or sales letter).

• Three visual graphic aids that help illustrate your project.

• A formal oral presentation lasting about ten minutes describing your project in more detail.

• The final paper (taking the form of a project proposal or grant proposal) of at least 15 pages.

Texts for the class are available at the Rutgers University Bookstore.