Central Washington University Project Proposal Memorandummain content
Assignment Learning Objectives
Be able to
- Use Microsoft Office Word 2007
- Apply a Word template and its associated styles to format a document as a memorandum
- Write paragraphs that demonstrate unity and coherence
- Use Microsoft Office Word spelling, grammar, and readability statistics to improve the quality of your writing
- Interview a potential client and perform an initial needs assessment
- Analyze a real-world problem and propose a software solution to the problem
Assignment
Use the Microsoft Office Word 2007 and its Memo (Professional Design) template to write a one to two page memorandum to me (Dr. Gellenbeck) proposing a software project appropriate for CS 480-481.
Your memo should consist of at least four paragraphs:
- Problem Statement: Summarize the real-world problem and a software solution to the problem.
- Client and Stakeholders: Explain who the client and stakeholders are and how they currently interact with the problem.
- Scope: Specify the scope of the proposed software project. In other words, what aspects of the problem will your software solve, and what will remain as tasks requiring human judgment or work.
- Conclusion: Conclude with a persuasive argument as to why the software project would be an appropriate choice for CS 480-481.
You may wish to view and/or print a sample memorandum [PDF] with formatting styles indicated with red annotations.
Grading criteria
Your grade will be based on your demonstrated writing proficiency as well as the quality of your proposed project idea.
A scoring rubric [PDF] will be used for assessing this assignment. You are encouraged to print this rubric and use it as a checklist for expectations, writing guidelines, and quality assurance.
Honor code: The work needs to be your own. You may wish have someone help by proofreading a draft version and identifying problems, but the words and content contained in the memorandum should be your own.
Submission Guidelines
Due date: Tuesday, October 9 at the start of class
- Turn in your neatly printed memorandum at the start of class.
- Name (or rename) you Word file
LastnameFirstnameProposal.docx- For example, I would call my memorandum "GellenbeckEdProposal.docx"
- Use e-mail to send me your Word file as an attachment (gellenbe@cwu.edu)
- I will look at your file to assess formatting according to the Microsoft Professional Memo template.
- If everyone is careful with the file naming convention (i.e. LastnameFirstnameProposal.doc), it simplifies my task of dealing with all the e-mail attachments.