Proposal

Memorandum To:

Dr. Kenneth Price

From:

Brandy Kiger

Date:

July 2, 2008

Subject:

Semester Project Proposal

Introduction The Career Services office provides career counseling, job fairs, resume help, testing, and other services for the entire student body and alumni of Western Carolina University. Last year, the staff provided services for nearly 2,000 members of the student body through career events and in-office help. While this is a large number, there are still many students who are not aware of the office or its function. My goal is to increase the number of students who utilize the services provided by providing a document that will address the function of the Career Services office. Increasing student awareness will also ensure the need for the department and for a budget increase to help support the services and staff provided.

Currently, the office only has a website and a two-sided 4” x 8” card to advertise their services. While these are effective to an extent, it would be helpful for the office to have a more detailed, comprehensive listing of services available to students. Since the Career Services office operates under a limited budget, with much of their funds earmarked for career fairs and events, any project outside of their budget would necessitate outside funding.

For my semester project, I propose to create an advertisement-based, multi-page, bound brochure for Career Services. This document will not only highlight what the office offers, but also provide in-depth information regarding those services for students and/or faculty. The advertisements would serve a dual purpose: a) paying for the production of the brochure, and b) highlighting potential employers and internship possibilities for the student body.

Through researching materials circulated by other colleges and working with the Career Services office, I propose to:

Generate a list of services that the Career Services office currently offers, as well as descriptions of those services.

Design and create a multi-page brochure for circulation.

Provide examples of advertising and a price list for different advertisement sizes based on market research.

Provide a cost analysis for production of the document.

Dr. Kenneth Price

2

July 5, 2008

I fully accept any costs that might result from the research and development of this brochure. I will continue to work on this brochure for the next two weeks and submit it for review on or before July 18th, 2008 to Dr. Price.

Goals & Objectives The desired outcome of this project is to create a multi-page brochure that fully outlines and explicates the services available to them through the Career Services offices. It will be distributed to students at orientations, career events, and through the Career Services office. Goals and objectives for this project are as follows:

Identify the services offered by Career Services – To complete this objective, I will compile text from Career Services’ current publications and their website.

Because this is intended to be a document that will not be reproduced each year, but instead produced once en masse, it will cover all the events and opportunities but remain generic, with no specific dates.

Provide cost analysis for production – I will contact several printing houses in the area and request estimates for the cost of production. This will include estimates for a black and white document, black and white and one, two and three colors, and full color. This will provide the department with several different options.

Provide examples & prices of advertising – This objective will require market research. Since Career Services is a small department within the university, their budget does not have money allocated for creating a document of this size. In order to do this, it will have to be paid for with funds generated by advertising. I will contact other universities in the UNC system who have similar documents, and inquire what they charge per ad based on size. I will also compile a list of potential buyers based on employers and companies that frequent WCU career events.

Design and create a multi-page brochure— I will create a mock-up of the brochure with sample advertisements. The document should be around 20 pages. I have already acquired sample brochures and documents from other universities in the area as samples and will work from them to produce a complete, professional-looking document for the department.

Editing I will begin by taking text from several sources and compiling it to create one cohesive document. As needed, I will flesh out the existing text to create a more comprehensive overview of services and events offered by Career Services. Once the text is compiled, I will input it into a layout before submitting it for review.

Plan of Action

Layout – As stated before, this will document will be a publication that serves the entire university community, including alumni. This will be presented in a document that is 15-20 pages, with visuals, and will be placed in an InDesign document for publication. It will be 8 ½” x 11” in dimension and will be bound.

Time Schedule – I have already completed benchmark research for this project, and will continue once this proposal is approved, including any changes and/or

Dr. Kenneth Price

3

July 5, 2008

suggestions as they are presented. Shown in Table I below is an estimated timeline that this project should cover:

June 14-July 6 X

Research Draft Meeting w/ Career Services Peer Edit Final Edit Submission Table I: Proposed Project Timeline

July 7-13

July 14-17

X X

X

X

X

July 18

X X X

Tentative Outline: I. Executive Summary/ Introduction II. Table of Contents III. Career Events IV. Career Testing V. Career Counseling VI. Resume Writing VII. Interview Help VIII. Non-work study & Off-campus employment IX. Professional Development

Qualifications I hold a Bachelor’s degree in English, and am currently pursuing an MA in Professional Writing. For the past year, I have worked closely with the Career Services staff as their Graduate Assistant, and have provided support by writing and editing their bi-semester newsletter. I feel that I am qualified to take on this task as I have the educational background and a vested interest in the development of the Career Services’ department. As a member of the Career Services’ staff, I would like to see the department have a more effective impact on the university student body, and have their services more readily recognized. Since I work in the office, I will have the ability to stay in contact with department head Mardy Ashe and career counselor Mike Despeaux, and receive their input and suggestions for the publication as needed.

Conclusion Thank you for taking the time to regarding my project proposal to create a more comprehensive publication for the Career Services office. If you have any questions please feel free to contact me at bckiger1@catamount.wcu.edu or by phone at (828) 226-2162.