This assignment requires you choose EITHER "A" or "B" below. More details on this later)

A. Conference Presentations.  Working in your established groups, create a 20-30 minute presentation on, "How we as graduates should face…" (topic area is up to you, but you need my approval before working on this). See starter ideas below.

*  Note: We may adjust timeframes depending on discussions with our "client" Ms. Michelle Shawgo of the Wackerle Center.

*  Topics need to be chosen by March 3.

*  The goal here is for you to formulate responses/strategies to issues you will face as you go out into "the real world."  Ideally, mix in an overview of important considerations with your planned response(s).

*  Just to get your thinking process started, here are some potential topic areas:

• Diversity in the Workplace
• Harassment in the Workplace
• Censorship/ Controls on Employee Communication
• Researching for the job interview
• Preparation for the Job Interview
• Building a Professional Image on the Job
• The "Quarter-Life Crisis"
• Communication Etiquette
• Life-long (Career) Learning
• Adapting to a New Organizational Culture
• Early Career Personal Finance
• What are Benefits and Why Should You Care?
• Unethical Behavior (on the part of a company or individual)

B. Event Planning – Your group will work directly with Ms. Shawgo as needed – last year, one group was in charge of the "logistics" for the conference and one group took charge of promotion and publicity.

More details will become available later on option B.

In EVALUATING your group conference presentation I will take into account the fact that you are a communication professional.  The presentation should be clear, forceful, well-organized, and articulate.  Most important, the presentation should contain reliable, substantive information and ideas that are directly relevant to concerns college graduates may face. Analyze your audience well!  Handouts and (if the technology is available) PowerPoint slides are likely to be useful and effective. How you handle questions from the students attending is part of your grade as well. 
          The effective presentation of information your fellow seniors can make use of is the most import feature of this assignment and counts most toward the grade.  However, if your presentation is weak, you appear under-prepared, your group goes overtime or significantly under time or you leave no time for questions, your grade will suffer.  This will be graded primarily as a speech /oral communication competency demonstration.  The group will receive a grade for the presentation based on the categories on the evaluation form.  For each individual I will record a final project grade based on the group grade and modified based on peer evaluations.

Date Due:  April 12 (and as scheduled for class)