REPORT 2 ASSIGNMENT

REPORT 2 ASSIGNMENT

Background and Assumptions

For Report 2, assume, as you did for Report 1, that earlier this year, a wealthy philanthropist, Luva Peeps, contacted your Program Head indicating that she is willing to fund up to $5 million for the improvement of a BCIT Burnaby campus building or outdoor space.

 

The philanthropist sought submissions of reports describing an aspect of a BCIT Burnaby campus public building or outdoor space that is in need of improvement in terms of its financial, social, and/or environmental impact. After the deadline for submissions, and before the end of that day, she had received 15 reports, each describing a different aspect of a campus building or outdoor space that the student report-writer considered – and proved with evidence – to be in need of improvement in terms of its financial, social, and/or environmental sustainability.

 

This philanthropist has now read all of the reports and has selected problems to pursue funding projects for. Now, assume that this philanthropist is as interested in education as she is in construction, and is seeking your input as a BCIT Construction Management student. Ms. Peeps has given you one of the “Report 1” reports she received [your Report 1, but which, for this assignment, you are to assume was not written by you, but instead by a community member named Tony Yang.

 

Ms. Peeps would like your opinion regarding approaches that might be taken to solve the problem identified in the original (Tony Yang’s) report. She has not yet looked into BCIT’s procedures for allocating government, capital, or donation funds. At this point, she is interested in knowing what improvements are needed on the BCIT Burnaby campus.

 

(If your Report 1 was on an off-campus topic, adjust the above assumptions accordingly.)

 

The philanthropist has offered to pay you a consultant’s fee for your report and expects you to put about twenty-five hours of work into it between now and April 1. You want to do a great job on the report because this philanthropist and her family have many connections in the community and could be a valuable part of your future employment network.

 

Assignment

 

For your Report 2 assignment in CMGT 7800, individually prepare a written analytical technical report that

 

  • describes three viable project options for improving the financial, social, and/or environmental sustainability of the aspect of the building or outdoor space that was discussed in Report 1

 

  • assesses the financial, social, and/or environmental feasibility (advantages and disadvantages) of each project option both short term and long term (it’s not necessary to assess all three kinds of feasibility)

 

  • recommends which one of the three project options the philanthropist should pursue.

 

The philanthropist is not seeking a proposal. Imagine yourself to be unconnected in any way with any redevelopment project that might take place in the future. If one option does go ahead, you won’t be involved in it. Your task is to provide three reasonable options, present an objective assessment of the three options, and recommend which one the philanthropist should consider seeking proposals for, based on your objective assessment. For example, one option might be a minor retrofit, one might be a partial demolition and rebuilding, one might be a complete demolition and rebuilding under $5 million.

 

The philanthropist has made it clear that you don’t need to worry about jurisdiction, bylaws, policies, permits, or politics: all you need to do by the end of your report is recommend which of the project options you think is the best solution to the problem, as long as it can be done for under $5 million. It will be up to the philanthropist to work with the appropriate BCIT departments to pursue the project.

 

In the “scope” portion of your report’s Introduction, indicate the criteria you will be using to assess the options – financial, social, and/or environmental (mirror the impacts that were presented in Report 1).

 

Following your report’s Introduction, briefly (in one or two short paragraphs) describe this report’s context and summarize the Report 1 findings in a ‘Background’.

 

The report should describe/explain the three project options, keeping in mind that this section will be 1/3 of the total findings, so the level of detail will not be high. Describe each project’s

 

  • specific location and purpose
  • phases
  • duration.

 

Then, in the rest of the report’s findings, present at least one of the following:

  • each project’s short-term and long-term financial feasibility, considering initial costs, ongoing costs, and any monetary savings. (Be as detailed as you can regarding costs, but consider the availability of information and your own time and length constraints; if necessary, present estimates based on evidence, rather than exact, hard costs.)

 

  • each project’s short-term and long-term environmental feasibility, considering the project’s impacts on land, air, water, and the creatures who inhabit them including humans, both during the project and after its completion

 

  • each project’s short-term and long-term social feasibility (the project’s effects on the people in the community) both during and after the project, including, but not limited to, considerations of safety, cleanliness, health, aesthetics, comfort, and conduciveness to the kinds of activities the building or space is intended for.

 

Discuss both advantages and disadvantages of at least one of the above three aspects of each project both short term (during the project) and long term (after the project has been completed). The short term will normally include the duration of the project, while you will need to define the long term, e.g. one year, five years, or ten years.

 

The report should conclude with a recommendation to Ms. Peeps regarding which of the three project options seems most feasible as a solution to the problem described in Report 1, written by T. Yang.

 

Limit the scope of your topic to meet your constraints of time, budget, and report length. The report is not expected to be a full feasibility study of either option; it is, instead, a short comparison/recommendation report assessing three options. Again, it is not a proposal; it provides preliminary assessment of the feasibility of three projects, one of which might be done later by an outside third party, not by you.

 

Your report should contain

 

  • your own primary research (direct observations, measurements, photographs, interviews, etc.)
  • secondary research (published information from credible sources outside yourself)
  • at least six in-text citations in the findings
  • at least six secondary sources in the bibliography.

 

Every piece of information in the report that you did not already know before doing research or that is not common public knowledge should be supported by a source, usually in an in-text citation. Review the plagiarism video posted in Week 5. The report will

 

  • identify the building/outdoor space by address or location – Background section
  • briefly summarize Yang’s findings (one paragraph) – Background section
  • describe the three project options – about a third (1/3) of your findings
  • assess all three project options’ short- and long-term advantages and disadvantages from at least one perspective (financial, social, environmental) – about two thirds (2/3) of your findings
  • recommend which project option the reader should pursue – Recommendation section.

 

The report should conform to the guidelines given in the course manual. The findings of the report should be written in clear, concise and grammatically correct language (sentences), and:

 

  • be between 6 and 8 pages (not under 6, not over 8), not counting graphics
  • be 1.25 spaced in New Times Roman 12-point font, with 1” margins
  • contain at least one correctly integrated graphic.

 

With the supplements (title page, table of contents, list of illustrations, summary, introduction, conclusion, and references) and any optional parts (acknowledgments, glossary, notes, appendices), the report could reach twenty or more pages. Submit the report to the course Dropbox in a Word or PDF file by the due date. See the Report 2 Grading Rubric in the course content area for criteria. Your instructor’s feedback will come in the form of a written message to you within D2L, commenting on the areas of strength and areas for improvement in the report.