Formal Assessment Guidelines - POTUS Foreign Policy Memo (Mandatory Term Project)

Introduction

This project is an opportunity to discuss what you think should be the highest priority (national interest) in the future of American foreign policy with one specific country. Completing this activity is a mandatory component of this course. It serves as the standard course assessment for all GOVT 2305 students. Failure to submit this project in its entirety will result in a failing grade for the course. There are four steps to completing this project:

Step 1 - Identifying the Issue

Select a critical issue in the US foreign policy relationship with another country. Try to pick a country of personal interest, which should help motivate your research efforts. Finally, identify strategies that could be used to improve the policy.

Step 2 - Gathering Sources

Gather three scholarly sources (articles published in a peer-reviewed academic journal) that address the issue you selected and offer suggestions for improvement using the following criteria:

• The article must be no more than ten years old, a minimum of five pages in length, and should meet the standards of college level material.
• Carefully choose those sources that provide a variety of perspectives on your topic.
• For current events information relevant to your topic, you may use newspaper articles, magazine articles, and items of the like as "supplemental sources" in addition to the 3 main sources.
• Textbooks, Dictionaries, Encyclopedias (including Wikipedia), Almanacs, or an Atlas are reference materials and are not to be listed as sources on the collegiate level.
• Provide the formal MLA or APA citation for each source both on the works cited page and in the body text of the assignment.

Step 3 - The Proposal (50 points)

Submit a proposal in the body of an e-mail (not as an attachment) by the date specified in the course calendar. There is a sample proposal posted online for you to use as a model. Identify the foreign policy relationship selected for study and present a bibliography listing the 3 primary sources. Failure to submit an acceptable proposal by the deadline will result in the entire assignment being incomplete.

Step 4 - The Memo (200 points)

• Prepare a formal policy memo for the President of the United States (POTUS). Your document should quickly explain how the President can take your advice and put it into action. He is a busy man, so you must convey information quickly and on point.
• This document should quickly articulate (in 2-3 paragraphs) the relevance of the issue, the current policy position (citing the supporting evidence) and conclude with suggested reforms.
• The memo is to be 1.5 pages in your own words and a maximum of 2 full pages in length with citations. Keep citations to an absolute minimum. No more and no less is necessary for this activity. Failure to meet the minimum writing requirement will result in a zero for the entire assignment (no partial credit will be awarded as this is a formal institutional assessment).
• The formatting is to be single spaced; this is the protocol for a memo. If you need help with the formatting, use the supplements provided for the project.
• Finally, add a cover page to the front of the document and include the works cited page at the end. Submit all pages together as one file to the appropriate dropbox.

The grading standards used to assess the quality of your work for this project will be detailed in a grading rubric, which will be provided during the semester. It is strongly suggested that student read ahead and use the library database during the first week of the course to begin researching a topic. This project requires carefully planning throughout the semester. Refer to the course calendar for the specific due date. The final product is to be submitted as a single file via the submission guidelines identified by the instructor.