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Program Learning Outcomes and Assessment – Spring 2021

Course: SYP 4730 Sociology of Aging

Program Learning Outcome: Demonstrate effective business communication skills.

Material: Chapter 16 – The Politics of Aging

Assessment Tool: Written Assignment (29 points)

Students are required to earn a passing grade (70% or better) on this assignment.

Any student who does not earn a score of 70% or better on this assignment will be

required to repeat the course.

Chapter 16 Assignment – Business Communication and Interest Group Politics

You have recently been hired as a speech writer in Florida for a rising candidate for the
governorship. Considering the demographic composition of Florida, please compose a speech
addressing three key issues you feel are most important for your candidate to discuss in this
speech to Florida’s American Association of Retired Persons (AARP).

Your speech should be comprised of 3 paragraphs (1 paragraph for each of your 3 key issues).

Each paragraph is to be 8-9 sentences in length and should:

(1) identify and describe the issue of importance,

(2) state the candidate’s position on the issue, and

(3) present the candidate’s plan to address the issue.

You are encouraged to be creative with this assignment, but please remember that you are
required to incorporate multiple terms and concepts from the chapter within your speech in order
to demonstrate your understanding of important content and to earn maximum points.

You will deliver your speech in person as the keynote speaker during an upcoming campaign
rally sponsored by the AARP. Your speech will also be transcribed and published in multiple
forms of print media, so it is imperative that your written work be well-structured, grammatically
correct, error-free, and contain citations and references, as appropriate. Your speech must be
in your own words and not copied from the textbook or any other source. Your submission is to
be written in paragraph form, double-spaced, in 12-point font, and with complete sentences (and
without lists or bullet points).

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The written content component of this assignment is worth 24 points as follows:

• Each paragraph response = 8 points

• Up to 6 points can be deducted for spelling/punctuation/grammar/sentence
structure/references/citations errors.

This assignment is worth a total of 29 points as follows, and there are two required
deliverables for this assessment:

• You must send your complete first draft of this assignment to either Santa Fe Writing
Tutoring or Smartthinking for these tutors to review and provide recommended
improvements. (You are welcome and encouraged to utilize the services of both of these
resources, but only one is required.)

As part of your grade for this assignment, you are then required to submit, via uploading
into Canvas, a) documented proof that you have had the written content of your assignment
reviewed by either Santa Fe Writing Tutoring or Smartthinking, and b) the complete first
draft of this assignment that you sent to the tutors for review.

Points = 5
Due Date = April 5, 2021, 11:59 p.m.

• You are required to submit, via uploading into Canvas, the final revised version of the
written content of your assignment.

Points = 24 (Up to 6 points may be deducted for writing/formatting errors.)
Due Date = April 11, 2021, 11:59 p.m.

Very Important Information Regarding This Assignment:

As you will recall, the following language is included in the Expectations for Students in
HSA Courses document and the Course Syllabus, both of which were provided to you in
the Week 1 Canvas module for this class:

The Business Programs Department is now part of the Accreditation Council for
Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP). As part of the accreditation process,
each core Business Programs course has been assigned a program learning
outcome (PLO), along with a specific assignment to measure whether students
have met the program learning outcome. Students are required to earn a passing
grade (70% or better) on the designated PLO assignment for each course. Any
student who does not earn a score of 70% or better on the PLO assignment will be
required to repeat the course.

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Since earning a score of 70% or better on this assignment is required in order to pass
this course, you have been given extra time for completion. You are, however, strongly
advised to use this time wisely and not wait until the last minute to complete this work.