Task:
Introduction:
Following on your first collaborative project, the ethics project, all groups will be required to complete a second project that will focus on a protracted area of public policy. This project will require each group to present answers to a series of questions pertaining to business/government interaction on important contemporary problems.
The project will once again consist of individual segments prepared by individual students. The Group will get an overall grade, as was the case in the first project, but I will make adjustments as necessary - up or down -- to reflect individual performance. As we have discussed in class, the topics will reflect a serious, intractable national problem that affects both business and government and which neither sector can solve on its own. Collaboration among government, business, and the non-profit sector is indispensable.
GROUP TOPIC
1) The Federal Budget The Annual Budget Deficit
2) The National Debt Short and Long Term Consequences
3) Immigration The President's Immigration Initiative
4) Heath Care Sustainability of the Affordable Care Act
5) Infrastructure Reimagining the Future
6) Financial Institutions The Power/Effectiveness of the Federal Reserve
7) Cyber Security The US Cyber Security Strategy
8) Economic Development Transportation Opportunities Initiative
9) International Trade Multinational Trade Agreements
10) Education Future Financing of Education
The project will officially kick off and will be due the final day of class. The project will involve researching the specific problem area that has been assigned to your Group. The project will require you to
(a) utilize and incorporate class readings and material,
(b) conduct outside research,
(c) develop a group PowerPoint (or similar) brief,
(d) participate in a group presentation/discussion, and
(e) summarize your contributions to the group in a short paper.
Assignment:
The group product will be a briefing presentation similar to the briefing documents that have been prepared for the ethics project - accompanied by a short paper in which each student summarizes his/her contribution to the presentation and the group topic. One poster board presentation (for online class - a PowerPoint presentation) will be developed by each group, and will include specific slide prepared by each individual group member. The consolidated PowerPoint and consolidated paper will be submitted in the Assignment Folder . I will provide a template of the PowerPoint format for guidance.
The format for the project and a brief discussion of the sections are set forth below:
Group: Identify your group name, such as The Federal Budget, Cyber Security, etc.
Topic/Issue/Problem. Select a general topic area that your group has decided to address. For example, a health care topic can be "universal coverage", or "controlling costs". Then identify a specific issue within the topic that is the focus of a current policy debate. For example, in the Energy Group, an issue might be government support of alternative energy industries.
Once you've identified the issue that your group will be investigating, you should narrow your focus to a specific problem or question. The problem should be one in which immediate action of some kind is required and pending. For example, for immigration, a problem may be the specific policy that will address the undocumented persons not covered by the President's Executive Order that was issued last fall - or recent issues associated with the Executive Order being over turned by a Federal Appeals Court .
How the Problem is Currently Being Addressed. In this section, the business group should identify a solution that they believe would be primarily in the interests of the business community. For example, in the area of health care, the business community may prefer a policy that permits more flexibility in determining levels of participation. Try to find an example of a private sector solution and briefly describe the kinds of policy preferences this would result in. And answer the question - why does government oppose this?
A Third Way. The final section of the paper should include an assessment as to whether any of the collaborative models presented in class - such as the mega-community model or some of the approaches discussed in Friedman's writings offer hope for a better solution and a better future. Briefly describe the approach you think may be relevant and how you think it might be utilized. Also provide your assessment of how globalization will influence any solution you might offer. Finally, describe the change that must occur for it to come about. Also identify the major barriers or resistance to change and how you would propose to overcome them.
Instructions:
Group leader should assemble the group and proceed as follows:
Facilitate a group discussion in which you identify the issue and problem that your group will work on. (Number 1 above). I'd like the group leaders to submit that topic.
Determine the assignments of the three sections above to the students in the group. I'd like the group leaders to advise me on who will do what in each group. Not every student must present
Prepare a PowerPoint that reflects all of the student input.
Once completed, each member of the group should review the presentation and make recommended changes or indicate his/her agreement with the presentation.
The group will make a brief (very brief) presentation .
The presentations will be done In front of the entire class. Each group will be assigned a topic to present and topic to review and question. After the presentation - each student in the review group will have an opportunity to question the presenting group in front of the entire class. Grades will be based on the quality of the presentation, the questions, and the responses. Every student will ask a question and provide an answer.
I look forward to working with you on this project and discussing the many interesting issues you are certain to discover.
Reference: https://www.diffen.com/difference/Economic_Development_vs_Economic_Growth