Author: chris

Readings & Reading Responses Text: Cambell, Richard. Media & Culture: an Introduction to Mass Communication (10th Edition). Available significantly cheaper on Kindle via Amazon.com. You will be required to turn in 4 out of 5 required reading responses over the course of the semester, each worth 5% of your final grade. These responses should always follow the same format: You will write a reading response for those dates designated on the syllabus W hen reading, jot down comments, ideas, and questions that will help you construct your response. You should go beyond personal opinion in these responses. Reading responses are not just your comments about the content of the article, they analyze how the author presents her or his message. Keep the following questions in mind, “What is the author’s purpose and argument of this piece?” “Is the argument sound, why or why not?” What does a reading response do? (1) Forces you to pull your ideas together in a coherent fashion (2) Shows me that you read the material and demonstrates critical thinking skills (3) Prepares you for class discussion (4) Allows you to make connections between the current text and course themes What are some things you should do when you write a reading response? Explore a strong reaction to the text beyond “This was a good chapter.” Raise questions about confusing or contradictory ideas. Challenge the reading (in a reasonable way), or, explain what arguments/ideas caused you to agree with the author. Directly reference the text through quotes to support all claims When appropriate, make connections between the text and other readings or themes. You must include two questions at the end of each response piece. One question should be directed to the author. What one question would you ask the author of this research? The second question should be directed at your classmates. This question should be constructed with goal of encouraging further analysis and class discussion of the reading. Note: Reading responses should be roughly 2-4 pages (typed, double spaced, and labeled with your name, the article title(s), author’s name(s)). Responses should be well structured, including an introduction (with a thesis), an effective summary of the material, well-articulated analysis of the author’s argument(s), proper citations, and an appropriate conclusion (including your thoughts and questions about the material). If responses are poorly written, you will only receive partial credit for the assignment Every response is due on a Friday – it must be either handed into me in person or submitted on Sakai before class begins. If you know you are going to be absent, submit the response to me before it is due to avoid losing points. (You are allowed one opportunity to hand in reading responses late – we’ll discuss.)

This position is located in the Office of the Director, Office of Workers Compensation Section

The selected incumbent will serve as a Program Analyst specializing in the Federal Compensation Act (FECA) data management and in developing, implementing, managing, evaluating and maintaining the Michael E. DeBakey VAMC FECA program’s data pertaining to cost, efficiency, and regulatory compliance; ensures accurate data is reported to the program manager prior to dissemination; maintains responsibility for a variety of administrative activities to include services essential to exercising of the FECA program’s responsibilities for technical integration management of all information essential to the mission and goals; maintains responsibility for electronically collecting, processing, retrieving, disseminating, and categorizing all FECA analysis reports by the MEDVAMC FECA program; coordinates with the program manager to ensure all required FECA information is current, functionally prepared, and correctly placed; maintains responsibility for assisting the FECA OWCP manager in generating written correspondence related to claim management to internal agencies; develops template letters and forms as assigned for improved claim case management; coordinates with various FECA Staff to electronically collect all briefing data, update internal standard operating procedures, and any other pertinent data as deemed essential; develops, implements, and manages numerous databases allowing for the processing categorizing, establishes and maintains state-of-the-art management information reporting systems to include data; all other duties as assigned.

 

 

 

 

Knowledge skills and abilities (Please answer each competency in essay format)

 

 

 

 

 

Competency 1 – Extensive knowledge of the Federal Employees’ Compensation Act (FECA) and Office of Workers’ Compensation Program (OWCP) laws, regulations, policies and practices. Include the ability to effective advise management and counsel employees regarding Department of Labor (DOL) Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs (OWCP) and Office of Personnel Management (OPM) policy, regulation and statutory issues pertaining to FECA and reemployment actions.

Competency 2 – Knowledgeable in performing case management activities and review of job-related injury claims and case records. Ability to gather, organize, problem-solve, analyze data and facts and recommend or initiate specific action or resolutions. Includes ability to research, interpret guidelines regulations to determine appropriate action/resolution.

Competency 3 – Ability to communicate orally and interact effectively with individuals and groups with a wide range of educational and socioeconomic backgrounds and divergent opinions and priorities. Includes the ability to deal tactfully with controversial or sensitive issues or situations.

 

Competency 4 – Ability to effectively communicate in writing to include policies, training presentations, and correspondence for a variety of purposes and to various offices both in Federal and private sectors. Highly skilled in Microsoft PowerPoint, Excel, Access and Word.

 

Competency 5 – Ability to conduct training for supervisors, employees and others effectively, both individually and in group settings.

 

Competency 6 – Ability to demonstrate hands-on experience in VA Workers’ Compensation Occupational and Health Management System (WC-OSHMIS). Highly skilled in data management and in developing, implementing, managing, evaluating, and maintaining program data pertaining to costs, efficiency, and regulatory compliance.

 

Competency 7 – Ability to plan, organize and prioritize work in order to accomplish a variety of tasks by established deadlines.

 

Competency 8 – Ability to establish and maintain state-of-art management information reporting system to include database development, spreadsheet design, and accessing of other automated systems for related information. Assure date integrity and that all information generated is accurate.

The goal of Case Study One is to apply project management skills acquired in the first three modules to a real-world project or situation. At a minimum, you should evaluate the following:

• Project Selection Criteria and Prioritization
  • Weighted and unweighted models
  • Ranking and prioritization of project proposals
• Project Initiation and Planning
  • Evaluate initiation and planning processes
  • Project/organizational structure
• Project Scope and Schedule Development
  • Creation of the work breakdown structure

Make sure you apply concepts or theories and scholarly resources to support your case study evaluation.

The analysis of the case should include an evaluation of the selection criteria, a ranking of proposals, a project initiation approval, and the steps required to create a work breakdown structure and project schedule development. The analysis should be a minimum of 750 words and should include at least two references.

Your sister owns a small clothing store. During a conversation at a family dinner, she mentions her frustration with having to manually track and reorder high demand items. She would like an automated system but has a very small budget.

Write a 4-5 page paper in which you create a plan for a low-cost automated inventory system in which you:
Describe all the necessary equipment.
Explain the costs involved in the creation of the system.
Describe the ongoing maintenance that will be required.
Provide a workflow diagram in Visio or equivalent software to illustrate how the system will work.
Your assignment must:
Be typed, double-spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; citations and references must follow APA or school-specific format. Check with your professor for any additional instructions.
Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required assignment page length.
Include charts or diagrams created in Excel, Visio, MS Project, or one of their equivalents such as Open Project, Dia, and OpenOffice. The completed diagrams/charts must be imported into the Word document before the paper is submitted.
The specific Course Learning Outcomes associated with this assignment are:
Describe the types of business needs that can be addressed using information technology-based solutions.
Create requirements for a system through a formal technique that enables a productive change in a way the business is conducted.
Use contemporary CASE tools in process and data modeling.
Use technology and information resources to research issues in systems analysis and development.
Write clearly and concisely about Systems Analysis and Development topics using proper writing mechanics and technical style conventions.
Grading for this assignment will be based on answer quality, logic/organization of the paper, and language and writing skills, using the following rubric.

As a public health professional, it is likely that you will conduct focus groups as part of community health assessments. Focus groups are useful when exploring community issues and developing good survey questions. As with all research, planning the focus group is important so that the data you seek can be easily and reliably collected and will yield valid results. A focus group protocol is created to describe all planned procedures. It serves as a road map to the public health professional detailing what he or she plans to do when conducting a particular focus group. For this week’s Assignment, review the readings on qualitative research skills to help you develop a focus group protocol.

The Assignment (4–6 pages):

Submit  5– to 6-page paper outlining a focus group protocol:

• Describe a subgroup from your community (include relevant demographics such as gender, socioeconomic status, age).
• Restate the public health problem in the community health profile you created in Week 5.
• Create six questions for the focus group related to the identified public health problem (e.g., contributing factors, potential solutions, assets available to solve the problem).
• Describe methods you would use for recruiting participants and collecting and managing the data. Explain why these methods would be effective.
• Create a brief (two-paragraph) consent form that summarizes the reason for the focus group, procedures to be followed, participants’ rights, and procedures for maintaining confidentiality

Assignment 2: Final Project: Sampling 

Based on the feedback you received on your submission from last week, submit a revised draft of your paper with this additional information:

1. Five additional references that could be used for your research paper and include a 1-2 sentence description for each of the five additional references, explaining how they fit with the research topic and the research question proposed. Make sure that these references come from scholarly sources using Argosy’s library resources.
2. A  very detailed outline of what you would like to cover in the intro/lit review of your paper. Write it as an outline and think about what you want each paragraph or section to cover. Paste your references into each section where the information from that article applies to the topic. Below is an example of the outline although the references have not been pasted in yet:
   1. Introduction or Statement of the Problem (e.g. Predictors of Depression in Men)
      1. Research question (E.g. What factors predict depression in men? For example, age, marital status, family history, stressors).
      2. Why is it important/implications  (E.g. xx% of men are depressed; less likely to seek treatment; if we can identify who is at risk, may be able to direct them to treatment sooner)
      3. Revised hypothesis based on feedback from the instructor
   2. Review of the Literature (the following is an example for above topic):
      1. Brief description of depression, symptoms, and any unique symptoms for men (Cite articles from which you will obtain this information).
      2. How widespread is it? Stats on depression in general but also stats on depression in men (Cite articles from which you will obtain this information).
      3. List factors that put men at risk for depression (Cite articles).
         1. Difficulty communicating distress or sadness (Cite articles).
         2. Job/work pressures (Cite articles).
      4. Demographic characteristics (Cite articles).
         1. Relationship between age and depression (Cite articles).
         2. Relationship between marital status and depression (Cite articles).
3. A 1-2 page description of the sample you would like to use for your study, that provides the answer to the following questions:
   1. What sampling technique would you use?
   2. Does the sample generalize to the population? Explain why or why not.
   3. What inclusion criteria would be used? What exclusion criteria would be used, if any?
   4. What ethical issues might be encountered when collecting your information from this sample?
4. Be sure to also submit all your ten references (the five from last week and the five new ones you added) in an APA-style reference page. Be sure to also include an APA-style title page with your submission. Your paper should be at least 2-3 pages long. Make sure you write in a clear, concise, and organized manner; demonstrate ethical scholarship in accurate representation and attribution of sources; display accurate spelling, grammar, and punctuation.

Submit your assignment to the M2: Assignment 2 Dropbox by Wednesday, October 14, 2015. All written assignments and responses should follow APA rules for attributing sources.

Assignment 2 Grading Criteria	Maximum Points
Provided five additional valid references and explained the reasoning behind their selection.	20
Discussed the sampling technique for the proposed study and included the aspects of generalization, inclusion, and ethical issues as requested in the assignment.	25
Provided a detailed outline of the intro/literature review section of the paper, along with revised hypothesis.	25
Included an APA-style title page and reference page (with at least 10 references).	10
Wrote in a clear, concise, and organized manner; demonstrated ethical scholarship in accurate representation and attribution of sources; displayed accurate spelling, grammar, and punctuation.	20
Total:

Your sister owns a small clothing store. During a conversation at a family dinner, she mentions her frustration with having to manually track and reorder high demand items. She would like an automated system but has a very small budget.

Write a 4-5 page paper in which you create a plan for a low-cost automated inventory system in which you:
Describe all the necessary equipment.
Explain the costs involved in the creation of the system.
Describe the ongoing maintenance that will be required.
Provide a workflow diagram in Visio or equivalent software to illustrate how the system will work.
Your assignment must:
Be typed, double-spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; citations and references must follow APA or school-specific format. Check with your professor for any additional instructions.
Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required assignment page length.
Include charts or diagrams created in Excel, Visio, MS Project, or one of their equivalents such as Open Project, Dia, and OpenOffice. The completed diagrams/charts must be imported into the Word document before the paper is submitted.
The specific Course Learning Outcomes associated with this assignment are:
Describe the types of business needs that can be addressed using information technology-based solutions.
Create requirements for a system through a formal technique that enables a productive change in a way the business is conducted.
Use contemporary CASE tools in process and data modeling.
Use technology and information resources to research issues in systems analysis and development.
Write clearly and concisely about Systems Analysis and Development topics using proper writing mechanics and technical style conventions.
Grading for this assignment will be based on answer quality, logic/organization of the paper, and language and writing skills, using the following rubric.

 

Use the internet to find at least three different ERP software systems that are available.

Determine what the main criteria are, create a comparison to evaluate each one, and explain how they compare to each other.

Prepare a table summarizing the results, and embed it into a Microsoft^® PowerPoint^® presentation of between 10 and 15 slides. The presentation should include some details of each system, your table of comparisons, and a summary with your conclusion.

 

Write a 2- to 3-page paper or develop a Microsoft^® PowerPoint^® presentation to use that information to present how the various aspects of customer-driven business involves and affects SCM, CRM, and ERP systems.

Choose an organization with which you are familiar or one in which you have an interest. Research and analyze the organization’s Human Resource Management programs, policies, procedures, or initiatives. Evaluate their effectiveness and select a program, policy, procedure or initiative which you believe needs to be changed.

 

Write a one (1) page paper in which you:

 

1. Assess the current Human Resource programs, policies, procedures, or initiatives in terms of effectiveness.
2. Hypothesize the changes that require improvement.
3. Format your assignment according to the following formatting requirements:
   1. Typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides.
   2. Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page is not included in the required page length.

 

 

The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are:

 

• Evaluate an organization’s readiness for change.
• Use technology and information resources to research issues in managing organizational change.
• Write clearly and concisely about managing organizational change using proper writing me