December 14, 2014

Dear Assessment Committee:

Throughout the semester of taking English 459 I have gained many valuable insights into the
grant and proposal writing process. When I signed up for this class initially I was very excited to
take it, and it did not disappoint. I learned many new skills about how to create and write grants
and proposals. One area that of my writing that has strengthened is my ability to deduce
information and put it into one concise collection of works. I was also able to involve my people
skills by working with a group, talking with individuals who have written grants and
interviewing clients for a better knowledge base.
Within this portfolio I have displayed a collection of works that I completed throughout the
semester. These works include our unit one proposal for Marys Books, which is a great
representation of the various aspects of a basic proposal. This proposal was geared towards Mary
a small business owner. It was written from the perspective of a local consulting firm wanting to
aid her in succeeding. It was interesting writing this because it required an immense amount of
background information both about Mary and her business as well as the consulting firm that we
came up with out of thin air. Requiring creative and intuitive think on our part. Another aspect
that is shown is our unit two project. Unit two was interesting because it left a lot of room for
interpretation. We were able to choose a project, pick the audience, and formulate our own rubric
for grading. My group and I decided to a research based needs assessment of the NDSU
Wallman Wellness Center. We wrote it from the perspective of students for students. The
purpose was to inform students and those who use the Wellness Center about some needs that the
facility faces. Also available on this site is are two different memos. One is an interview memo
thats purpose is to relay the knowledge that I gained from speaking to a grant writer. The other
is a letter of intent that is purposeful in exposing an idea we had for a project. Both were written
to the same person, however the purposes were very different in nature making them each
unique.
There were many opportunities to use individuals skills and knowledge bases within all of the
projects we created. When working with a group we all had different ideas about where Mary,
from the unit one project, wanted us to take her proposal. We deduced information she gave us
and incorporated research and our own expertise in order to have complete picture. In the unit
two project we had to use our knowledge of NDSU to satisfy the needs of the project. We used
our connections to gain more insight and research. Throughout all of these projects we had to
maintain a sort of professionalism about ourselves because we were often working with outside
sources. Unlike most classes where the majority of the work consists of in class projects that may
never see the light of day, most of our projects required outside knowledge. This was beneficial
for learning how to communicate better with people we did not know.
The final project was a success we completed the objectives that we set for ourselves. There
were a few areas I would have liked to work on more had time allow this. I really would have

preferred to interview the staff of the Wellness Center to get their opinions about the facility they
work in. This would have allowed us some expertise that we were lacking. I was pleased that we
were able to get data from the Wellness Center because we were unsure if they could release it.
All in all I am happy with the turnout of the project. Had time allowed more in depth research, it
would have been even better.
I feel that I had a successful semester. I learned how to write in two new genres that I had never
experienced before, both a grant and a proposal. I was able to fine tune my group work skills and
I had a great time working with a group on these projects which isnt usually the case. These allencompassing projects lent a hand in being more organized and planning projects more
thoroughly. Thus, this class was very beneficial to me and I know that skills that I have gained
and strengthened due to this class will enrich me for the future. I hope that the examples that I
have included are a good representation of the improvements I have made in my writing. I am
pleased with the rigor of this class and would recommend this course to anyone looking to
further their writing abilities.
Respectfully,
Olivia Scott