The Challenge
Your M3 reading assignments include an article on adaptive reuse (see “Adaptive Reuse in the Healthcare Industry: Repurposing Abandoned Buildings to Serve Medical Missions”), a practice which has vast implications for healthcare strategy. It also represents a very good opportunity for you to leave your “desks” and get out into the field to explore possibilities. Here’s the scenario:
Place yourself in the role of Strategy Officer for a soon-to-be-established optometry clinic based in the city of your choice. (An actual city must be selected as this assignment calls for formal market research.) This entity will be named Cambridge Optometry and it will offer the usual and customary array of services provided by optometry practices. (If you are unfamiliar with this modality of care and the types of services offered, conduct associated research to gain a proper understanding before completing the assignment.) The owner/optometrist of the forthcoming solo practice desires operational efficiency and also takes opportunities where possible to make environmentally-responsible decisions. Having learned of adaptive reuse, he enlists you to search the city seeking abandoned and available commercial buildings which might be able to be converted into an optometry clinic through adaptive reuse. Your mission is to identify three potential adaptive reuse candidates in your area, identifying their physical address, describing them in detail, and ranking their potential to be converted successfully. The candidates must be actual commercial properties which currently are for sale, so best to consult commercial real estate websites and conduct good old-fashioned, boots-on-the-ground investigations to identify prospects. Feel free to supply links in your text to real estate listings, if available, or other resources to identify your selected candidates. If no such properties exist in the immediate market, expand its boundaries until you find accommodations meeting desired specifications.
Note that in the real world, a project such as this would represent quite the undertaking, requiring possession of an extensive array of information (e.g., spatial needs, financial resources available, location preferences, etc.). Such rich detail (and the time needed to make use of it) isn’t available due to obvious course parameters, but you certainly have sufficient time to perform a cursory examination for purposes of identifying a few potential candidates. That’s exactly what you must do and, through this, you’ll have a better understanding of adaptive reuse.
The Submission Requirement
Your submission in its entirety (i.e., all inclusive) must be at least 1200 words. It is to be typed (or pasted) directly into the Moodle posting window, after which you will submit your work. After submission, students are advised to verify that the assignment was submitted successfully by revisiting the submission link in advance of the assignment deadline. (Warning: After the assignment deadline, do not return to the Practitioner Application to check the status of your submission, as doing so can change the submission date, forcing issuance of penalties for lateness.) Note that attachments of any kind are prohibited and will carry no points value. Given the length of the submission, it is advised that students prepare it in a word processing program, and when finalized, copy and paste the text into the Moodle posting window. Moodle can be very finicky and often will distort formatting, so care must be taken in preparing your submission. It is understood that Moodle formatting is limited; simply make your submission look as nice as possible.
Your paper must be well referenced, with at least three (3) of the references being from scholarly academic journals. (If you cannot ascertain whether a journal does or does not qualify as scholarly academic, contact the Noel Library and request assistance.) References may be prepared using the style guide of your choice (e.g., APA, MLA); just be sure to consistently use the selected style. As Moodle formatting is limited, style guide requirements apply only to the preparation and presentation of references. Treat this as a formal report, rather than an informal web post. Note that references consisting merely of web links are unacceptable and will result in a 30-point deduction.
In presenting your work, identify the title, your name and student ID number, and submission date at the top of your submission and supply the following headings, exactly as they appear below, placing each in bold text:
Introduction (In this section, supply a brief introduction, helping the reader grasp the intent of the forthcoming work.)
Background
City Profile (In this section, supply a brief overview of the city of focus, noting its name, population, demographic characteristics, and any other helpful background information.)
Competitive Landscape (In this section, describe the state of competition in the marketplace by identifying key providers of vision services, painting a detailed picture of the given environment.)
Adaptive Reuse Candidates
Candidate 1 (In this section, supply a detailed profile of your first adaptive reuse candidate.)
Candidate 2 (In this section, supply a detailed profile of your second adaptive reuse candidate.)
Candidate 3 (In this section, supply a detailed profile of your third adaptive reuse candidate.)
Conclusions (In this section, summarize your candidate rankings, noting your recommended choice, and draw your report to a conclusion.)
References (In this section, supply a list of references conforming with the instructions listed elsewhere in this communication.)
Assessment Criteria
Your submission will be assessed based on the following:
Compliance quality: The degree to which your submission complies with noted guidelines, including word count and reference specifications,
Communication quality: The degree to which your work meets standards expected in business communications, including matters concerning the use of proper grammar and punctuation, and
Content quality: The quality of the content presented in your work.
Take care when determining word counts; Moodle automatically supplies these details to instructors. If word count requirements are not met, a 30-point deduction is assessed. (Note that Moodle’s word count algorithm may differ from the one used by your word processor, presenting yet another reason supporting an early submission, affording adjustment opportunities, if needed.)
