For this assignment, you will need to imagine that you are an employee of the University at Buffalo (perhaps you already are, and don’t need to imagine!). You will write a memo of around 500 words that succinctly describes a problem pertaining to the quality of education or student life at the University at Buffalo, and briefly suggests measures that may be taken toward addressing the problem. Your memo should be addressed to a real person in a real academic or administrative department at UB.
This will entail you having to engage in some research by looking around on UB’s various websites to find the appropriate audience for your memo. Audience awareness is an important part of this assignment. You will need to choose a primary audience – i.e. the person who can act to address the problem you describe – carefully, and you will need to tailor your language, tone, and evidence to properly persuade your chosen audience of the importance of the problem you describe.
Your memo should include your name and title, the name and title of your recipient, the date, and a clear and descriptive subject line. Additionally, your memo should do the following:
– Begin with a clear statement of purpose/problem. This should come in your first paragraph.
– Provide necessary context and background information.
– Provide realistic recommendations/conclusions.
As you work on this project, I recommend that you consult the chapter in our textbook on memos. The Purdue OWL also has useful resources, including sample memos that can give you an idea of the sort of formatting conventions common to memos.
The following pages on the UB website might make useful starting points for finding the appropriate audience for your memo:
– Office of the Dean of Undergraduate Education
– UB Information Technology
– CAS Student Advisement and Services
– Administrative Services
