The Setting
A midsized state university in the Midwestern United States. The school primarily serves undergraduate students but has a small number of graduate programs. The students are drawn from the local region and from surrounding states. The student body reflects that of many universities today: Although a majority group exists, there are domestic and international students from many ethnicities, languages, and income levels.
The Characters
The students
The university administration
The health clinic on campus
The campus health care insurance provider
The faculty
The community
The Issues
In the past, the university has been able to provide all full-time students with health care as part of their tuition. This has been a great boon to students: They were able to have their medical care needs provided for at the campus health clinic at no extra cost to them.
However, the state legislature has drastically cut the university’s funding. The university now must make some tough decisions in order to balance its budget. One of the things the university had to cut was its tuition-funded health care program.
Because the university wants all students to have health care coverage, they now require all students to purchase a health care package through the university. Unfortunately, this package is inadequate: It has a restricted provider network and it doesn’t cover prescriiptions, contraception, or mental health care. The health clinic is still operating on campus; however, students can’t seek treatment there unless they are covered under the new university-required plan.
The new policy has raised many concerns. Many students are upset about the new requirements. The new plan is expensive, and it doesn’t cover what the old plan covered or even what some of their parents’ plans cover. Since some students no longer have access to preventive care at the campus health clinic, resident advisors in the dorms have noticed a growing number of students coming down with both simple illness like colds and more serious conditions that are interfering with their studies.
Faculty have noticed that more students are absent from class due to illness, which is adversely affecting their performance in the class. Faculty have also noticed a rise in the number of illnesses and depression among their students.
The director of the local hospital is also concerned since the hospital has seen more and more students showing up in the emergency room since the new regulations have gone into effect. The director is concerned about the financial effect this will have on the community, who will end up paying the bill.
Your Task
You are a representative of the student government. You are one of three representatives who have been chosen to meet with the university administration to try to address the problems facing students under the new health care regulations. You have a special interest/investment in seeing changes made to the health care situation since your roommate attempted suicide earlier in the semester and had to drop out and go home. You feel that if your roommate had had access to counseling under a good health care plan, the suicide attempt could have been prevented.
What changes are you going to ask the university to make?
To be clear the roommate who attempted suicide is the motivation for writing this and is not supposed to be mentioned.
Prewriting:
Prewriting assignments are a useful way to explore case problems and issues as well as brainstorm and test out solutions. In addition, you can use them as a way to “think through writing” in order to explore your own opinions and ideas about the case. In turn, what you discover in your prewriting process can be used as a starting point for your paper or in class discussions.
Prewriting assignments will vary in length depending on the requirements of your instructor. Use the following prewriting activities to help you: (1) Case Analysis, (2) Exploration Questions, and (3) Interview Activities.
The Stakeholders
Who are the stakeholders?
What is at stake for them?
What do they have to gain or lose?
How does the case appear to the different participants/stakeholders?
Come up with two questions you would like to ask each stakeholder.
The Issues
How would you rank the issues (from most to least important)?
What reasons can you give for your rankings?
How does the immediate problem or issue tie into larger social issues?
What conflicts in values or belief systems form part of the issue?
Come up with two questions that explore the issues you’ve identified in more depth.
Solutions and Their Consequences
What are the possible courses of action and solutions?
How would you rank them?
What are the advantages and disadvantages for each one?
Is your solution a short- or long-term solution?
What are the consequences of your solution for each of the stakeholders?
Come up with two questions that explore the consequences of your solutions.
Exploration Questions
What are the larger implications of lack of access to health care for students?
How should universities balance the health care needs of students and the costs of health care to the university?
How might the university respond to student requests for health care?
What are the risks and possible consequences of lack of access to mental health care for both students and the wider community?
What compromises could be worked out in this situation?
What are some long-term solutions to student health care needs?
(What is written below this sentence are the instructions from the professor herself. I picked the case above this sentence, and copied all of the information about the case from the book. Also the tips provided by the book are also pasted above.)
Each case study has different characteristics, but ultimately the same purpose:
creating an argument,
supported by evidence,
that addresses the opposing view of your argument,
targeting a specific audience (as identified as your task/paper assignment)
In the textbook, these come together as YOUR TASK. Each task is explained in greater detail in the PAPER ASSIGNMENT section of the case study you’ve selected and these are the general instructions you should follow. You ARE NOT writing an essay from the ALTERNATIVE ASSIGNMENTS section. After you write the essay, you’ll also answer the REFLECTING ON THE CASE section as you reread your final draft before submission. REMEMBER, the purpose of the assignment is to demonstrate what you’ve learned about the case you selected and your ability to defend your argument from the role identified in the paper assignment you selected. Your purpose IS NOT TO SIMPLY RETELL WHAT YOU’VE RESEARCHED.
Task
Since each case study has it’s own parameters, you’re essay is evaluated based on the specifics of the case study. If it’s not evident you’re using the specifics identified in the case, you can not receive a passing grade for the assignment. Select an option:
Student Health Care – page 173
Student Loan Debt – page 207
Campus Speech Codes – page 199
REMEMBER, YOU ARE NOT ARGUING ABOUT THE GENERAL TOPIC BUT THE “TASK” IDENTIFIED IN EACH CASE STUDY. IT DOESN’T MATTER WHAT YOU THINK, FEEL, BELIEVE ABOUT THE TOPIC, JUST WHAT EVIDENCE YOU PRESENT AS IT RELATES TO THE CASE ITSELF.
Strategies for Success
Follow the Table 1.1 on page 12 to help consider the components of your essay. USE HEADERS TO ORGANIZE YOUR DETAILS.
You have to use a specific organizational format, based on what the assignment is asking you to do. For example, are you being asked to proposal that may ask you to persuad others to act (chapter 18). All of which require the intro, thesis, body paragraphs, conclusion, of your essay to do specific things. These formats where covered in RHT101, but if you don’t have that textbook, you can review the following textbook or the one from RHT101, or Google a .edu source of your own.
In addition, all assignment options ask you to frame the context of your argument and this means you need a least 1 or 2 sources that do that. Your intro or subsequent paragraphs after the intro should provide the background of the topic you’re writing about.
In all cases, you need to address a potential challenge to your claim and will need to include potential counterarguments and your acknowledgment to those rebuttals. How to do this is covered in the Week 14 and 15 assigned reading.
In terms of formatting your essay, you’ll find multiple examples at other .edu sites that show the use of headers. This is the most effective way to present your argument and ensures, readers understand what the commentary is about. Headers also help keep your work organized.If you make a claim and write your essay different than the instructions indicate, you would not receive a passing grade for the assignment.
You should have at least 5 – 6 authoritative sources, this means no blogs, personal websites, etc. It’s best to find sources using the Triton Database (see menu link). You can also view chapter 5 in the textbook.
2 – 3 sources that support your claim
1 – 2 sources that provide a contextual framing of the topic
1 – 2 sources that address alternative perspectives to the claim your making
Make sure your essay meets the word count BEFORE your cited material (anything that is paraphrased, summarized, or direct quotes).
Do not use 1st or 2nd person.
Review the rubric for what makes the response good.
Submit your draft to Brainfuse for feedback following these instructions.
A DEBATABLE THESIS STATEMENT (specific to your case study claim) SHOULD BE A CONCISELY WRITTEN SENTENCE THAT IS AT THE END OF YOUR INTRODUCTION.
According to IAI requirements, you must receive a grade of D or better on the research assignment (Essay #4) to earn at least a grade of C for the course. Essay 4 has a minimum word count of 2,500 words (without cited material). Anything below that earns a grade of D for the course.
Format Guidelines
Essay word count is 2500 – 3000 words (not including cited material).
At least 10+ fully developed paragraphs.
The introduction SHOULD introduce readers to the purpose of the case and your purpose as identified in the case study.
Each body paragraph needs a topic sentence that is not cited material, that provides an introduction to the SINGLE IDEA that is discussed in the paragraph.
Paragraphs should not end with cited material (remember ICE or quotation sandwich).
The conclusion should indicate the “so what” of your response.
Submit your final draft as a .doc or .docx file. REMEMBER, all Triton students can download Microsoft Office for free. Reminder, for final draft essay assignments, I need the documents as Word files, not PDF or other format.
Use traditional MLA essay structure (use the MLA essay template in Microsoft Word). Use the default settings on your word processing program (“normal” margins,12-point font, Calibri or Times New Roman). Double-space your essay and include page numbers and headers. (see sample MLA information or review the following).
Cite all your resources from the readings using MLA format.
Submitted the essay as a .doc or .docx file.
Save/name your assignment as LastName#4 to expedite grading.
