MEMORANDUM

TO:
ProfessorVytautasMalesh
FROM:
EimenNajjar,JoshuaYohannan,MatthewBugajski,andYashChaudhary
DATE:
15November2015
SUBJECT:
ProjectPlanforProposal

Overview:

ThismemowilladdresstwokeyissuesthatDetroitfaces,foodwastageandhunger,andthepreparations
thatwillleadtowardscreatingaproposalinanattempttomendthisproblem.Thisismeantforyou,our
professor,tounderstandhowwedividedupthepartsfortheproposalreport,theorganizationsweare
workingwith,andthetypeofresearchweplantoconduct.

Audiences:

ProfessorVytautasMalesh
Thisaudienceisprettyselfexplanatory.Ourprofessorisoneoftheaudiencesbecausehewillbethe
individualwhoisgradingusonthereport.

PrimaryAudiences:DeanofStudentsOfficeandStudentGovernment
WewillbecontactingtheDeanofStudentsOffice(DOSO)inordertogetsomeassistanceandguidance
tosolvetheissueoffoodwastagethatoccursoncampusonadailybasis.Usingtheirhelp,wecanmakea
muchlargereffectontherestaurantslocatedoncampusandlocally.

SecondaryAudience:VariousRestaurantsintheStudentCenter
WewanttoteamupwithsomeoftherestaurantsinthestudentcentersuchasPandaExpress,Wingstop,
Starbucks,andTacoBell.Dependingonwhichorganizationsagreetoworkwithus,wecanhelp
eliminatefoodwastagefromthespecificrestaurantsusingourprogramthathelpssolvefoodwastagein
Detroit.

Purpose:
Theoverarchingpurposeofthisreportistoconvincetherestaurantstogivethefreshfoodthatthey
regularlydisposetothehungrypeopleofDetroit.ThestudentgovernmentandDOSOwillworktogether
toinstallthemethodthatwecomeupwithtodistributetheotherwisewastedfoodtothepeoplewho
sufferfromstarvation.Theseorganizationsshouldworkwithusbecauseaproposaltohelpendstarvation
inDetroitusingthefoodwastedfromfastfoodrestaurantswouldnotonlygivegoodpublicitytoWayne
State,butalsotoDetroitasawhole.

Research:

Wewillbeconductingresearchonfoodwastage.Usingprimaryandsecondaryresearchmethods,wewill
findinformationonfoodwastageinordertofindapropersolutionforthisissue.Workingalongwiththe

organizationsthatweareincontactwith,willhelpmakeabiggereffectondecreasingfoodwastage.The
researchquestionsareIsfoodwastagebad?andWhatcanbedonetopreventfoodwastage?.

Surveys
oSurveysareamethodofprimaryresearch.Wewillbemakingsurveysandaskingfellowstudents,
staff,andfoodindustryemployeestoanswergeneralquestionsabouttheiropiniononfoodwastageand
howitshouldberesolved.

Interviews
oAnotherprimaryresearchmethodisinterviews.Asagroup,wewillconductashortinterviewwitha
fellowstudentwhoisapartofstudentgovernmentinordertogetanopinionfromastudentwithsome
authoritywhocaninvolvehigherauthorityfiguresinourplantoresolvefoodwastagelocally.

WebResearch
oAsecondaryresearchmethodissurfingtheweb.Theinternetcanprovideasubstantialamountof
informationaboutfoodwastageinthefoodindustryintheUnitedStatesofAmerica.Wecanfindsome
credibleandprofessionalwebsitesthatprovidethetrustedandqualityinformationforustouseinour
pushtoresolvefoodwastage.

TimeTable

Dates

Tasks

November16November20

Yashcontactsallorganizationstoletthemknow
ofourproposal.

November16November20

EimenandMatthewdraftasurveyandinterview.

November21November22

EveryoneworksontheProgressReportMemo

November23November30

Completeallresearch,includingsurveysand
interviewsofStudentSenateRepresentatives.

November30December6

EveryoneworksonTwoComponentReport

TeamPlan:

TechnologyUse:
WeplantouseGoogleDocssoeveryonecanworkandeditatthesametime.
SinceGoogleDocsisalsoabletohaveachatroom,wecanalsoeffectivelycommunicatewhile
writingthereport.Then,onepersonwillextractittoaWordDocumentandmaketheformat
correctandthensubmitit.

TeamMemberDuties:
TheteamleaderforthisprojectwillbeJoshbecauseheorganizedthe
group.Hisdutiesaretodelegatetaskstoteammembersandmakesuretheyareallcompleted,as

wellascompletingthefinalformattingandsubmittingthedocuments.Yashwillcontactallofthe
organizationsandletthemknowofupdatesastheprojectprogresses,whilewritingthatsectionin
theTwoComponentReport.EimenandMatthewwillbecompletingtheresearchaspectofthe
proposalandcompletingthatportiononthereport.TheeditingwillbeuptoJoshandYashto
helpwriteandedittheoverallreport.Eachmemberisqualifiedfortheserolesbecauseallofus
areengineeringstudents,soleadership,research,andreportwritingissomethingwewillperform
dailyintheworkplace.

TeamMemberAccountability:
Sofar,wehavehadnoproblemswithaccountabilityinour
group.However,ifthesituationarises,wewilltalktothatpersontoseewhyhedidnotfinishit
orwhyheisabsent.Dependingontheanswer,wewilltaketheappropriatemeasurestoseeifhe
isfittobeamemberofthegroup.Iftheysubmitpoorqualitywork,theotherteammemberswill
helphimifheneededit,andteachhimsowemakesureitdoesnothappenagain.

Conclusion:

Forthisproposal,wewillbereachingouttoorganizationsandbusinessesatWayneStateUniversityand
askthemifwecantaketheirunusedfoodandgiveittoacharityorhomelessshelter.Theresearchwillbe
conductedintheformofsurveysfromstudentsandstafftoseewhattheythinkoftheideaandifthey
haveanysuggestionsforusortheorganizations.Wewillalsoconductinterviewswithmembersof
StudentSenateandDOSOtogetopinionsforhelpingtheresearch.Additionally,wewillconductweb
researchandwewillcontactbusinessesthatwouldliketojoinourmissiontohelpendhungerinDetroit.
Forournextstep,wewillcompletetheProgressReportMemobynextSunday.

Ifyouhaveanyquestionsorconcerns,pleaseletusknow.Thankyou.

AppendixA:AnnotatedListofResourceLinks

Restaurants.(n.d.).RetrievedNovember16,2015,from
http://www.endfoodwastenow.org/index.php/issues/issuesrestaurants

ForRestaurants,FoodWasteIsSeenAsLowPriority.(2012,November27).Retrieved
November14,2015,from
http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2012/11/27/165907972/forrestaurantsfoodwasteisseena
slowpriority