1.

Executive Summary:

Our event, the Writer’s Workshop, ultimately achieved our goal of helping students improve
a piece of writing through peer feedback. Although the turnout was low, the two students who
did come expressed their appreciation for the feedback they received, and also expressed how
much the workshop helped them. Some things that we could have improved one, would have
been posting flyers around campus and sending out a mass email letting all students know about
the event. The event could have also been scheduled at a time when more students would have
been on campus instead of from 5-7pm on Monday night. We now should have been specific
about the exact name of the building, Copley-Thaw Hall (as opposed to Copley Quad) when
ordering food because of the delayed arrival time for our cookies. Our event did not go perfectly,
but we learned how to plan events more effectively in the future and the students who did attend,
reported getting a lot out of the experience.

2. Introduction/Overview:

Our project involved hosting a Writer’s Workshop event at Park University open to all Park
University students. Our event took place on Monday, October 7 from 5:00-7:00 pm in Copley-
Thaw 300. The ultimate goal of our event was to help students improve a piece of writing
through peer feedback, either to improve their grade or their personal growth as a writer.

Writers Workshop- We decided upon this project because we planned our event around the time
of Midterms and wanted to give students the opportunity to bring in assignments, from any class,
and have English majors peer review and give feedback on these assignments. W did this
because many students don’t always get quality feedback on their papers both from teachers or
fellow students so this was an opportunity for us to change that.

Decorations/location/set-up- Jacob was in charge of decorations and set up of the event, so he

arrived a hour before the rest of the members to arrange the tables and chairs in a way that would
be beneficial to peer review. The cookie assortment and water provided was there to encourage
attendees as well as provide refreshments for those who were working hard. Seeing as our event
took place around dinner time we also wanted to provide a snack for the short time students
would be at the event to tide them over.

Feedback- Madeline made the feedback sheet and distributed it to the attendees after they had
received their papers back. Each attendee wrote down the answers to the questions on the page,
see Appendix G & H, and Madeline then collected and typed up the information.

3. Financials:
 Our original budget plan when we were planning on the event taking place in Copley Quad
was as follows:

“The plan for our event is for students to come in and share their writing that they want to
have reviewed or analyzed. The students will only need to bring their own paper copies of the
piece of writing that they want to have analyzed. The location we will be holding the event at
will have tables and chairs available for usage, so we will not need to add them to the budget.
The majority of the budget will be in regards to snacks and water that we will provide.
Given the time of day of the event, and the general laid back and comparatively quick nature of
the event, only light snacks will be needed. Since the focus is on reviewing and editing writing,
having excess food and beverages available would be more tedious than it would need to be.
Therefore, we will only be providing water bottles and cookies. The Meeting House does
not require us to purchase food from Fresh Ideas, so we will provide our own selection. A 32-
pack of Nestle Pure Life Water Bottles costs $3.98. A 35 oz container of cookies would cost
$9.98. Both of these are based on prices provided at Walmart stores. We will need two packs of
water bottles along with the cookie tray (each person will get one cookie), our budget is $18.”

However, when we had to switch the location to Copley 300, that meant we had to use Fresh
Ideas catering for our cookies and water. Our final cost for 3 dozen cookies through Fresh Ideas
was $20.85. Seeing as the funds for the cookies, came directly out of the Scribe’s account, we
did not need a reimbursement of any kind.

4. Sponsorships:

We requested sponsorship from The Scribe, Park’s campus magazine that allows students to
submit and publish their own works. They had already agreed to collaborate with us for the
event. Alison sent an official funding request, which was as follows:

Dear Professor Lester,

As you know, from 5:00-7:00 pm on October 7, 2019, a small group of students will host a
writer’s workshop event in collaboration with The Scribe. This event, in which students will
participate in peer response sessions with their fellow students, will benefit students by providing
assistance and input on a piece of writing they are working on. In order to make the event as
enjoyable as possible, we plan to serve cookies and water. Our budget for this is $20.85, as
quoted to us by Fresh Ideas, Park’s food service company.

Since the event is focused on the development of students’ writing, something The Scribe also
seeks to promote, we would like to ask The Scribe (and you as the faculty advisor) to consider
providing the $20.85 for us to purchase the food. We plan to encourage students to submit their
completed work or any other work that they are proud of, to The Scribe. This will benefit The
Scribe by increasing the number of submissions as well as awareness of the club. We will, of
course, list The Scribe as a co-sponsor of the event on all marketing materials.

Thank you for working with us and considering this request.

Sincerely,
Alison Overcash

Professor Lester, the Scribe faculty coordinator, agreed to these terms, and immediately
requested that The Scribe be granted the $20.85 from their budget line through the Department of
English and Modern Languages.

5. Marketing / Media / Promotion:

A detailed poster on the event was created by Jacob. The intended purpose of the flyer was to
be physically posted throughout campus, however that was unable to be completed for certain
reasons. Although it was not presented in physical form for students, it was sent out digitally
through a mass email to students as well as shared by word of mouth by the group. There was
more advertising planned by Jacob, including getting in contact with multiple teachers and
talking about it amongst different majors, however that also did not get completed before the
event. The group also shared with the class the information on the event.

6. Venue:

The event was held in Copley 300. The classroom was open at the time and served well for
the purpose of the event. Tables were set into group-like structures to work well as tables where
the reviewer can directly work with the student who needed assistance with their work. The
instructions for the peer review were posted on the screen at the white board allowing all
students to easily have access to them. We had cookies and water provided to the students who
attended placed on the tables next to where the peer review took place.

7. Division of Labor/Staffing

- Alison: Creating RSVP form with a QR code for the flyer, applying to be in weekly Park
student activities email (form was filled out but we were not included in the email),
sending funding request to The Scribe, sent one check-in to Dr. Kikendall
- Maddy: Contacting Fresh Ideas for catering, creating assessment sheet for attendees,
collecting assessment sheet during event and talking to the attendees about what they
 thought could be improved and what they thought was good, sent one check-in to Dr.
Kikendall
- Jacob: Making flyer, decorations, sent one check-in to Dr. Kikendall, writing budget plan
- Tiffany: Monitoring/leading event, emailed professors to let them know about the event
- Kierra: Creating instruction sheet about how to give effective feedback

Throughout the event each member participated in the peer review of the two essays that
were brought. We were originally going to bring our own works to pass around but changed that
seeing as this was open to all majors and we didn’t want to put pressure on non-English majors
to try to provide feedback to us, as the event coordinators.

8. Assessment:

Although we did not have the big turnout that was expected, there were two students who
were able to get the most out of the time that was spent reviewing their paper. Based on the slips
that were made about their feedback about the event, it was a success regardless of the number of
attendees. Two students were able to get the feedback and the help they were in need of which
that was the purpose of this project.

9. Recommendations:

The biggest challenge that we faced was only having two attendees at our event. Several
things could be done to remedy this including, physically posting the posters around campus,
sending out a mass email letting all students know about the event and planning the event at a
better time. Another challenge we faced was receiving the food we ordered through fresh ideas in
the correct spot for our event. A remedy to this would be to make sure the location is specified in
a way that does not allow it to get confused with the dormitory if the event is being held in
Copley, in case the person delivering the cookies is unfamiliar with the campus.

We also could have had a back-up system in place and worked on better communication
within our group as some of us were under the impression that teachers had been contacted and
the flyers had been posted when they hadn’t. We did follow the timeline fairly well, however a
back-up system for certain aspects of the project should have been put in place. An example of
this would have been to assign another person to follow up with teachers after the original
notification of the event was thought to have been put out.

10. Appendices-
 A. Poster

A. Project Proposal

Define/Describe Project
Our project will involve hosting a Writer’s Workshop event at Park before our fall break.
Students at this time in the semester often have lots of papers and writing that they have to
complete quickly, so this event will benefit all Park students by helping them improve a piece of
writing and, as a result, their grades.

Purpose and Audience

The writer’s workshop will be open to all Park University students. The purpose is to help
students get feedback and suggestions for a piece of writing from their peers.

Logistics
The event will take place on Monday, October 7 at 5:00 pm in the McCoy Meeting House.
Tables and chairs will be set up to allow for easy face-to-face interaction. The only thing
students will need to bring are the writings they want feedback for. Each student should bring
two copies of their piece, whether these are paper copies or digital copies. The students will get
into groups of two or three and trade papers. While reading each other’s’ papers, they can make
comments in the margin if they would like. After each student has had a chance to read each
other’s papers, they will verbally discuss the feedback they have based on the “how to give
feedback” sheet that Kierra created and printed out.

Budget and Funding

We will not need to request any funding for this event because we will not have any expenses.

Marketing/Publicity
We will advertise our Writer’s Workshop event using multiple methods. Jacob will be creating a
flyer for the event, which will be posted on The Scribe’s Instagram account and distributed
around Park’s home campus. We will also be sending out an email to all Park home campus
students advertising the event. The email will describe what the event entails, who is welcome to
come, and what to bring. We will inform professors in all disciplines of the event and have them
share this information with their students.

Division of Labor and Communication Plan

Alison will create a Google Form for students to RSVP for the event and send out an email blast
to all Parkville home campus students. The email will include a description of the event, what to
bring, and the link to RSVP.
Tiffany will monitor and lead the event.
Madeline will create the assessment survey to send to everybody that RSVP’d to the event.
Madeline will also reserve the Meetin’ House for the event.
Jacob will make a flyer for the event.
Kierra will create a handout explaining how to give effective feedback. This handout will be
distributed to attendees at the event and discussed before breaking into groups to read each
others’ work.

Assessment
A survey will be sent out to everyone who RSVP for the event via email after the event takes
place. The survey will contain how they heard about the event, whether or not they thought they
received good feedback and if they think this event benefited their piece of writing, and finally if
they enjoyed attending the event/additional comments on the whole thing.

B. Timeline
Dates Plan Individual tasks and who is
completing them

9/11 Timeline and Budget will be Alison Overcash, Jacob

submitted and awaiting Brents, Kierra Harper,
approval from Dr. K. Madeline Keller, Tiffany
Miller
9/16 First check-in with Dr. K. Alison Overcash- requesting
Approval for sharing funds from the Scribe
information of the event via Kierra Harper- completing
email to Park students,
and receiving approval for
approval for the Meeting
House for the location of our feedback sheet and fixing it if
event and budget approval. need be
Maddy will be emailing Madeline Keller- requesting
Boisen for this to be booked the Meeting House for the
and confirmed. We have a night of the event
brief feedback sheet given to
the attendees before the event
begins so that they can give
effective feedback to the
paper they read. This will
also be turned in for approval
by Dr. K. The budget and
request for funds from the
Scribe will be completed and
will also need approval.

9/23 Second check-in with Dr. K. Jacob Brents- finishing and

Continue work on what needs receiving approval for the
to be approved. Jacob’s flyer flyers and fixing if need be
that will be posted on the
Alison Overcash- RSVP
Scribe’s Instagram account
will be turned in for approval. form, receiving approval and
RSVP google form for the sending it out
event by Alison will be
submitted for approval. Once
approved both items will be
sent out to their respective
recipients.

9/30 Final check-in. Our end

survey that will be handed out
at the end of the event will
need approval at this time
from Dr. K.

10/7 Event Date at 5:00 pm at the Alison Overcash, Jacob

Meeting House at Park Brents, Kierra Harper,
University. Group members Madeline Keller, Tiffany
will meet at 4:30 pm to
Miller
ensure all materials are in
place. Our assessment survey
 will be handed out during the Madeline Keller- Collecting
event and then collected as an surveys after event
‘exit ticket’ after the event.

10/14 Turning in Collaborative Alison Overcash, Jacob

Report and Individual Brents, Kierra Harper,
Reflection Madeline Keller, Tiffany
Miller

C. Budget
The plan for our event is for students to come in and share their writing that they want to have
reviewed or analyzed. The students will only need to bring their own paper copies of the piece of
writing that they want to have analyzed.

The location we will be holding the event at will have tables and chairs available for usage, so
we will not need to add them to the budget.
The majority of the budget will be in regards to snacks and water that we will provide. Given the
time of day of the event, and the general laid back and comparatively quick nature of the event,
only light snacks will be needed. Since the focus is on reviewing and editing writing, having
excess food and beverages available would be more tedious than it would need to be.

Therefore, we will only be providing water bottles and cookies. The Meeting House does not
require us to purchase food from Fresh Ideas, so we will provide our own selection. A 32-pack of
Nestle Pure Life Water Bottles costs $3.98. A 35 oz container of cookies would cost $9.98. Both
of these are based on prices provided at Walmart stores. We will need two packs of water bottles
along with the cookie tray (each person will get one cookie), our budget is $18.

D. Project Check In #1
Dr. Kikendall,

Our event planning has been going very smoothly. The most notable difference from our
proposal is that our event will now be held in Copley 300 rather than the McCoy Meetin’ House.
Since the Meetin’ House was booked on the day we decided on, we decided to switch to a
different location rather than a different date to avoid more scheduling conflicts.

Since the event will no longer be held in the Meetin’ House, this means that we will now have to
purchase our cookies and drinks from Fresh Ideas rather than Walmart. We have contacted
Andrew Strecker, the director of food services at Park University, and he informed us that
cookies from Fresh Ideas are $6.95 a dozen. We plan to buy 3 dozen cookies, which will be
plenty assuming about 20 people show up. We will not need to purchase water bottles, because
Fresh Ideas will provide a water container with cups. As a result of these changes, our budget has
increased from $18 to $20.85. This increased budget will not be an issue with The Scribe, which
is who we are requesting funding from.

We are slightly behind schedule for requesting funds from The Scribe, but this is because we had
to figure out the new costs for the snacks through Fresh Ideas. The funding request will be sent
as soon as possible now that we have found out the price of cookies. We have completed the
“How to Give Feedback” sheet to use at the event, and Copley 300 has been reserved.

Our next steps are to finish and receive approval for flyers and an RSVP form by Monday,
September 23. We are on track to complete these tasks by this date.

E. Project Check In #2
Hello Professor K, this is Jacob Brents. I am providing the weekly progress report for my
group with Alison Overcash, Tiffany Miller, Kierra Harper, and Madeline Keller.
Things are still moving smoothly from the previous report. We are looking into getting
food for our event from the school, and I have completed an ideal final version of the poster we
plan to have for the event. I have attached it to the email so you can check to make sure it is
acceptable or if I need to make some adjustments. Once that is complete, our team will get this to
various outlets that will spread this info around the school.

F. Project Check In #3
Dr. Kikendall,

This is our final progress update before our event takes place next monday.

We are finishing all of our pre-event tasks within the stated times on our timeline. Madeline
completed the survey that will be administered at the end of the event and also has put in a
request for the cookies and water with fresh ideas, Alison has contacted the Scribe and got the
funding situation figured out, as well as sent out the RSVP form for the event and Jacob got the
posters approved and put out.

That being said we did run into a few bumps along the way. First off, the inquiry for the cookies
from Fresh Ideas took sometime to figure out. We were unsure of who to contact and how to go
about ordering this food for the event, but with your help we got the food request sent out and are
just awaiting a response. We also have our funding lined up for this purchase. REgarding the
posters, there was some delay with them being approved and put out, however that has been
resolved and they are present around campus.
Overall, we are right on schedule for our event. The only further tasks we have to complete are
printing our feedback guidelines and our survey sheets prior to the start of the Writer’s
Workshop.

G. Feedback sheet handed out at the event

Thank you for coming to our event!

We want to hear your feedback on our event.
Name:
Major:
How did you hear about the event?
What did you enjoy?
What could we have done better?
Any other comments:
H. Feedback sheet handed out at the event

We want to hear your feedback on our event.

Name: Taylor Lucas
Major: English
How did you hear about the event? In the EN307 class
What did you enjoy? Thorough feedback, time to actually read my essay and tell me what I did
well and what I can improve on.
What could we have done better? Share the news with more students (better marketing to non-
English majors)
Any other comments: Thanks to this I can feel confident in my work because Tiffany really
seemed to getwhat I wanted my essay to do and gave great feedback on how to get it the way I
want.

We want to hear your feedback on our event.

Name: Uranbaigali Bayarjargal
Major: Economics
How did you hear about the event? Mr. Lester recommended it to us in EN105.
What did you enjoy? I enjoyed how easy-going the situation was. I was a little worried but
everyone was friendly and helpedme.
What could we have done better? I’m not sure, seemed organized. I liked it.
Any other comments: Thank you!