For each assignment below, choose the appropriate format from Module 9. The memo needs to be 1- 1
½ pgs in length; the letter needs to be 1- 1 ½ pgs in length; and the email needs to be 1-1 ½ pgs in length.
Related Reading: Modules 9-13, lecture notes. After reading the assigned modules and lecture notes,
write responses to all three cases below.
Case 1: (This case is adapted from UHV’s 2006 Final Exam) You are the president of Victoria Media, a
local media production company. To attract the best employees possible, the company has always
contributed 7% of each worker’s monthly gross pay to a retirement plan. The employees themselves
could also contribute up to 8% of their pay to the plan. But because of rising health insurance costs, your
board of directors has decided to reduce the company’s contribution to the retirement plan by 3%.
Beginning on January 1 the company will only be putting in 4% of the employee’s gross pay. Under the
new system, employees will have the option of contributing up to 11% of their pay to the fund (so that
the total contribution in theory could still equal 15%). In addition, although the retirement contribution
will be reduced, the health insurance program will remain unchanged even though the costs to the
company are rising. Write a memo to all employees of Victoria Media telling them of these changes.
Case 2: You are the owner and director of a successful daycare center. Grandma’s House started with 6
students and has grown to a capacity of 65 children. The reputation of your center is so high that there is
a waiting list of 78 children, and parents are beginning to register their children before they are even
born. As the director and owner of the center, you are now faced with a problem you have never before
encountered in your 8 years of running the center. You must expel a child from the center, and it is your
responsibility to write a letter to the parents explaining the reasons and your position. You need to write
a letter to Mr. and Mrs. Brady telling them that their four-year old son Brett is being expelled from
Grandma’s House. Brett entered your center two months ago and things haven’t been the same since!
The child is not able to get along with other children. In his two months at Grandma’s House, he has
bitten six children (causing one child to get stitches); kicked a teacher; and scratched, hit, and pulled hair
2 on a regular basis. The child’s vocabulary is an education, even for the adults. Seven other parents have
threatened to pull their children out of the center if Brett does not leave. You have had several
conferences with Brett’s parents, an influential couple who are active in the community and who seem
like reasonable people, but no changes have been seen in his behavior. In the last conference, you
indicated that Brett might be dropped from the school if his behavior did not change. Write the letter to
the Bradys, remembering the pointers for writing bad news suggested in the text. Remember, too, that
Brett is the Brady’s only child, so choose your words carefully.
Case 3 (This case is adapted from UHV’s 2007 Final Exam) Assume you are the principal of Kennedy
Elementary School. The most recent state-run student achievement test scores for your fourth graders
have just arrived. While they did well in reading and writing, they had difficulty in math and science.
Only 64% of them passed the math portion of the exam, and only 58% passed the science portion. If the
passing rates for both portions of the exam do not exceed 65% by next year’s administration of the test,
your school will be put on probation. To address this issue you have decided to provide a half-hour more
instruction in math and science per day for your current third graders (next year’s test-taking fourth
graders). The halfhour will result from cutting their lunch periods and physical activity periods by fifteen
minutes per day each. To staff this extra class time, you are asking all of your faculty members to
voluntarily cut their lunch periods by half an hour and assist in the third grade classrooms during that
time. Write an email to the faculty of Kennedy Elementary School explaining the situation and asking
them to cut their lunch periods so they can help the third graders master math and science. The cases
may include information that you do not want to include in your response. Additionally, you might need
to create pertinent, realistic, and relevant information to accomplish your purpose effectively. Make sure
you follow a structure and format appropriate to the situation and give the audience all the information
they may need. Remember that these documents should be tutored by the Academic Center.
