Written Proposal:
Learning objectives:
1. Target a results-oriented business audience
2. Write and edit so that your messages are clear, concise and precise
3. Prepare and deliver engaging oral presentations
4. Apply critical thinking skills and increase your ability to interpret, analyze, evaluate,
conclude and explain
5. Identify, assess and apply credible information sources to develop and support
arguments
Your Written Proposal will include:
1. Cover page that includes your name, the title of the proposal, the date, and the audience
to whom you are sending the proposal
2. Executive Summary
• The executive summary is where you present your case and give the reader the
main takeaway of your proposal. Don’t focus on covering every detail. Instead,
give an overview of the main details—your idea, the problem/need it addresses,
cost, and timing—focusing on the conclusions you want the reader to come to.
• Your summary should be less than one page and should be on its own page. Be
direct by leading with your "purpose statement" (e.g. "The Fox School of
Business should expand its … ").
3. Definition of the problem/need
• Give background information to help the reader understand the need for the
idea(s) you’re proposing
4. Proposed Project Details
• Give in-depth, actionable details and specifics related to your proposed concept
(e.g. if you’re proposing a one-credit course, here’s where you would suggest
specific learning objectives, assignments, and maybe even a textbook)
• Give any needed market analysis here (i.e. what competitors are doing, how
your proposal will compare, etc.)
• Your goal in this section is to give enough detail so that your reader can visualize
the final product of what you’re proposing
5. Implementation Plan/Timeline
• Summarize what steps need to occur, and when, to execute your ideas
• Reference an appendix for a visual graphic
6. Budget
• Summarize initial costs and, if applicable, forecast revenues
• Reference an appendix for full visual breakdown
7. The audience-focused benefits of your solution
•
You can also include here benefits to other stakeholders (but make sure to be
thorough and specific regarding benefits to the proposal’s audience; recall the
“you view”).
8. Conclusion
• Briefly reiterate estate your main points – tie them together
9. Appendices
• Include any larger graphics here (e.g. visual timeline and budget table)
10. List of APA-style references used in your document
Format Requirements:
•
•
•
Three pages max single spaced or six pages double spaced
Use 1-inch margins and 11 or 12-point font
Use brevity tools such as section headers, lists, timetables, budget charts, etc. (note,
however, that your ideas must be complete thoughts, comprehensible to your
audience)
• Use in-text APA citations in the body of your proposal; these must explicitly connect to
your references list at the end.
At a minimum, you should include a visual timeline (there’s a template for this in Microsoft
Word), a table or chart outlining the budget/costs, and at least one other relevant visual.
Executive Summary
The proposal is a request for a 1-credit, 7-week class that teaches students the basics of investing
in the stock market. There is a definite need for this course because research shows that learning
how to invest is an important skill that millennials should learn early in life. Thus, the course will
supplement theoretical concepts with the StockTrak virtual simulation, so students can connect
what they learn to the real world. The first semester of the class should begin in January 2019,
and the annual cost of adding the class is estimated to be under $2,700.
There are many benefits to adding this course. Students may be attracted to the finance major
after learning the real-world concepts in this course. Because students learn vital investment
skills, they may be better positioned to donate back to Temple. An increase in alumni donations
will also benefit Temple’s U.S. News and World Report ranking. Above all, education at Temple
will continue to improve and students will be more prepared for the future.
FIN0801 Proposal
Introduction
This proposal presents a request for creating an elective 1-credit, 7-week class in the Fox School
of Business. The class will be called “FIN0801: Basics of Investing in the Stock Market” and
will consist of three major learning modules: basics of stock investing, investment strategies, and
a StockTrak Simulation (Dowd, n.d.).
Description of Need
There are financial benefits of investing earlier rather than later in life. According to TheStreet, a
website that provides daily financial news and services, if millennials invest $1,000 in their
twenties, they are likely to get ten times more on the return on their investments than if they had
invested the same amount in their forties. Additionally, millennials who did not learn how to
invest early in their lives have faced repercussions in the past. For example, students who
graduated from college between 2007-2010 continue to have depressed earnings because of the
impact of the Great Recession. If they had learned how to invest in the stock market during
college, they would have been impacted much less by the Great Recession (“Message to
Millennials,” 2018). Appendix A depicts how investing in the stock market is a lucrative longterm financial strategy because investors can ride out stock market drops during severe economic
downturns (“3 reasons to invest in stocks,” 2018).
Currently, the Fox School of Business has no course solely dedicated to educating students on
stocks and investment strategies for the stock market. The closest class to the proposed class is
FIN0822: Investing for the Future (FIN0922 honors version). Even though FIN0822 has a small
StockTrak simulation component, it has many other course objectives unrelated to stocks such as
teaching students how to save for graduate school and how to save money to buy cars and
houses. Additionally, FIN0822 is a 4-credit class that many students do not have room in their
schedule for while the proposed class FIN0801 is only a 1-credit, 7-week class that many
students can easily fit into their schedule (Scott, 2016).
Proposed Project Details
The proposed course curriculum will be based on a similar course that University of Pittsburgh
offers (Jones, 2018). Below is a description of the three proposed course learning modules:
Module 1
Basics of stock investing will cover core
concepts that students must understand before
investing in the stock market such as what a
stock index is, what a stock exchange is, and
the difference between bear and bull markets
(O’Shea, 2017).
1
FIN0801 Proposal
Module 2
Module 3
Investment strategies will teach students how
to diversify their asset portfolios by investing
in a variety of different stocks. This portion of
the class will teach students the difference
between high risk and low risk investments
and how to identify companies that will help
them satisfy their own individual risk
tolerances (Reiss, 2017).
The StockTrak simulation will test students’
real-world knowledge of the stock market in a
virtual simulation by providing them with
$250,000 that they can use to invest in stocks
to maximize the returns on their investments
(Scott, 2016).
With these three modules in mind, the following are proposed methods of assessment:
•
•
•
•
•
Midterm Exam (20%): This exam will consist of 30 multiple choice questions and 1
short response and will encompass core concepts from the “basics of stock investing”
portion of the course.
Final Exam (20%): This exam will consist of 30 multiple choice questions and 1 short
response and will encompass core concepts from the “investment strategies” portion of
the course.
StockTrak Results (25%): Students will be graded on their attempts to diversify their
portfolio, application of investment strategies learned in the course, and their final returns
on their investments. The final return will only be 5% of the total 25% for this portion.
StockTrak Paper (15%): Students will write a 4-5 page paper about their StockTrak
simulation. Students will identify strengths and weaknesses in their investment strategies
and write about what they would do differently in the future.
Attendance (20%): Each student will be given a maximum of 4 excused/unexcused
absences after which each absence will reduce the total 20% by 5%. After 8 total
absences, a student will receive 0% for attendance. Students may contact the professor
for extenuating circumstances.
Implementation Plan and Schedule
If this proposal is submitted to Department Chair Jonathan Scott in January 2019, the Finance
subcommittee should have ample time—three months—to review and revise the course plan, as
necessary, enabling students to take the course during the Spring 2020 semester. See Appendix B
for a visual breakdown of the timing and steps involved in launching this project.
Budget
2
FIN0801 Proposal
Assuming that a non-adjunct professor who does not have a full course load teaches FIN0801,
per semester wage cost would be $0 because no overloading would be necessary, so this is the
recommended option. The recommended professor is Thorsten Moenig, who already has
experience with stocks because of his experience teaching Advanced Theory of Interest.
For a visual breakdown of this recommended budgeting option, along with two alternative
options, see Appendix C. Space and administration costs were not considered due to difficulty
finding data that would allow for an accurate projection of these costs.
Benefits
Increasing Donations and Rankings
Students will learn how to invest their money to save for retirement, and the investment
strategies they will learn will help them ride out economic downturns. These future alumni will
likely be better positioned financially, they may be more inclined to donate back to the university
and to the Fox School specifically. Consequently, Temple’s U.S. News and World Report
ranking may increase since alumni donations is a contributing factor (Morse & Mason, 2018).
Helping and Attracting Students
The StockTrak simulation that the class provides will help students make a connection between
the theoretical information they learn in class and the real world. This class may also attract
students to the finance major because they may be intrigued by the real-world concepts they
learn in this class.
Closing
This proposed course reinforces Temple University’s mission to teach vital skills to its students.
Further, because of the financial repercussions associated with not learning how to invest early in
life, implementing a 1-credit, 7-week class could be a simple solution to a major issue faced by
many students at Temple (“Message to Millennials,” 2018). This need, along with the benefits
associated, make this an initiative worth pursuing.
3
FIN0801 Proposal
Appendix A: History of Stock Market Returns After Economic Downturns
(“3 reasons to invest in stocks,” 2018)
Appendix A demonstrates how investing in the stock market is a lucrative long-term investment
strategy. Investors who ride out economic downturns are rewarded in the following years since
there is a high return on stocks following economic downturns. For example, after the Great
Depression, investors who rode out the drop in the stock market were rewarded in the next five
years with a 367% cumulative 5-year return on their investment (“3 reasons to invest in stocks,”
2018).
4
FIN0801 Proposal
Appendix B: Timeline for Proposal Request
Submit to Department Chair Jonathan Scott (January 2018)
Finance subcommittee review (March - May 2018)
Make necessary revisions (May - August 2018)
Secondary review by finance subcommittee (August - September 2018)
Anticipated approval of course (September 2018)
First semester of FIN0801 (January - March 2019)
Appendix B displays the project timeline from course proposal through implementation (“FAQ:
The General Education Program,” n.d.). The schedule above allows the finance subcommittee
three months for its initial and secondary reviews to ensure that the finance subcommittee has
ample time to conduct its reviews.
5
FIN0801 Proposal
Appendix C: Projected Costs for Three Proposed Options
Non-Adjunct professor
adds FIN0801 to course
load (not overload)
Teaching
FIN0801
Total Cost
$0
$0
Adjunct professor teaches
course (or non-adjunct
professor overload)
Teaching
FIN0801
Total Cost
$1,350
$1,350
Non-Adjunct professor
drops 3-credit course to
teach FIN0801 AND
adjunct professor teaches
dropped 3-credit course
Non-adjunct
professor
teaches
FIN0801
$0
Adjunct
professor
teaches 3credit class
$2,700
Total Cost
$2,700
Appendix C depicts all three options for teaching FIN0801 presented in the proposal (Guerra,
2018). Option 1 is recommended since it is the cheapest and easiest since Temple would not
have to search for a professor externally. Professor Thorsten Moenig would most likely do a
great job teaching FIN0801 given his success in teaching Advanced Theory of Interest, a much
more complex class than FIN0801.
6
FIN0801 Proposal
References
Dowd, M. (n.d.). How to Write a College Course Proposal. Retrieved October 3, 2018, from
https://classroom.synonym.com/write-college-course-proposal-4840495.html
FAQ: The General Education Program. (n.d.). Retrieved October 8, 2018, from
https://gened.temple.edu/faculty/faq
Guerra, T. (2018, June 29). The Average Adjunct Pay at Community Colleges. Retrieved
October 8, 2018, from https://work.chron.com/average-adjunct-pay-community-colleges18310.html
Jones, T. (2018). Basics of Investing. [PDF file]. Retrieved October 8, 2018 from
https://gened.pitt.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Fin-0822-Syllabus-S16-v1.0.pdf
Message to Millennials: Now Is the Time to Start Investing. (2018, July 30). Retrieved October
3, 2018, from https://www.thestreet.com/investing/stocks/message-to-millennials-now-isthe-time-to-start-investing-14665370
Morse, R., Brooks, E., & Mason, M. (2018, September 9). How U.S. News Calculated the 2019
Best Colleges Rankings. Retrieved October 9, 2018, from
https://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/articles/how-us-news-calculated-therankings
O'Shea, A. (2017, July 28). Investing for beginners: Here's how to get started. Retrieved October
3, 2018, from https://www.cnbc.com/2017/07/06/stock-market-basics-what-beginnerinvestors-need-to-know.html
Reiss, D. (2017, April 12). 5 Reasons to Invest in the Stock Market. Retrieved October 3, 2018,
from https://money.usnews.com/investing/articles/2017-04-12/5-reasons-to-invest-in-thestock-market
7
FIN0801 Proposal
3 reasons to invest in stocks. (2018, June 21). Retrieved October 3, 2018, from
https://www.fidelity.com/viewpoints/retirement/why-you-need-stocks
Scott, J. (2016). Investing for the Future. [PDF file]. Retrieved October 8, 2018 from
https://gened.temple.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Fin-0822-Syllabus-S16-v1.0.pdf
8
Purchase answer to see full
attachment