Part A. The purpose of this assessment is to critically assess a current planning issue, strategy or policy (1200 words max). You are required to:

1. Summarise the facts
2. Identify the reasons for the issues/strategy/policy
3. Who will be affected and why (for example what have local interest groups been saying)
4. How has it been reported in the media (e.g. balance of argument, socio-political aspects) and
5. Provide your critical review (+ and –ve aspects). 

You are to write this in a style that would be relevant to publish in The Conversation or as a Perspective piece in Newplanner.

Part B. You are to provide a 1 page briefing report for the director of planning at your placement organisation. This should be formatted around the following headings:

1. Title (1 line)
2. Purpose (1 sentence)
3. Background
4. Comment (particularly focusing on implications for your organisation)
5. Financial implications
6. Recommendations (if relevant)

Part A. CV

You are required to prepare your CV for the purpose of applying for a graduate level planning position. You are required to research relevant formats and produce a professionally relevant document to articulate your skills and experience.

Part B. Linked in profile

You are required to generate a Linked in profile for your future profession as a planner or similar role. You will need to invite me to be one of your contacts for the purpose of assessment and review. Note if you do not wish to have this on-line you may like to create a Word version based on a similar template.

Part C. Cover letter for a position of graduate planner

To accompany your CV you are to provide a 2 page maximum cover letter outlining your case for the position and addressing the required knowledge and key experiences (as below).

Required knowledge

• Degree in planning or equivalent
• Computer skills
• Knowledge of statutory planning requirements

Key experiences

• Gathering and manipulating data and information into reports
• Working as part of a team
• Drafting reports, documentation and correspondence
• Ability to communicate with key internal and external stakeholders.

Part A 10 minute presentation

 Assessment Mark:                              10 %      

The presentation is intended to be a crisp, high-calibre professional submission of your project including a summary of the objectives of your partner organisation. The presentation is to be made in a Power Point format. Issues to be considered include:

• project description and expected outcomes
• the project management plan (Assessment 4) and its relationship to the unfolding of your project
• what issues have you identified about your workplace that may affect your project
• what issues have you identified about yourself and your immediate supervisor/mentor ( this should inform your reflective journal)
• identified relationship-building issues and networking in relation to success of Project and your ongoing career.

• Images, graphics, anecdotes are all legitimate material if they add value (or another dimension) to your analysis.

  The time limit for presentations will be strictly enforced. Tailoring your presentation to the time limit is an assessable element.

   

  Assessment Criteria

• Persuasiveness and conciseness in communication
• Message on target
• Presentation within time limit
• Effective use of graphics
• Power of communication utilised including logical structure of presentation, clarity and use of metaphor, humour, and revealing stories/anecdotes
• Reflection on experience and expectation

Part B. Project Management Plan (PMP)

​Word Length:                                        1,000 words (max) including diagrams, charts etc                             

This assessment task is the development of a PMP for the major project your will be doing in your placement. Project management is essential for a planner as for most other disciplines today. It is a tool to assist in the delivery of projects on-time, on-budget and with the expected outcomes. The purpose of the plan is to guide the way the project is developed, implemented, reviewed and evaluated. A detailed plan of action for your project is required after you have undertaken some initial investigation. The Plan will contain a work plan and timeframes and will be developed with your workplace supervisor. You should consider contingences in the timing and delivery of milestone outcomes that may result from changes in scope of the project, organisational circumstances, resources and objectives. The PMP is an excellent way of getting key stakeholders to agree up front on:

• the objectives of the project
• the kinds of tasks and resources involved, and
• key milestones, critical dates, and timelines for completion.

A model to guide development of your PMP follows:

Model for a Project Management Plan

Defining the Project

• Brief overview of the project
• Rationale for the project (why does it need to be done?)
• Any other background or contextual information
• Identify intended outcomes
• Define the scope of the project (what are its boundaries and what is beyond its scope)
• Identify key stakeholders -list them and identify the nature of their interest in the project
• Identifying and Managing Tasks
• Identify and briefly describe the critical tasks that will need to be done including any specific deliverables (eg reports)
• Place the most important tasks in order and produce a schedule/timetable for completion and include critical progress points or milestones for review
• Ascertain required resources (what are they, who has them and how you will access them)
• Describe how you will communicate with those involved with the Project and other key stakeholders

Risk Management

• Identify likely risks to the project (resource issues, information gathering, ethical issues, time management, communication challenges)
• Develop strategies to minimise risks

Monitoring and Evaluation

• Briefly discuss how you will know/measure/assess if the completed Project has achieved its intended outcomes
• Discuss how you will monitor progress of the project against your plan (eg construct weekly task list, plan for and schedule regular meetings)
• Identify critical points in the project and schedule more thorough review of progress at those times (perhaps involving key stakeholders)

A Reflective Journal is a record of your thoughts and experiences during your Planning Placement. It is essentially a learning tool, designed to help you make the most of your Placement and does so by encouraging you to:

• Identify the key elements of what you have learned/experienced;
• Evaluate these experiences; and
• Plan future activities which build on these experiences.

Length and format

The format that your Reflective Journal Entries take is entirely up to you. However the Reflective Journal you submit for assessment must be an edited and ‘tighter’ version of the daily journal and should not exceed 2,000 words in length. As part of your submitted journal you are also required to concisely outline the four qualities Sandercock(*) identifies as comprising an emerging planning imagination and relate these to your experience as part or your placement.

As suggestions your Journal Entries may be:

• reasonably full records of (and reflections on) the sorts of activities and experiences you had in your host workplace on a particular day or set of days (e.g. if you participated in a meeting or focus group with important stakeholders, or attended a conference session on a subject related to your project)
• other entries might focus on a particular issue or dilemma – e.g. if you experienced a particular ‘event’ or were confronted with a situation that raised tricky or otherwise interesting questions. Maybe a picture or photograph completely sums up the emotions you felt when you went through this experience and this may be included in the submitted journal.
• Yet other entries might record your experience in learning a new skill or otherwise doing something for the first time (e.g. putting together a PowerPoint presentation about your Project, or meeting the CEO of your Host Workplace).
• Or maybe a significant idea or insight into how to improve the organisation you are in or how you feel your career should develop.

In other words the reflective journal is an important aid to making the most of your placement and to identifying issues that have a special relevance to you and your professional, academic and personal development. The journal is also your opportunity to consider a wide range of interrelated issues that have significant practical (and emotional) implications for you such as the nature and experience of office politics, relationship building, networking, and the place of the wider organisational culture in the successful delivery of a project. Your reflections can include these areas including the feelings, emotions and impressions engendered during the placement as they relate to your sense of comfort, organisational fit and cognitive style and considered in relation to the specific type of planning undertaken, the specific sector you occupied and their relation to your future career path. Critical reflection on your performance could include thinking carefully about the thinking that led to your choices and actions, what happened as a result of your actions and what you have learned from the experience particularly in terms of how your future behaviour and learning could be informed by this.

Other reflection may require deeper intellectual analysis such as how and whether or not strong connections were developed or engaged in the placement practice between theoretical and cultural perspectives and the wider literature of planning that you have studied. You may choose to illustrate all or any aspect of your reflection with anecdotes, stories or poetry or material from social media such as blogs and tweets and/or visual media including films, painting and cartoons.

Reflective Journal: Indicative Guide Only to Example of Content

1.         Describe the situation

• What happened?  Briefly describe the event/encounter/experience: what, when, and where. Who was involved and why?
• Context. Briefly describe any background incidents/circumstances that are relevant to how
• the situation arose/unfolded
• How did you feel about this experience at the time?

2.         Analyse the situation

• What do you think should or shouldn’t have happened?
• Could the handling of the situation have been improved? If so, how?

3.         Reflect on the situation

            Read back through what you have written above, and reflect on the following questions

• How do you feel about the event/encounter/experience now?
• Are there things that you wish you had done differently?
• What can you do now to build on the experience and/or improve the situation?
• What did you learn about yourself as a result of the experience (skills, knowledge, strengths, weaknesses)?
• What did you learn about your workplace as a result of the experience?

4.         Plan for the future.

Based on your description of, and reflection on, the experience, jot down the things you want/need to do, in the immediate and longer-term future, e.g.

• Is there someone you need to talk to about the situation?
• Is there a skill or some extra knowledge that you need to acquire? How are you going to go about doing that?
• Are there specific actions you need to take (a) now, and/or (b) in the longer-term?

5.         Evaluate.

* Relevant article: Sandercock, L. 2004. ‘Towards a Planning Imagination for the 21st Century’ JAPA, 70: 2.

This is an evaluation survey and report by your supervisor on your project and placement.

Their evaluation and report will be emailed directly to me for review and consideration. 

Your evaluation will cover your performance in the workplace, standard of work, interaction with staff and colleagues and job readiness