Discussion: Operational Budget Presentation

Question Description
Operational Budget Presentation

The purpose of this assignment is to create an operational budget presentation identifying key components of budgeting and possible capital purchases that may be required.

Scenario: You have been asked to create an operational budget for a 20-bed nursing unit and present it to the senior leaders of your organization.

Create a presentation of 10-12 slides, including comprehensive speaker notes that detail the budget.

Provide the key components of budgeting, including the cost of staff, activities, services, and supplies.
Identify and describe a relevant capital purchase this unit may require, including the need, the return on investment, benefits, etc.
Use at least three references, including your textbook.

You must proofread your paper. But do not strictly rely on your computer’s spell-checker and grammar-checker; failure to do so indicates a lack of effort on your part and you can expect your grade to suffer accordingly. Papers with numerous misspelled words and grammatical mistakes will be penalized. Read over your paper – in silence and then aloud – before handing it in and make corrections as necessary. Often it is advantageous to have a friend proofread your paper for obvious errors. Handwritten corrections are preferable to uncorrected mistakes.

Use a standard 10 to 12 point (10 to 12 characters per inch) typeface. Smaller or compressed type and papers with small margins or single-spacing are hard to read. It is better to let your essay run over the recommended number of pages than to try to compress it into fewer pages.

Likewise, large type, large margins, large indentations, triple-spacing, increased leading (space between lines), increased kerning (space between letters), and any other such attempts at “padding” to increase the length of a paper are unacceptable, wasteful of trees, and will not fool your professor.

The paper must be neatly formatted, double-spaced with a one-inch margin on the top, bottom, and sides of each page. When submitting hard copy, be sure to use white paper and print out using dark ink. If it is hard to read your essay, it will also be hard to follow your argument.

ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE CLASS

Discussion Questions (DQ)

Initial responses to the DQ should address all components of the questions asked, include a minimum of one scholarly source, and be at least 250 words.
Successful responses are substantive (i.e., add something new to the discussion, engage others in the discussion, well-developed idea) and include at least one scholarly source.
One or two sentence responses, simple statements of agreement or “good post,” and responses that are off-topic will not count as substantive. Substantive responses should be at least 150 words.
I encourage you to incorporate the readings from the week (as applicable) into your responses.
Weekly Participation

Your initial responses to the mandatory DQ do not count toward participation and are graded separately.
In addition to the DQ responses, you must post at least one reply to peers (or me) on three separate days, for a total of three replies.
Participation posts do not require a scholarly source/citation (unless you cite someone else’s work).
Part of your weekly participation includes viewing the weekly announcement and attesting to watching it in the comments. These announcements are made to ensure you understand everything that is due during the week.
APA Format and Writing Quality

Familiarize yourself with APA format and practice using it correctly. It is used for most writing assignments for your degree. Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for APA paper templates, citation examples, tips, etc. Points will be deducted for poor use of APA format or absence of APA format (if required).
Cite all sources of information! When in doubt, cite the source. Paraphrasing also requires a citation.
I highly recommend using the APA Publication Manual, 6th edition.
Use of Direct Quotes

I discourage overutilization of direct quotes in DQs and assignments at the Masters’ level and deduct points accordingly.
As Masters’ level students, it is important that you be able to critically analyze and interpret information from journal articles and other resources. Simply restating someone else’s words does not demonstrate an understanding of the content or critical analysis of the content.
It is best to paraphrase content and cite your source.
LopesWrite Policy

For assignments that need to be submitted to LopesWrite, please be sure you have received your report and Similarity Index (SI) percentage BEFORE you do a “final submit” to me.
Once you have received your report, please review it. This report will show you grammatical, punctuation, and spelling errors that can easily be fixed. Take the extra few minutes to review instead of getting counted off for these mistakes.
Review your similarities. Did you forget to cite something? Did you not paraphrase well enough? Is your paper made up of someone else’s thoughts more than your own?
Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for tips on improving your paper and SI score.
Late Policy

The university’s policy on late assignments is 10% penalty PER DAY LATE. This also applies to late DQ replies.
Please communicate with me if you anticipate having to submit an assignment late. I am happy to be flexible, with advance notice. We may be able to work out an extension based on extenuating circumstances.
If you do not communicate with me before submitting an assignment late, the GCU late policy will be in effect.
I do not accept assignments that are two or more weeks late unless we have worked out an extension.
As per policy, no assignments are accepted after the last day of class. Any assignment submitted after midnight on the last day of class will not be accepted for grading.
Communication

Communication is so very important. There are multiple ways to communicate with me:
Questions to Instructor Forum: This is a great place to ask course content or assignment questions. If you have a question, there is a good chance one of your peers does as well. This is a public forum for the class.
Individual Forum: This is a private forum to ask me questions or send me messages. This will be checked at least once every 24 hours.

Operational Budget Presentation – Rubric

Key Components of Budget Costs

Criteria Description

Key Components of Budget Costs

5. Target

24 points

The presentation includes a comprehensive and thorough description of the cost of staff, activities, services, and supplies.

4. Acceptable

22.08 points

The presentation includes a thorough description of the cost of staff, activities, services, and supplies.

3. Approaching

21.12 points

The presentation includes a clear description of the cost of staff, activities, services, and supplies.

2. Insufficient

19.2 points

The presentation does not include a complete description of the cost of staff, activities, services, and supplies.

1. Unsatisfactory

0 points

The presentation does not sufficiently describe the cost of staff, activities, services, and supplies.

Relevant Capital Purchase

Criteria Description

Relevant Capital Purchase

5. Target

24 points

The presentation skillfully identifies and describes a well-researched, relevant capital purchase that the unit may require, including the need, the return on investment, and benefits.

4. Acceptable

22.08 points

The presentation clearly and accurately identifies and describes a well-researched, relevant capital purchase that the unit may require, including the need, the return on investment, and benefits.

3. Approaching

21.12 points

The presentation identifies and describes a relevant capital purchase that the unit may require, including the need, the return on investment, and benefits.

2. Insufficient

19.2 points

The presentation does not clearly identify and describe a relevant capital purchase that the unit may require, including the need, the return on investment, and benefits.

1. Unsatisfactory

0 points

The presentation does not sufficiently identify and describe a relevant capital purchase that the unit may require, including the need, the return on investment, and benefits.

Presentation of Content

Criteria Description

Presentation of Content

5. Target

8 points

The content is written clearly and concisely. Ideas universally progress and relate to each other. The project includes motivating questions and advanced organizers. The project gives the audience a clear sense of the main idea.

4. Acceptable

7.36 points

The content is written with a logical progression of ideas and supporting information exhibiting a unity, coherence, and cohesiveness. Includes persuasive information from reliable sources.

3. Approaching

7.04 points

The presentation slides are generally competent, but ideas may show some inconsistency in organization or in their relationships to each other.

2. Insufficient

6.4 points

The content is vague in conveying a point of view and does not create a strong sense of purpose. Includes some persuasive information.

1. Unsatisfactory

0 points

The content lacks a clear point of view and logical sequence of information. Includes little persuasive information. Sequencing of ideas is unclear.

Layout

Criteria Description

Layout

5. Target

8 points

The layout is visually pleasing and contributes to the overall message with appropriate use of headings, subheadings, and white space. Text is appropriate in length for the target audience and to the point. The background and colors enhance the readability of the text.

4. Acceptable

7.36 points

The layout background and text complement each other and enable the content to be easily read. The fonts are easy to read and point size varies appropriately for headings and text.

3. Approaching

7.04 points

The layout uses horizontal and vertical white space appropriately. Sometimes the fonts are easy to read, but in a few places the use of fonts, italics, bold, long paragraphs, color, or busy background detracts and does not enhance readability.

2. Insufficient

6.4 points

The layout shows some structure, but appears cluttered and busy or distracting with large gaps of white space or a distracting background. Overall readability is difficult due to lengthy paragraphs, too many different fonts, dark or busy background, overuse of bold, or lack of appropriate indentations of text.

1. Unsatisfactory

0 points

The layout is cluttered, confusing, and does not use spacing, headings, and subheadings to enhance the readability. The text is extremely difficult to read with long blocks of text, small point size for fonts, and inappropriate contrasting colors. Poor use of headings, subheadings, indentations, or bold formatting is evident.

Language Use and Audience Awareness

Criteria Description

Language Use and Audience Awareness (includes sentence construction, word choice, etc.)

5. Target

8 points

The writer uses a variety of sentence constructions, figures of speech, and word choice in distinctive and creative ways that are appropriate to purpose, discipline, and scope.

4. Acceptable

7.36 points

The writer is clearly aware of audience, uses a variety of appropriate vocabulary for the targeted audience, and uses figures of speech to communicate clearly.

3. Approaching

7.04 points

Language is appropriate to the targeted audience for the most part.

2. Insufficient

6.4 points

Some distracting inconsistencies in language choice (register) or word choice are present. The writer exhibits some lack of control in using figures of speech appropriately.

1. Unsatisfactory

0 points

Inappropriate word choice and lack of variety in language use are evident. Writer appears to be unaware of audience. Use of primer prose indicates writer either does not apply figures of speech or uses them inappropriately.

Mechanics of Writing

Criteria Description

Mechanics of Writing (includes spelling, punctuation, grammar, language use)

5. Target

4 points

Writer is clearly in control of standard, written, academic English.

4. Acceptable

3.68 points

Slides are largely free of mechanical errors, although a few may be present.

3. Approaching

3.52 points

Some mechanical errors or typos are present, but they are not overly distracting to the reader.

2. Insufficient

3.2 points

Frequent and repetitive mechanical errors distract the reader.

1. Unsatisfactory

0 points

Slide errors are pervasive enough that they impede communication of meaning.

Documentation of Sources

Criteria Description

Documentation of Sources (citations, footnotes, references, bibliography, etc., as appropriate to assignment and style)

5. Target

4 points

Sources are completely and correctly documented, as appropriate to assignment and style, and format is free of error.

4. Acceptable

3.68 points

Sources are documented, as appropriate to assignment and style, and format is mostly correct.

3. Approaching

3.52 points

Sources are documented, as appropriate to assignment and style, although some formatting errors may be present.

2. Insufficient

3.2 points

Documentation of sources is inconsistent or incorrect, as appropriate to assignment and style, with numerous formatting errors.

1. Unsatisfactory

0 points

Sources are not documented.