8.6 Paper Number 2- Policy Analysis Paper

Introduction

Esri and others in the geospatial community contend that GIScience should be the linchpin of homeland security and emergency preparedness that allows emergency management professionals and other governmental leaders to break out of their stovepipes, share information, and ultimately improve their communications and cooperation through a "Common Operational Picture" or COP. Susan Cutter similarly believes that geographers using geospatial techniques as part of "vulnerability science" should play a key role in emergency preparedness and response.

Scenario

For this assignment, your instructor is the Secretary of Homeland Security. You are an analyst in the Department of Homeland Security. You have a great opportunity to demonstrate your analytical and explanation skills to your supervisor, and to gain the notice of the Secretary of DHS. You can also kill your career by screwing this up—so no pressure.

The Secretary has an important policy decision to make. Should they approve or disapprove a policy that would make Geographic Information Science and Technology the “linchpin” of the US Emergency Management System. Your job is to do the analysis and present the Secretary with a policy paper that analyzes and evaluates the pros and cons of such a policy and conclude with a solid approve/disapprove recommendation that logically derives from your analysis. You must demonstrate your higher order and critical thinking skills. Note that you are an objective analyst with no pre-conceived conclusion. Your analysis must rely on evidence, data, and citations from reputable sources. No one cares about your personal opinion.

Assignment Details

Your assignment is to write a policy analysis paper, in the form of a memo, of 1000 words (plus or minus 10%), which is about four double-spaced pages in a 12-point font.

Your paper should utilize all of the content included in Lesson 3 and be:

• concise (1000 words plus/minus 10%)
• well organized
• uses one-inch margins and Times Roman or Arial font
• uses correct citations and bibliographic references
• is generally correct in terms of spelling, grammar, punctuation
• properly formatted memo: includes "FOR TRAINING USE ONLY" in large, BOLD capital letters in the header and footer. If you feel the need to put a classification, ensure it is UNCLASSIFIED for Training Use Only.
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    Example Memo Template

    Credit: © Penn State is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

    Writing Guideline Refresher

    Your paper should follow the guidelines you learned in Lesson 3. In order to do well, I recommend going back and reviewing the following:

    • Intelligence Writing Guidelines
    • Technical Specifications
    • Doing Academic Research
    • And of course, review my feedback on paper #1. It is likely there are comments that will help inform your successful completion of this assignment.

    Submission

    Please submit your policy analysis paper in Microsoft Word Format using the following file naming convention: Lastname_Firstname_Paper_2.doc

    Grading

    Please see Canvas for the Lesson 8 - GRADED Paper (#2) Rubric that will be used to assess your work.