Sociologists of Minnesota Society for Applied Sociology 2006 Student Problem Solving Competition Flyer and Registration Form Overview The Student Problem Solving Competition gives students the opportunity to apply sociology to a problem. One nonprofit organization (the Client) presents its problem to the student teams and students have the opportunity to ask questions at a two to three hour introductory session. Students then return to their campuses and have four weeks to research the issue, write their report, and submit it for judging. Reports are judged by an evaluation team - which includes a representative from the Client. Winners are announced in Sociograph and will receive their award at the 2007 Annual Conference. Eligibility Teams are comprised of from one to five students (undergraduate or graduate), sponsored by a faculty member. A school can send one team or multiple teams to the competition. Teams can be comprised of just undergraduate students, just graduate students, or a mix of both. Process At the conference, the Client will offer an informal presentation to introduce the students to the organization, describing the organization's history, leadership, and needs. There is plenty of time for question and answer at this session, which usually lasts about two hours. After the conference, students return to their campuses and begin meeting together as a team to brainstorm and research solutions to the client's problem. During this stage, students can email the client and the exercise coordinator questions. The coordinator will circulate answers to follow-up questions to all teams. Each team develops a written team report and submits it to the exercise coordinator. The client and an evaluation committee read the reports, ranking them on a series of dimensions (see Evaluation Criteria, below). A winner is determined. The exercise coordinator collects feedback from the client and evaluation committee members and distributes these to all the teams. Evaluation Criteria Coverage of the questions described in the problem-solving description. Review of relevant sociological literature related to the exercise topic. Use of applied social research methods. Integration of theory and methods Appropriateness of assumptions and solutions/plan of action. Creativity in addressing questions and providing solutions/plan of action. Discussion of solution/plan limitations. Overall quality of the report design and presentation. Ability to summarize the report in the executive summary Clarity of analysis, writing, and organization of ideas. Date: The Student Problem Solving Competition will be held Thursday, October 5, 2006, from 9 am to noon. Reports must be postmarked by November 10, 2006. Fee: $25 per team for competition. Please submit along with $25 team registration fee. Check payable to Sociologists of Minnesota. Please add a note on the check that it is for the Student Problem Solving Competition. For more information: contact Paul Schmid at psschmid@aol.com. Flyer and Registration Form