Personal progress reports are written regularly by employees. You might have reported on your progress to your employer at some time in the past. Typically, a manager or a human resources staff member will write a report of an employee's progress. The employee will write a report of his or her own progress, too. Then, they will get together and discuss the two reports. Generally, these reports not only assess past performance, but outline an employee's direction for the near future.

The task for this project is to write an informal memo report in which you survey and assess your progress in this course. Keep in mind several aspects of reporting on progress in general and in this class in particular:

• Some background context should be established. In this regard, the self-report that you did at the beginning of the semester should be useful.
• Make your report detailed. You have completed five projects to date, so you have a considerable amount of experience that you can discuss.
• Progress reports look to the future and provide specific goals and objectives. "To continue to learn to write more professionally" is not a specific goal.

Although your book lists three main sections of a report, don't confuse those section designations (Background, Body, Terminal Section) as the actual headings of a report. The headings of a report should develop out of the report itself. For instance, while "Background" might work as a heading in your progress report, "Body" does not because it is not specific enough.

Last, the key word in a personal progress report is "completeness." The reader of a progress report is looking for details that will give him or her the impression that you have engaged in some honest self-analysis and that you are committed to a specific definition of past progress and future development.

Project Due Dates

• Audience Profile Sheet: TBA
(Use APS Form)
• Rough Draft: TBA  (E-mail to Kurt Neumann as file attachment. Submit attachment in Rich Text Format.
• Revised Draft: TBA (E-mail to Kurt Neumann as file attachment. Submit attachment in Rich Text Format.)

Project Format

Two-three-page memorandum report with topical headings