One of the main challenges of this assignment is connecting your experience of the local with the global.
You need to ask yourself: is there an academic out there who has published research on my theme? The answer will most likely be no. Most of our research databases will give you research that considers universities or students all around the world, but very rarely specifically about Chilliwack or Abbotsford.
So first look for information on a local level. These will usually be websites, newspaper articles. Look for the local information by looking at links in UFV or information from government sites.
Then connect the local information you find with the much more broader research topics found in our journal articles.
For example, you want to advocate better bus connections between Chilliwack and Abbotsford campuses. You can look up websites like BC Translink, Chilliwack city planning, Abbotsford city planning. But then you need to look for research articles. These will probably be about public transportation and commuting and have nothing to do with your local community.
It is your task as the writer of this formal proposal to connect the peer-reviewed articles that you have found to your specific vision for UFV.
UFV Fact BookTo avoid searching through endless unreliable websites, improve your google searches from the start.
Use these as part of your search:
Also include words like disseration, thesis, or pdf to bring up more reliable documents.
Try "at-risk youth" pdf site:.ufv.ca
or
sustainability site:.bc.ca
So when I was looking at the UFV website I found this paper:
So if I want to come up with an winning proposal, I could possibly use this idea. I know the University finds it important so...
If you can come up with a proposal that covers these ideas and finds a solution for keeping students here then I think you are on to a winner!
Go to any UFV website page and use the search box.
