Writing Program

Richard; his brother, Richard; and his other brother, Richard; hereinafter referred to as “the Brothers,” agree that all project work shall be distributed equally among them whenever possible. Richard A. Rorty is designated coordinator. The primary responsibility of the coordinator shall be to notify all group members of group meetings not held during the regularly scheduled class sessions; such notifications should be given by email at least twenty-four hours in advance of each meeting. If one brother does not show up for a scheduled meeting, the other two brothers shall constitute a quorum for a group meeting and continue the business of the project without the third brother.

The Brothers agree that the criteria for acceptable behavior of a group member shall include, but not be limited to, prompt arrival at scheduled meetings, thoughtful contributions to group activities, on time completion of tasks assigned, a reasonably positive and constructive attitude, behavior that is oriented toward completing a relevant task or activity, and staying until a meeting is adjourned. Group members consistently or flagrantly not meeting the expectation set forth by these criteria shall be subject to group disciplinary action, such action may include a recommendation for ostracization by the group.

The Brothers agree that all group decisions shall be made on the basis of consensus. When a group consensus is not clear, a vote of hands shall be taken and a simple majority shall win. In the event of a tie in a vote of hands, then the determination shall be made by a coin toss. Group decisions shall include, but not be limited to, the selection of a paper topic, the selection of an audience for the paper, the defining of tasks, the assignment of tasks to group members, acceptability of any deliverable, the establishment of group values, the establishment of group standards, the establishment of group goals, the establishment of group operating procedures, and the disciplinary action of a group member or members.

All group meetings shall be scheduled by the group, as a whole, and said meetings shall not to conflict with any one group member's class schedule or university sports obligations. Each regularly scheduled class session is considered a group meeting.

On the matter of paper revisions, those group members responsible for creating a section of the paper that needs revision shall be responsible for making necessary revisions in a accurate and timely manner. Because of the possibility of fragmentation of a paper during the revision process, the Brothers agree to schedule and hold a group meeting to discuss all revision recommendations and coordinate all planned revisions prior to any revisions being made.

With regard to planning for unforeseen contingencies, the Brothers agree that all work performed on a computer shall be saved to hard disk and saved to floppy at least once every sixty minutes. With regard to deliverables to be presented to class, a minimum of two brothers shall have a hard copy of any single deliverable and those two brothers cannot live in the same place. Additionally, a minimum of two brothers will always be assigned to a task.

The Brothers agree that the following list includes all major deliverables for this collaborative project: group contract (this agreement), a project proposal, field research conclusions, a first draft (including revision questions and a works cited page), a set of group revision comments for the Brother's first draft, a set of group comments for the first draft of another group, a second draft (including revision questions and a works cited page), and final project documentation. This listing shall be amended as needed.

Group contract (first draft) 10/16/2000, end of class
Project proposal (first draft) 10/19/2000, end of class
Field research conclusions 10/25/2000
First Draft of Paper   10/29/2000, beginning of class
Revision Comments   10/30/2000, end of class
Second Draft of Paper   11/02/2000, beginning of class
Project with Cover Letters 11/5/2000, beginning of class

With regard to task creation and management, the Brothers agree that a discrete listing of tasks is outside of the scope of this agreement because information necessary to making such a list is not yet available. However, in general, the Brothers foresee that the deliverables of field research, first draft and second draft shall minimally be divided into the following tasks: design, design review & approval, implementation/writing, tabulation (as required for research results), analysis (of research results), and review & approval. Additionally, the Brothers agree that a task schedule shall be maintained for the benefit of the group. This task shall be referred to as project monitoring. Project monitoring shall be the responsibility of Richard C. Rorty. The task schedule shall minimally include the following information: name of the task, individual(s) responsible for completing the task, the target completion date of the task, and the date the task was completed.

At the end of the project, group members shall be evaluated on the basis of their conformance to the criteria for acceptable behavior, list above. Such an evaluation shall be performed by each group member on every other group member. This evaluation will require a member to rank the behavior and performance of other group members for each criteria listed above. The five evaluation ranking categories shall be greatly exceeded expectations, exceeded expectations marginally, met expectations, needs improvement, and did not meet expectations.

Richard A.     555-1111     littlerichard@merrymen.org
Richard B.     555-2222     lionheart@toughguys.pro
Richard C.     555-3333     mommasboy@iloveyouson.com

By their signatures below, the undersigned do hereby agree to the terms and conditions of the above agreement, made on this, the sixteenth day of October, 2003.

______________________________________ _______ / ______ / _______
Richard A. Rorty Date

______________________________________ _______ / ______ / _______
Richard B. Rorty Date

______________________________________ _______ / ______ / _______
Richard C. Rorty Date


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Writing Program About Leadership Team Academic Links English 101 Course Summary Why take 101? Course Work Portfolio Syllabus Redbird Reader Grade Appeal Instructors Proficiency Credit English 145 Summary Advice Design Considerations Model Documents Orientation Slides A to Z Credits Resources For Writers For Instructors Technology 101 Websites Activities Web Writing Project English Home	A Model of a Group Contract Know all men by these presents that Richard A. Rorty; his brother, Richard B. Rorty; and his other brother, Richard C. Rorty; do hereby make known on this, the sixteenth day of October, 2000, their intent to work together on a collaborative project for ENG 145.13, Section 8, Fall 2000 according to the terms and conditions set forth below. The guidelines, nature and deliverables of this collaborative project are described at the following website: http://www.ilstu.edu/~baerick2. This agreement represents the means by which its participants will address the following problems, should they arise: a group member(s) does not attend meetings, has a poor attitude, lacks motivation, lacks commitment, is uncooperative, is domineering, is consistently tardy, does not perform work in a timely, accurate, or complete manner, is divisive, or does not accept group decisions and standards. This agreement is also intended to address problems related to the diverse standards, goals, values, and writing styles associated with the parties to this contract; this problem of diversity will be resolved by tasking one person to edit the deliverable drafts. Additionally, this agreement is intended to address matters of unclear expectations, scheduling problems, no predetermined method to settle conflicts, and the lack of a contingency plan. Richard; his brother, Richard; and his other brother, Richard; hereinafter referred to as “the Brothers,” agree that all project work shall be distributed equally among them whenever possible. Richard A. Rorty is designated coordinator. The primary responsibility of the coordinator shall be to notify all group members of group meetings not held during the regularly scheduled class sessions; such notifications should be given by email at least twenty-four hours in advance of each meeting. If one brother does not show up for a scheduled meeting, the other two brothers shall constitute a quorum for a group meeting and continue the business of the project without the third brother. The Brothers agree that the criteria for acceptable behavior of a group member shall include, but not be limited to, prompt arrival at scheduled meetings, thoughtful contributions to group activities, on time completion of tasks assigned, a reasonably positive and constructive attitude, behavior that is oriented toward completing a relevant task or activity, and staying until a meeting is adjourned. Group members consistently or flagrantly not meeting the expectation set forth by these criteria shall be subject to group disciplinary action, such action may include a recommendation for ostracization by the group. The Brothers agree that all group decisions shall be made on the basis of consensus. When a group consensus is not clear, a vote of hands shall be taken and a simple majority shall win. In the event of a tie in a vote of hands, then the determination shall be made by a coin toss. Group decisions shall include, but not be limited to, the selection of a paper topic, the selection of an audience for the paper, the defining of tasks, the assignment of tasks to group members, acceptability of any deliverable, the establishment of group values, the establishment of group standards, the establishment of group goals, the establishment of group operating procedures, and the disciplinary action of a group member or members. All group meetings shall be scheduled by the group, as a whole, and said meetings shall not to conflict with any one group member's class schedule or university sports obligations. Each regularly scheduled class session is considered a group meeting. On the matter of paper revisions, those group members responsible for creating a section of the paper that needs revision shall be responsible for making necessary revisions in a accurate and timely manner. Because of the possibility of fragmentation of a paper during the revision process, the Brothers agree to schedule and hold a group meeting to discuss all revision recommendations and coordinate all planned revisions prior to any revisions being made. With regard to planning for unforeseen contingencies, the Brothers agree that all work performed on a computer shall be saved to hard disk and saved to floppy at least once every sixty minutes. With regard to deliverables to be presented to class, a minimum of two brothers shall have a hard copy of any single deliverable and those two brothers cannot live in the same place. Additionally, a minimum of two brothers will always be assigned to a task. The Brothers agree that the following list includes all major deliverables for this collaborative project: group contract (this agreement), a project proposal, field research conclusions, a first draft (including revision questions and a works cited page), a set of group revision comments for the Brother's first draft, a set of group comments for the first draft of another group, a second draft (including revision questions and a works cited page), and final project documentation. This listing shall be amended as needed. The following deadlines for deliverables in have been established: Group contract (first draft) 10/16/2000, end of class Project proposal (first draft) 10/19/2000, end of class Field research conclusions 10/25/2000 First Draft of Paper 10/29/2000, beginning of class Revision Comments 10/30/2000, end of class Second Draft of Paper 11/02/2000, beginning of class Project with Cover Letters 11/5/2000, beginning of class With regard to task creation and management, the Brothers agree that a discrete listing of tasks is outside of the scope of this agreement because information necessary to making such a list is not yet available. However, in general, the Brothers foresee that the deliverables of field research, first draft and second draft shall minimally be divided into the following tasks: design, design review & approval, implementation/writing, tabulation (as required for research results), analysis (of research results), and review & approval. Additionally, the Brothers agree that a task schedule shall be maintained for the benefit of the group. This task shall be referred to as project monitoring. Project monitoring shall be the responsibility of Richard C. Rorty. The task schedule shall minimally include the following information: name of the task, individual(s) responsible for completing the task, the target completion date of the task, and the date the task was completed. At the end of the project, group members shall be evaluated on the basis of their conformance to the criteria for acceptable behavior, list above. Such an evaluation shall be performed by each group member on every other group member. This evaluation will require a member to rank the behavior and performance of other group members for each criteria listed above. The five evaluation ranking categories shall be greatly exceeded expectations, exceeded expectations marginally, met expectations, needs improvement, and did not meet expectations. The Brothers can be contacted at: Richard A. 555-1111 littlerichard@merrymen.org Richard B. 555-2222 lionheart@toughguys.pro Richard C. 555-3333 mommasboy@iloveyouson.com By their signatures below, the undersigned do hereby agree to the terms and conditions of the above agreement, made on this, the sixteenth day of October, 2003. ______________________________________ _______ / ______ / _______ Richard A. Rorty Date ______________________________________ _______ / ______ / _______ Richard B. Rorty Date ______________________________________ _______ / ______ / _______ Richard C. Rorty Date
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A Model of a Group Contract