The purpose of this proposal is to highlight the issues concerning the effects of nomophobia on academic performance and the benefits of unplugging for college students and society as a whole. As such, this proposed event is meant to focus on the adverse impact of technology on academic performance and social aspects of college students’ lives. The event will achieve this objective by including activities that highlight how cellphones have become the central aspects of people’s lives and the need to always use the internet via various social and messaging applications. Furthermore, it will employ the use of content speakers who will speak on the multiple issues surrounding nomophobia.
In the same line, this event proposal serves as an opportunity for UVF to sensitize students on the real effects of nomophobia and illuminate how it develops. As such, the university will have the chance to encourage students in healthily controlling their internet appetites to maximize their academic performances thereby improving the institution’s academic standards.
For the person who was not expecting this proposal, the most effective method that will be employed in pitching this idea to them will be via posters on noticeboards and distributing fliers at strategic points all over campus that will give a short description of the event in a bid to create interest for the event. As such, the primary idea of this event is reducing the instances of nomophobia amongst college students by highlighting its effects and potential benefits from reduced technological gadget dependence.
In this regard, the team that will undertake this project all have some bit of experience in event organizing from their neighborhood community projects. The expertise they will bring to this event will ensure there is professionalism, organization, and time management for a smooth run of operations. In this line, it is essential that the recipient approves this proposal since it aims at improving students’ academic and social elements, a factor the recipient would highly find beneficial. As such, this proposal involves a background that will provide information on the need for UFV to approve it and how it will benefit them. The next section will be the proposal and schedule that will outline the event plan and how this proposal will address the issue of nomophobia. The next section will mention the qualifications of the partners who will be involved in the project from planning to implementation. The last section will be a request for funding from UFV.
Background
There has been an increased prevalence of cell phone usage among college students. According to Fox " Duggan, 2013, the data they obtained from Pew Internet and American Life Project indicated that up to 74% of college students employed the use of their cell phones in searching for online educational material and other needs and also served as the primary device for this function. As such, this claim highlights the fact that a majority of collet students search for information from their smartphones thus coinciding with the objective of this event proposal.
The implication here is that UFV needs to acknowledge that the academic performance of its students is at stake. The fact that most of its students might be using cell phones for either instructional materials or social purposes should be enough to approve the event to sensitize students. It is also in the interest of the university to ensure that its students are performing well and are getting value for their money. In this line, Kirschner " Karpinski, 2010 postulated that when students surf the internet during class, it will result in academic disengagement. Other factors that may also lead to academic disengagement include multitasking, texting during class, and exploring new applications (Barkley, "
Karpinski, 2015).
It should be a concern for UFV that most students use their cell phones for non-academic purposes which have been showed to be harmful to the well-being of students, their process of learning, and their GPA (Gingerich " Lineweaver, 2014). As such, this postulation might be a concern for UFV on how to formulate policies that prevent and reduce the adverse effects of cell phone use during class. The fact remains that the current trend is that more students are emotionally relying on their cell phones for both academic purposes and social aspects.
According to researchers, the primary method by which the negative impact of cell phones is evident is through the fact that it reduces the attention time span when students are in a classroom lecture. Consequentially, the fact that a student has a lower level of material retention during class means that they do not possess the ability to properly store information thus leading to the poor preservation of information. It is therefore in line with research that suggests that around 30% of information is lost when students engage in sending text messages during class time (Forese et al., 2012). Furthermore, the distracting effects of using cell phones during class time also have an impact on those students who are near but are not using their cell phones.
One of the goals of UFV is to provide the best undergraduate education in Canada and will measure its success by the success of its graduates and how best these students develop the communities they serve. In this regard, such success will only be possible if they can focus in school and achieve the required educational and social levels necessary for success. In this regard, this event will be beneficial to UFV in ensuring that its vision is realized by finding ways of controlling and reducing nomophobia. Furthermore, UFV’s primary mandate is to provide post-secondary academic, technical, career and adult primary education meant to lead to diplomas, degrees at the undergraduate and postgraduate level. In this line, students need to ensure that their GPA points allow them to finish college with high scores but the issue of nomophobia and ignorance surrounding this matter may be a hindrance to achieving this fit. Proposal and Schedule
Theme of the Event
The central theme of this event would be premised on the adverse effects of nomophobia on the academic and social elements of college students. The same theme will involve a spin of how to manage and reduce the impact of nomophobia through the activities that will be employed during the event.
Dates of the Event
The event is scheduled to coincide with the National Day of Unplugging that will take place between March 1st
and 2nd, and since it is supposed to be a one day event, the plan is to hold it on March 1st a symbolic action of persons realizing there is more to their lives outside of their smartphones.
Target Audience
The target audience for this event is any college student who has an interest in the concept of nomophobia and why they should be concerned about it. The objectives of the event attendance is to create awareness of the adverse effects of nomophobia on the academic and social success of students. Since these are critical aspects of students’ lives, the fact that they attended the event till the end should serve as an achievement of the objectives.
Venue of the Event
Due to budget and time constraints, the event will be held in one campus only and it will be an indoor event to increase visibility for other passing by students.
Timeline
January 1st – January 31st: Create a schedule for presenters
Schedule key note speaker
Decide on location
Decide on date
Form planning team
February 1st – February 28th: Design event poster
Prepare event announcement
Develop event program
Verify presenter lists
Recruit volunteers
Finalize on any plans
March 1st: Day of event
Duration of Event
The event is supposed to start at 9am in the morning and end at 5pm in the evening.
Budget
Cost of event speaker: $400
Cost of bottled water for each seat: $500
Cost of printing and setting up posters: $120
Ticket sales expected ($5/person): $5000
Partners and Qualifications
The team members who form the planning and implementation committee comprise of students from various faculties. Since the team comprises five persons in number, each person will bring expertise on project management, event organizing, keynote speaker outsourcing, and sound systems engineering.
Request for Authorization
References
Fox, S., " Duggan, M. (2013). Health online 2013. Washington, DC: Pew Internet " American Life Project, 1.
Froese, A. D., Carpenter, C. N., Inman, D. A., Schooley, J. R., Barnes, R. B., Brecht, P. W., " Chacon, J. D. (2012). Effects of classroom cell phone use on expected and actual learning. College Student Journal, 46(2), 323-332.
Gingerich, A. C., " Lineweaver, T. T. (2014). OMG! Texting in class= U Fail:(Empirical evidence that text messaging during class disrupts comprehension. Teaching of Psychology, 41(1), 44-51.
Kirschner, P. A., " Karpinski, A. C. (2010). Facebook® and academic performance. Computers in human behavior, 26(6), 1237-1245.
Lepp, A., Barkley, J. E., " Karpinski, A. C. (2015). The relationship between cell phone use and academic performance in a sample of US college students. Sage Open, 5(1), 2158244015573169.
