For my class on Human Resources Management this semester, we had to break up into teams of 4-5 for various group assignments and a huge collaborative term paper. The catch was that out of a list of about 8 topics, none of them could overlap (not the team topic nor our individual topics). So, with a team of five, that left little wiggle room for selections. At any rate, I ended up with Compare & contrast: the art & science of management.

We just finished our term paper in the last couple of days, which means now I can focus almost totally on my own paper. (We do have one more group assignment due in a week, but I opted to write the conclusion, so I don’t have to fret about it just yet.) I normally would begin working on term papers much sooner than now; in fact, I worked out a detailed schedule after the holidays in an effort to stay on track this semester. As it turned out, though, I made great headway on my assignments for my other class, so  I focused on finishing those early, rather than trying to do papers for two classes simultaneously. So, now I have less than three weeks to write 20+ pages.  O.o

I’m looking at perspectives on philanthropy from the “art” and “science” angles. Specifically, I’m exploring some management models that I think can be helpful for nonprofit organizations as they try to adapt to new technologies, which can impact their fundraising efforts. If you’ve followed my research at all (and I totally don’t blame you if you haven’t, even though I find it fascinating), then you know that I’ve been looking at emerging technologies and how they are used in charitable giving. For a paper that I originally thought might be a waste of my time, I’m now realizing that I might be able to approach it from an angle that will aid my future research!

So far, I just have an outline and one page of the introduction … I need a few thousand more words …