Memorandum

To: Whom it may concern

From:The Womencilin Lab at the NIH
Date: 8 March 2018
Re: Work Schedule and Duties

Our laboratory investigates the prevalence and dissemination of antibiotic resistance. Through
our research, we hope to convey the urgency of this threat to experts in the field and society at
large. This memorandum serves to outline the work schedule and duties of the researchers in
the Womencilin Lab at the National Institute of Health (NIH).

Individual Responsibilities
Each individual group member will need to submit 4 annotated research articles relating to
antibiotic resistance. All members will have an assigned section of the research review paper to
submit. The following outline indicates which parts each member will be responsible for
although everyone will be responsible for peer reviewing the entire assignment.
Introduction:
- Background of Antibiotics: Katia
Body Paragraphs:
- P1: Benefits of Antibiotics: Katia
- P2: Antibiotic Crisis: Sara
- P3: Extensive Agricultural Use: Sheena
- P4:Possible Solutions/Future Directions: Sara
Conclusion:
- Why is exploring the Antibiotic Crisis important?: Sheena
- References: Sheena

Group Meetings
The members of our group will be expected to attend the scheduled group meetings on the
dates of March 19, April 9th, and April 16th along with any other meetings that are scheduled in
the future. Meetings will be held at the Pollak library and are expected to last approximately one
hour. These meetings are subject to change in accordance to the group members schedules
and the changes will be communicated via text messaging. If a member of the group cannot
attend a meeting, she will be expected to either: set up another meeting with the group
members or communicate with the group on what was discussed in the group meeting and work
on and submit any assignments that she would have done in the group meeting.

Deadlines
Aside from the hard deadlines set by Dr. Bruce, the Womencillin Lab has set soft deadlines
throughout the months of March and April to ensure that the writing process progresses. If one
of these deadlines cannot be met, it must be noted and extended to another reasonable date.
The deadlines are the following:
March 8, 2018 - Group Charter Due *** (11:55pm Titanium)
March 14, 2018 - Annotated Bibliography and Research Question Due ***
March 19, 2018 - Research Article Detailed Outline Due
April 6, 2018 - First Draft of Research Article Due
April 11, 2018 - Final Draft Presentation Due
April 13, 2018 - Final Draft Research Article Due
April 16, 2018 - Research Review Article Due *** (11:55pm Titanium)
April 16/18, 2018- Presentations for Review Article ***
*** indicates a hard deadline due in class
Katia is responsible for submitting all documents to Titanium
Missing a deadline without communicating an issue, may result in a strike.

These deadlines were set according to the following compiled availability of each member of the
Womencillin Lab:

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

Katia 12:45-5:00 10:00-3:00 12:45-5:00 10:00-3:00 9:00-12:45

4:00——

Sara 11:15-12:30 11:30-12:30 11:15--- 11:30-12:30 9:00-12:45

2:15-5:00 2:30---- 2:30--

Sheena 11:15-5:00 10:00-2:00 11:15-3:00 10:00-2:00 Varied

4:00-7:00 4:00-6:30

Consensus 2:15-5:00 11:30-12:30 12:45-3:00 11:30-12:30 9:00-12:45

4:00-7:00

Communication
Text messaging will be the primary form of communication among the members of the
Womencilin Lab. Secondary forms of communication would be emails. Members of the lab will
be expected to respond within 24 hours to both emails and texts. If there is no response within
that time frame, the member will be called. If they cannot be contacted, the group member will
receive a strike.

Resolving Conflicts and Firing Clause

If a conflict were to arise between group members, it should not be ignored. The conflict will be
addressed and discussed in a face-to-face group meeting (Heathfield, 2018). If needed, the
conflict will be presented to the instructor anonymously and she will decide what is best for the
group (Wolfe, 2009).
 Three strikes rule:
If a group member receives three strikes, it will be presented to the instructor and may
result in the member being “fired” from the lab.

What warrants a strike?

- Missing a deadline
- Failing to communicate with group members within 24 hours
- Missing meetings without communication
- Poor conduct and lack of respect for group members
- Submitting substandard work (without communicating to members a valid
reason and/or alternate submission date)

Concluding Remarks
The Womencilin Lab hopes this work will contribute to the ongoing scientific exploration and
discoveries regarding antibiotic resistance. Through writing a review paper surveying the
antibiotic resistance literature and presenting our findings to our ENGL 363 class, we hope to
promote awareness of this crisis to fortify the cooperativity needed to combat resistance.

References
Heathfield, S. M. (2018). How to Encourage Meaningful, Needed Conflict at Work. Retrieved
from https://www.thebalancecareers.com/encourage-meaningful-needed-conflict-
1917870
Wolfe, J. (2010). Team writing a guide to working in groups. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins.