Who's going to read it?

Your degree plan and rationale essay will be reviewed by an assessment committee, made up of ESC faculty and professionals.  In order to approve your degree, they need to understand the context in which you're pursuing your degree (your background, goals, and plans), how you're addressing the ESC Area of Study Guidelines and SUNY General Education requirements, what relevant research you've done into academic and professional expectations for your degree, and how the components of your degree all fit together.