Subject to revision to correct errors and omissions and/or in the interest of fairness. GMU policies and procedures take precedence should there be a discrepancy between any of them and this syllabus.
wadams1@gmu.edu
DO NOT SEND ANY
ATTACHMENTS to any of my email addresses
Homework is not accepted by email
Other contact information will be given in class.
Office: TBD - best to see me before or after class
TBD
Contact me for any course administration questions.
Contact the TA first for all other questions.
Tues Thurs
Time: 13h30 - 14h45J **
Bldg.- Room -- R - A106
(but see schedule of classes for recess, reading day, holiday closings, one time exceptions, snow cancellations, reschedulings and final exam. )
Check the GMU phone number for late breaking snow cancellation information.
( Planned Detailed Schedule: Lecture and assignments.
Some generic assignment dates will be instantiated in class eg which specific date(s) you/your team is assigned.
The schedule shows the planned sequence and date. Weather delays and guest lectures may cause changes. If we are able to move faster, items may be done sooner and additional topics or review be done at the end of the semester.
To follow the schedule below as closely as appropriate.
The textbook will be covered in sequence. Additional topics will be discussed where they most closely relate to the text sequence.
Students must ensure that their GMU email is active and working in order to receive announcements and other information broadcasts for this course.
Information may also be given in class.
This course will extend and use the systems engineering and related skills normally developed through previous classes and as would be used in a business teamwork environment. Soft skills as well as technical ones will be exercised.
The full range of SE management process areas and artifacts will be covered and practiced through a team project.
Students will have learned and practiced the skills needed for their capstone course and as would be used in their first job after graduation.
Students will provide status reports and accounting information similar to that required in industry.
Key items covered include:
· Planning including WBS and GANTT, TOC, etc
· Supporting areas including requirements, QFD, Processes and standards including CMMI, ISO 9000, Six Sigma, Acquisition and Contracts, are presented briefly to provide context
· Teamwork including IPPD, IPTs, IC, Myers-Briggs, team processes, decisions, conflict resolution, etc.
· Resource allocation, load balancing
· Monitor and control including metrics, EVMS, status reports, accounting, etc
· Close out
· Team project applying the course material including status reports and resource usage accounting
Text: Mantel, Meredith, Shafer, Sutton
Project Management in Practice
For help with research, Kelly Jordan, Information Technology and Engineering Librarian, is a useful resource. Stop by the Fenwick library or email her at kjordan2@gmu.edu.
For help with writing, the GMU writing center may be useful. There are many web sites that provide writing and grammar assistance. Many universities have on line writing centers (OWL = online writing lab) for assistance. The GMU center is at
http://writingcenter.gmu.edu/owl/
Others are listed at
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/internet/owls/writing-labs.html
http://www.writerswrite.com/writinglinks/ucenters.htm
http://www.departments.dsu.edu/owl/labs_oth.html
http://owl.wsu.edu/otherowls.asp
http://writing.colostate.edu/links/index.cfm?category=owls
http://writing.colostate.edu/references/processes/group/index.cfm?guides_active=processes
Peer Review Writing Process
http://writing.colostate.edu/references/processes/peerreview/index.cfm?guides_active=processes
Whilst grammar and style are important, quality content is the first priority. Do not get sidetracked with mechanics before the content has been instantiated. But allow time to create a quality document.
A project will be handed out in class to be done by a team.
All students will be assigned to a team.
For the project - for your own use so as to work effectively:
Students will tailor and use a process to be followed. Metrics will be captured and progress tracked versus the schedule based on the process' steps. Students will tailor a DID to guide the documenting of their report.
Interim status presentations will be made periodically as if to a corporate director.
A final presentation will be presented as well as a final hard and soft copy of the report being turned in. This would be comparable to one given to a corporate VP or at a technical conference.
Students will turn in details of the resources used (eg hours spent by task) along with their personal status using the form provided.
There will be a mid term and a final exam.
Additional individual problems will be assigned and collected.
All students are required to grade and critique their teammates performance. All students will critique all presentations.
A lessons learned after action (AALL ) report is required of all students to address what worked and what can be improved with the course.
There may be random unannounced quizzes. The probability of which is inversely proportional to class attendance. I.E. the more people missing the more likely a quiz will be given.
Homework will be collected each due date and one problem graded at random.
Grades will be per GMU policy.
Students will be required to turn in a self assessment as well as one for their team. Students will assess the other presentations.
Grades will be based on the following items - with the noted relative weighting factors.
· Final exam & AALL report - 25%
· Mid Term - 15 - NB the midterm score can be increased some by a better score on the final
· Team Project - 25 Written/content & 15 Oral Presentation/slides
· Individual team based grades may be adjusted up or down based on teammates recommendation andor instructor's observations
· Individual Status reports and Quizzes - 10
· Class participation Daily assignments Personal Log - 10
· Bonus points may be awarded for
éexceptionally outstanding work
épreviously approved additional work
Some parts of exams may be take home, other parts done in class.
Late work is NOT accepted .
If you are late to class, your work is late too.
All assignments are due at the beginning of class and must be handed in.
No E-Mail submissions will be accepted.
If you anticipate any religious holidays, employer mandated travel, health appointments, or critical personal issues (tax audits, court appearances, funerals, weddings, etc.), that will require you to miss class or be late with work please notify the instructor as early as possible. And coordinate with your team so they are not impacted too. Confirming documentation is required.
A+ 98-100+
A 93-97
A- 90-92
B+ 87-89
B 83-86
B- 80-82
C+ 77-79
C 73-76
C- 70-72
Etc.
Grades are computed by Excel based on the scores earned for the items listed above.
Attention should be paid to the honor code provisions.
Exams are to be done individually.
All other work is open book, open notes, as would occur in an industrial environment. For academic purposes though, acknowledgement must be made of sources used including help from classmates.
Except for exams, all work is to be done collaboratively with their team, and/or the class. Teams may help each other but acknowledgement is to be given to such help.
Proper credit is to be given to any other information sources used by citing them in the TR.
Use the GPO or Chicago style manuals for citation format.
Use the
Harbrace College Handbook or Hacker are good guides for grammar usage.
The Chicago Manual of Style 13E (or later)
U of
Style Manual rev.
GPO 1973 (or later)
http://www.gpoaccess.gov/stylemanual/browse.html
Rules for Writer 3E (or later)
Diana Hacker
The
http://www.columbia.edu/cu/cup/cgos/idx_basic.html
All applicable laws and GMU policies are hereby included by reference.
Students are responsible for knowing the school policies as documented in the Catalog.
Smoking is not allowed in the classroom.
All notes should be annotated with a timestamp and the source. Acknowledgement of all sources is expected if material from a textbook, website, inter-team collaboration, or class discussions is used.
Students are expected to
· attend all sessions on time.
· be prepared
· participate actively
· be alert, having had adequate sleep and rest
· manage their time effectively
ä plan their work and budget their time
ä keep a log of all resources expended
ä do not get behind
· coordinate and work with their team effectively and collegially
· first attempt to do all the work by themselves
ä ask for help when necessary
You may synchronise your watches by telephone at 202 762 1401.
Teamwork is an integral factor of this course. All students are expected to work in a collaborative and cooperative manner both on their project team and in the class as a whole. Planning and coordination are expected to minimise duplication of efforts.
Communication is vital to success and will be emphasised through in‑class briefings concerning the team projects and written status reports.
Any student needing accommodation for a handicap will be given whatever course modifications they need as determined appropriate by the DRC staff. The DRC form is required.
Specific assignments will be given in class.
The main product is a Project Plan for SEF (your team project result)
A final oral presentation will also be given.
Interim status reports and drafts will be due.
Exams may include a home component as well as consist of providing ancillary artifacts that facilitate the planning and writing of the team's report.
Each student is to log all resources used by category for the entire course.
This will be used to create the metrics turned in as part of the take home "final exam".
The individual reports are due each Tuesday. A combined team report is due each Thursday.
Frequent status reports will be presented by teams and or turned in for evaluation. Any student may be called on at random at any time to give this report. Each student is required to be aware of the entire team's status at all times.
Additional items will be assigned in class.
Please provide hardcopy of all assignments. Softcopy is also required for the final report and presentation. MS Project files need to be in MSP-98 format not 2000 or XP. Other files should be readable by Office-97 versions of word, excel, access, powerpoint, etc.
Please use a font that is 12-14 points, with 2-3 points of leading for text.
Do not justify.
Use 1.5" left margin and all other margins set at 1".
If headers/footers are used and/or page numbers, then they should be spaced 1/2" from the text body.
Do not use Garamond or (new) times roman or similar fonts with small x‑height or tight tracking.
Please use American Typewriter aka Editor, or Dark
Courier. Other large x-height fonts with
uniform stroke weight may be used; but, please confirm readability with the
professor first.
Fonts can be provided to those who do not have them and are unable to download them from Microsoft, HP, or public domain sites.
Spreadsheets and similar items should use Arial Narrow 8-10 point.
---------
notes:
** J = local time. We change from EST to DST in April.
==========================================
Return to course requirements
Project Description - Detailed course Requirements
Individual Status reports due weekly on
Tuesday
Team Status reports due weekly on Thursday.
Major team Status presentations due as per lecture
schedule.
Others may be done randomly.
The class and project will simulate a real
work environment to the extent possible.
The Highly-Powered Consulting Co. (HPCC) is a
small company that needs to produce a project plan for a client (SEF) who is
aptly named Small Engineering Firm,
which is as common in this area, known by a three letter acronym: SEF. They are excellent engineers but need help
with the project planning for a proposal they are writing . They have turned to HPCC as experts in project management.
They plan to build, market, and in the short
term bid on procurements for a voting system.
There are many competitors and many voting machines are in use. Many of these have significant problems. Even the newer computer based ones.
To be competitive they have to be ready to
bid on a major contract opportunity that is coming up real soon now. If they can win this they will be in a good
position to market their system to other governmental entities. To win, they need to have an affordable yet
high quality product ready to demonstrate by the date their bid is due.
As your first assignment, in this temporary
position, you have been tasked with
providing a project plan for the client.
It will of course be reviewed by senior management before
submission.
Of course, as a new employee, you are eager and enthusiastic about this
assignment as it will solidify your project skills. As additional motivation, you know that by saving your work product and
concomitant artifacts in your personal PAL, you can recycle this plan in the
future and reuse the data and
checklists. Knowing that the time you
invest now, will be paid back in the future many times over you are eager to do
an excellent and thorough job.
The SEF is hoping to develop a voting system
because so many of the current ones have significant problems both manifest and
potential. This system must of course
meet all laws and regulations but also address any devices used as well as
processes, procedures, and security etc.
You do not need to design the system, only to
provide a complete plan so it can be
delivered by SEF by the deadline
noted. A WBS and associated Gantt chart
with tasks and time durations is required.
As appropriate, include estimates of
resources needed for budgeting, risks anticipated and conditional
recovery plan, assumptions, problem
description including the objective, terminology, and any necessary reference
material, etc.
Your manager knows that you are doing your
first plan, so has teamed you with some other new employees. The manager also says that he will get back to you with more details
later. His assistant tells you that
means this Thursday at 1330J.
[Talking to some of the old timers you
discover that means he will set up regular meetings to discuss your efforts
{see lecture schedule}, but sometimes has to cancel due to more pressing
obligations. For now he wants you to
think about this task and do some preliminary planning. He will be available during regular status
meetings to answer any questions you may have and help suggest solutions to
problems.] [You need to meet with your
team immediately and decide how you will communicate, how you will make
decisions, how often you will meet, how meetings will be run, how the work will
be split up, etc.]
[In the lunchroom you overhear comments that
indicate that he is easy to deal with, will act as a mentor, and will not let
you fail. He also is absent minded and
tends to lose things so you should document all conversations and provide
hardcopy as a reminder (as well as keeping a copy for yourself). He also has bad eyesight and insists that
special fonts be used so that he can
avoid eyestrain.]
You have also been told by his assistant that
status reports are due every Thursday at
[He has a form that HPCC required you to fill
out for status reports that is also used for the timekeeping and payroll
systems. If he forgets to give it to you
ask for it.]
The schedule for starting the voting system
development is not later than September 2004.
There is an absolute deadline of May 2005 for the prototype to be shown
to the procuring officials. [Any
similarity to a senior project is purely intentional.] Your team project plan for this SEF project
is due
The deadline for your final 371 team project
result (The SEF plan) has been set at
[Pulling an all nighter or making slides the
day of the presentation will be an indicator that you did not fully grok the
371 course material which should have helped you do your project in an orderly
manner. PLAN AHEAD! DO NOT
PROCRASTINATE. Plan your work and work
your plan.]
Any
delay in having an approved plan will seriously impact HPCC by preventing the customer, SEF, in doing
their project instantiation and concomitant business plans. Consequently, all problems need to be noted
and overcome promptly. Your mentor will
help guide you but you must make an attempt and provide some alternatives or
suggestions for him to consider.
Start thinking about what needs to be done by
you to write this plan for the client, and how you will do it. How will your team meet and coordinate? How will it make decisions? How will you stick to your time budget
without allowing delays? What is a
project plan? What should be in this
plan? What other information is
needed? Where can you obtain it? What is your Myers-Briggs type? What are your teammates types? How will this affect how you interact with
each other? What is your objective? What are your initial thoughts on the tasks
that your team has to do? What effort do
you estimate that this will take? Give
as much thought to this new assignment as is appropriate and be ready to
discuss it with your manager on Thursday.
Return to course requirements