Missouri University of Science & Technology

Department of Business and Information Technology

Department Mission:

“Capitalizing on the strong technological emphasis of Missouri S&T, the Department of Business and Information Technology educates individuals for careers in modern business organizations. The Department emphasizes management through technology with particular focus on information systems and their application in a fast-changing, global, and competitive environment. Through innovative instruction and research, the Department serves the economic interests of industry and the evolving needs of society.”

Course: IST 4261 Information Systems Project Management &

IST 6261 Advanced Information Systems Project Management

Semester: Spring 2017

Days and Times: Tue., 7-9:30 p.m. Room: Fulton 107A

Instructor’s Name: Barry Flachsbart Office Location: Fulton 102B

Office Phone: (573) 341-4040 Email:

Web Locations: We will use Canvas.

Office Hours: Wed. & Thur. 8:30-10:00 a.m.; Wed., 7-9 p.m. (By appt. only)

COURSE INFORMATION

Catalog Description: This course overviews general project management principles and then focuses on information system application development. Topics include requirements analysis, project scheduling, risk management, quality assurance, testing, and team coordination.

Extended Description: Students taking the course as IST 6261 will be required to complete additional homework. All students will complete all the numbered homework. IST 6261 students will also complete homework with the letter "a" following the number.

Course Prerequisites: Knowledge of computer programming. For IST 6261, also graduate standing.

Required Materials, Required Reading: The text for the course is: Jack T. Marchewka: Information Technology Project Management, Fifth Edition, Wiley, 2015, ISBN 978-1-118-91101-3. Please bring the text to class after the first two weeks, since we'll refer to it periodically. Also, please read the material for the class before coming to class -- you'll find that you'll benefit from the class more that way.

Instructional Methods: Lecture, with homework.

Course Learning Objectives:

Course Objectives / Program Learning Objectives
Oral Communication / Written Communication / Digital Communication / IT Impact Knowledge / Teamwork / Leadership
Learn some basics about project management in general, such as likely causes for late projects, risks of ignoring project management principles, the influence of different organizational styles (functional, project, matrix) on the project manager, key characteristics needed in a project manager, some problems project managers face, and some key first steps project managers must take. / X / X / X
Understand how project management techniques developed; contributions of some key pioneers. / X / X / X
Understand how to develop a set of best practices. / X / X / X
Understand the controversy about whether project management is an "artistic" or "engineering" endeavor, along with the current status of the controversy. / X
Learn about reasons for past IS project failures and some characteristics of sample successful projects. / X
Learn about the traditional "waterfall" project model and other models that try to improve on it or replace it, along with some characteristics that seem to work well with specific models. / X
Learn about various ways to break projects into phases. / X
Understand the critical nature of the Business Case for an IS project and the life cycle evaluations it requires. / X
Learn about several different ways to select projects from a group of proposed projects. / X
Learn about change control, especially scope change control. / X
Understand the special challenges of a dispersed project. / X / X / X
Learn about the role that a Human Resources department plays in project staffing and about personnel management. / X / X / X
Learn about teams and how they function. / X / X / X
Learn about how to define and control project scope, including use of a deliverable definition table. / X
Understand fundamentals of data flow diagrams and use cases. / X
Learn about the value of joint application development sessions. / X
Learn about historical productivity figures for IS projects and what things have the highest impact. / X
Understand the connection between best development practices and later maintenance activities. / X
Learn about reuse and its plus or minus impact. / X
Understand the various ways of estimating for IS projects and how to carry them out. / X
Learn about use of networks to model IS projects. / X
Understand how costs are estimated and calculated for IS projects and about how to report them. / X / X
Understand the concept of an "elevator speech" and how it might be used by a project manager. / X / X
Learn about risk management and the balance between risks and opportunities. / X
Understand simple Monte Carlo techniques for overall IS project estimates. / X
Understand why project communication with stakeholders is critical and some of the communications that are needed. / X / X / X
Learn about various activities called project quality management, including the Software Engineering Institute's Capability Maturity Model. / X
Understand the needs for formal verification and validation (testing) in IS projects, along with types of tests, test planning, and testing organization. / X
Understand configuration management. / X
Understand how doing IS project management correctly almost always implies change in an organization and learn to recognize why that might not always be welcome as well as some ways to deal with change. / X
Learn about transitions from project development to implementation and production (and maintenance), along with ways to evaluate the entire project using hindsight from actual production and maintenance -- i.e., what are the true life cycle costs and benefits? / X
Learn five essential first steps if an organization has no history of good project management. / X
Learn about best practices proposed by others and why they are so slow to be adopted. / X
Utilize outside resources to carry out research-oriented exercises, especially for IST 6261 students. / X / X

COURSE ASSIGNMENTS

There will be homework assignments every week except the weeks of the Mid-Term Exam and the week prior to the Final Exam. These will be due at the start of the following lecture session. The homework must be turned in at the start of the class when due. Homework is to be done individually -- you may not receive help from any individual other than the Instructor or use any material generated by someone else, either in the past or present (e.g., files). You may not use online sources that provide answers to specific questions. You may use online sources that provide general tutorial information, but must cite them if you use them. Of course, you may not give your homework to anyone else or assist others, either. Note especially that this means you may NOT work as a team or group on any homework! Students signed up for IST 4261 will do only the IST 4261 homework; students signed up for IST 6261 will do BOTH the IST 4261 and the IST 6261 homework. IST 6261 homework will NOT be assigned every week, just on selected weeks. It is indicated by the letter "a" following the homework number. Students will be asked to sign a statement verifying individual work. Homework without the signed statement will receive no credit, as will homework where any violation of the specifications occurred.

Since I go over homework at the start of the class when it is due, late homework (even a few seconds late) receives no points. However, all homework must be turned in if you hope to get a grade higher than "C" for this course. Homework will be graded simply.

COURSE POLICIES AND GRADING

Attendance: You are expected to attend class regularly and ask questions.

Evaluation Methods: The Mid-Term and Final Exam will be closed book, closed notes, and with no devices allowed. The only exception is that you may bring a single 8 ½ by 11 piece of paper as a "crib sheet." The paper must be readable with your eyes or normal glasses (i.e., no magnifying glasses, etc.). Only one side of the crib sheet may be used. I should note that I never answer questions during exams.

Grading Scale:

Grading Plan:

The Mid-Term Exam will be worth 100 points.

The Final Exam will be worth 150 points.

The basic homework (expected from both IST 4261 & IST 6261 students) will be:

weighted for IST 6261 students to be worth 80 points overall.

weighted for IST 4261 students to be worth 100 points overall.

For IST 6261, the additional homework will be

weighted to be worth 20 points overall.

The total of these is 350 points. Grades will be assigned based on total points. The following "boundaries" are guaranteed:

Common / Points / Result
All assignments turned in / 315 or more / A
All assignments turned in / 280 or more / B, at least
245 or more / C, at least
210 or more / D, at least - for undergrads only
< 245 (G); < 210 (UG) / F

Based on overall results for this specific class, I may move one or more boundaries down slightly or review and adjust grades slightly below the boundaries.

Special Notes on Homework Assignments: I believe that these are extremely important. If you fail to turn even one assignment in, you will NOT be eligible to earn an "A" or a "B" in this course. No late homework will be accepted after the day before the Final Exam.

It is expected that you will learn from the homework, so you should pick up and review returned homework. If you are unable to pick it up in class, you should pick it up from the bin outside my office. Individuals who have numerous uncollected homework assignments at the end of the semester may have up to 20 points deducted from their homework total, before normalization.

Academic Dishonesty/Ethics/Integrity Statement

(http://registrar.mst.edu/academicregs/index.html):

Violations of the University’s academic code include, but are not limited to, possession of or use of unauthorized materials during quizzes or tests; providing unauthorized information to another student; or copying the work of another person. Violations may result in academic penalties in addition to receiving an “F” on the assignment in question.

Page 30 of the Student Academic Regulations handbook describes the student standard of conduct relative to the University of Missouri System's Collected Rules and Regulations section 200.010, and offers descriptions of academic dishonesty including cheating, plagiarism or sabotage (http://registrar.mst.edu/academicregs/index.html). Other informational resources for students regarding ethics and integrity can be found online at http://ugs.mst.edu/academicintegrity/studentresources-ai.

Note again that homework is to be done individually!

Disability Support Services (http://dss.mst.edu/):

If you have a documented disability and anticipate needing accommodations in this course, you are strongly encouraged to meet with me early in the semester. You will need to request that the Disability Services staff send a letter to me verifying your disability and specifying the accommodation you will need before I can arrange your accommodation. If you have a disability that might require academic accommodations, please visit Disability Support Services in 204 Norwood Hall (341-4211; ) very early in the semester.

Title IX

Missouri University of Science and Technology is committed to the safety and well-being of all members of its community. US Federal Law Title IX states that no member of the university community shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, or be denied benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity. Furthermore, in accordance with Title IX guidelines from the US Office of Civil Rights, Missouri S&T requires that all faculty and staff members report, to the Missouri S&T Title IX Coordinator, any notice of sexual harassment, abuse, and/or violence (including personal relational abuse, relational/domestic violence, and stalking) disclosed through communication including but not limited to direct conversation, email, social media, classroom papers and homework exercises.

Missouri S&T’s Title IX Coordinator is Vice Chancellor Shenethia Manuel. Contact her directly (; (573) 341-4920; 113 Centennial Hall) to report Title IX violations. To learn more about Title IX resources and reporting options (confidential and non-confidential) available to Missouri S&T students, staff, and faculty, please visit http://titleix.mst.edu.

Classroom Egress Maps (http://designconstruction.mst.edu/floorplan/):

Please familiarize yourself with the classroom egress maps posted on line so you will know where emergency exits are located.

COURSE OUTLINE

Tentative Schedule For Class: (This plan may be changed from time to time, as the semester progresses.)

Lecture / Material To Be Covered
L1 (1/19) / Overview from non-IS texts; Notes from other texts and sources
L2 (1/26) / Overview continued; Notes from other texts and sources
L3 (2/2) / Chapter 1; Notes from other texts and sources
L4 (2/9) / Chapter 2; Notes from other texts and sources
L5 (2/16) / Chapter 3; Notes from other texts and sources
L6 (2/23) / Chapter 4; Notes from other texts and sources
L7 (3/1) / Chapter 5; Notes from other texts and sources
L8 (3/8) / MidTerm Exam On Lectures 1 to 7
L9 (3/15) / Chapter 6; Notes from other texts and sources; Library Research Presentation
L10 (3/22) / Chapter 7; Notes from other texts and sources
-- (3/29) / Spring Break
L11 (4/5) / Chapter 8; Notes from other texts and sources
L12 (4/12) / Chapter 9; Notes from other texts and sources
L13 (4/19) / Chapter 10; Notes from other texts and sources
L14 (4/26) / Chapter 11; Notes from other texts and sources
L15 (5/3) / Chapter 12; Notes from other texts and sources
Final Exam (5/10) / Final Exam -- Exam is on all Chapters covered, as well as all Lecture information & Notes

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