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Canyon College

COURSE SYLLABUS: Management Information Systems

Course Title:	BU500 - Management Information Systems
Department:	Business
Instructor:	Kenneth "Micheal" Townsend, MBA, BS, AA E-Mail Vita
Prerequisites:	Bachelor's degree

Course Objectives and Description: This is a comprehensive course in design and analysis of computer-based information systems in business organizations. Criteria for the design of the system and the selection of related hardware and software, installation, implementation, and administration of the computerized information systems are discussed. Focus is on studying the process of the system development life cycle. This course is presented at the master's level and writing assignments will be treated as such!

Required Textbook:   Online Bookstore
The textbook for this class is Business and Information Systems, Second Edition, by Nickerson, Robert C. Prentice Hall, A Simon Schuster Company, 2000/2001.
ISBN: 0130894966 (Amazon or Barnes and Noble or at local university bookstores.)

Other Requirements:
1.) There will be two exams (one midterm and one final). The format of the tests will be multiple choice and will cover the material that has been presented in the text and lectures up to that point. Specifics of exam length and coverage will be dealt with prior to exam dates. The exams will be completed no later than the last day of the week on week four and eight respectively. The exams will not be allowed to taken earlier than beginning of that week as well unless authorization is given by the instructor for that student for extenuating circumstances.

a.) Exam one will cover fifty items and end with chapter 7.
b.) Exam two will cover fifty items and will cover from chapter 8 to chapter 14.

Hint: Exams will be taken online and graded by computer. The best way to prepare for exams is to read all assignments and to prepare for all assignments ahead of time. The easiest way to make a poor grade on an exam is to get behind and stay behind early.

2.) There will be several written assignments as well for this class. The material that shall be covered will come directly from readings in the text. The readings will be of specified length and should be properly documented. This class will take eight weeks to complete. At the end of week one, two, three, five, six, and seven, there will be a written assignment due. At the end of the fourth and eighth week, there will be no written assignment due because of exams. Late assignments will be penalized two points a day for the first five days and one letter grade for each day after that. Any questions concerning this policy need to be directly aimed at your instructor to avoid confusion.

3.) Each of the written assignments should be at least five to six pages in length(no less) double spaced and cover the material as presented in the text book. The assignments are outlined below. They are due no later than the week they are given and no earlier than the week they are given as well. Grammar is very important as well as structure. By this point in your college career, none of us should have a lot of problem with this. Deductions may be taken for poor grammar, syntax, structure, as well as, principle gaps. Please make sure that all assignments are presentable in a business situation. Make believe that I am the president of your company and the reports are meant to be used in our business. Also do not forget to document any outside sources you may want to use and include them in the works cited page of your paper! Please make sure that for each assignment you do, you include at least one more outside source for it! In other words, week one assignment can have one source, but week two should have at least 2 and so forth!

Specific written assignments:
Week one! Due no later than the end of week one with the guidelines presented above! Read over chapters 1 through 3! Make sure that you are able to present the information you read back to the instructor by completing the following assignment-This unit was an introduction to this class! Explain the role of the MIS department in a typical company and then choose one that is not so typical! This is a very open question so interpret as you need to!

Week two! Same as above for guidelines! Read chapters 4 and 5 of the textbook! Complete the following assignment for week two! Hardware and software are the most important parts of IS in general. Discuss the role or hardware and software in MIS and also give examples of how they are used in either your workplace or some other workplace you know about!

Week three! Same as above for guidelines! Read chapters 6 and 7 of the textbook! Complete the following assignment for week three! Pick any 3 of the 5 discussion questions for chapter 6 and any 4 of the 6 for chapter 7 and submit them to the instructor with questions and answers! These should also follow length limits so the answers should be presented in an in depth manner for obvious reasons!

Week four! Complete midterm available on line by end of the week!

Week five! Same as above for guidelines! Read chapters 8, 9, and 10 of the textbook! Choose an important topic from the three chapters and present it using the same guidelines previously noted! Make sure you have at least four sources for your assignment and that the assignment is presented on time to the instructor for grading!

Week six! Same as above for guidelines! Read chapter 11 and 12 of the textbook! Answer the ethics questions at the end of the two chapters by the specified deadline for the week and also make sure they follow the length guidelines as well! By this time in your educational career, this assignment may be a challenge, but should be fairly simple!

Week seven! Save as above for guidelines! Read chapter 13 and 14 of the textbook! Complete this assignment by writing a 5 to 6 or more page paper concerning the role of MIS for the manager of today and tomorrow! Make sure that this paper has at least 6 sources and that they are properly documented! This assignment will count 100 points and the other smaller ones will count 60 points each! Please note that this assignment is meant to bring a lot of material together and should be treated a bit differently because of it!

Week eight! Complete final exam available on line by the end of the week!

Instructor Availability:
I am available periodically at the e-mail address above. Please e-mail any questions. That is the reason that I am here. I will try to do everything I can to help you as much as possible. Please do not wait until the end of class to get help. It will be too late. Anytime your grade falls below C, I will try to contact you about it. If I do not, or fail to get a hold of you, please contact me through e-mail.

Attendance Requirements and submission deadlines:
You must submit all assignments on time as listed above. Other interactions are encouraged, but not necessary. Late assignments will result in point deductions as noted above. Late exams will only be allowed to be remade if the student has an excuse that was excused before the exam. Warnings are given about exams prior to the beginning of the course. It is in the best interest of anyone wanting to "miss" an exam to get an excuse from myself or to take the exam just prior to the due date to ensure no problems. Interactions will be made with instructor via message boards and e-mail. I am not planning any chatting one on one with myself or the class, but you are welcome to do so among yourselves. If you do need me for "chatting", please e-mail me and we will set something up. I need as much warning as possible. This is not my only class. Questions need to be completed prior to these sessions so be ready. The only requirements for attendance are the assignment deadlines given above.

Grades and Distribution (points):
Five written assignments: 60 points each
Sixth written assignment: 100 points Midterm exam: 100 total points
Final exam: 100 total points
Total points available: 600 total points for the class

Grading Scale:

A	Excellent	90-100	540-600
B	Above average	80-89	480-539
C	Average	70-79	420-479
D	Below average	60-69	360-419
F	Failing grade	59 or below	0-359