Syllabus for MIS 302 Foundations of MIS

Instructor	Jim Hamerly, Ph.D. jhamerly@csusm.edu Office: TBD and by appointment.
Class Schedule	Spring 2007 Thursday 3-4:50 PM in Markstein 125, CRN 21357
Course Web Site	http://courses.csusm.edu/mis302jh/. Presentation materials will be posted in advance and all homework assignments and materials will be emailed weekly to all registered students.
Textbook	There is no textbook, most of the readings will be online and given to you each week in the assignment email.
Course Description	Survey of management information systems. Internet applications and networking, computer hardware and software, databases, information systems development, and the role of information systems in the organization.
University Writing Requirement	Students are required to write more than 2,500 words throughout the semester. All assignments must be typed. Thirty percent of each writing assignment’s grade will be based on style and mechanics including items such as clarity of communication, sentence and paragraph construction, punctuation, spelling, and grammar. If you have difficulty meeting the writing requirements, you will be asked to get remedial help from the Writing Center.
Course Objectives	Students will acquire sufficient knowledge and skills through lecture, readings, and class discussions to perform the following: - Define the role of current information systems in business - Develop an understanding of digital media with a particular focus on the Internet as a communications network - Understand how business activities are enabled and changed through communication networks - Understand how hardware systems and components support selected business applications - Evaluate information systems security applications and privacy policies - research and forecast trends in information system development.
Grading Policy	Quizzes (weekly) 40% 8 quizzes (of 9) each worth 5 points each Homework assignments 40% 8 HW problem assignments (of 9) worth 5 points each Final exam 20% An Excel spreadsheet to help you track your grades in available here. Assignments for the following week will be emailed to you weekly, generally within 12 hours of a given class. It is your responsibility to ensure that the instructor has your correct email address. Assignments are late if not submitted by the beginning of class on the due date. A penalty of 20% will be assessed for late work. Work handed in more than one week late will receive zero credit. Your enrollment is contingent upon attendance during the first class. Absence without prior arrangement with your instructor will be considered voluntary dis-enrollment. Students are graded on achievement, rather than effort. It is the responsibility of the student to come prepared for class. Quizzes will be given at the beginning of nearly every class, and there will a final exam. If you are not present for a quiz or the final, no make-ups will be allowed unless you’re pre-arranged with the instructor before the missed class. However, your lowest scoring quiz will be dropped from consideration in your grade. There are no planned extra credit projects. You will be asked weekly to give anonymous feedback to the instructor on materials covered and understood, please help him to improve the course by participating in this elective activity. All quizzes and exams are closed-book and closed-notes.
Grading Scale	A: 90-100% B: 80-89% C: 70-79% D: 60-69% F: 0-59% Please note that there are no +/- grades.
Expectations of Students	Students are expected to adhere to standards of academic honesty and integrity, as outlined in the Student Academic Honesty Policy. All written work and oral presentation assignments must be original work. All ideas/material that are borrowed from other sources must have appropriate references to the original sources. Any quoted material should give credit to the source and be punctuated with quotation marks. Students are responsible for honest completion of their work including examinations. There will be no tolerance for infractions. If you believe there has been an infraction by someone in the class, please bring it to the instructor’s attention. The instructor reserves the right to discipline any student for academic dishonesty, in accordance with the general rules and regulations of the university. Disciplinary action may include the lowering of grades and/or the assignment of a failing grade for an exam, assignment, or the class as a whole. Incidents of Academic Dishonesty will be reported to the Dean of Students. Sanctions at the University level may include suspension or expulsion from the University Students and faculty members must not share present or past employer information that would be considered proprietary, confidential, company-sensitive, or protected trade secrets. Students are encouraged to examine their organization's limitations on sharing information externally.  Students and faculty members may appropriately choose to illustrate lessons from their experience that might challenge these boundaries without identifying specific employers or individuals by name. Students with disabilities who require reasonable accommodations must be approved for services by providing appropriate and recent documentation to the Office of Disabled Student Services (DSS). This office is located in Craven Hall 5205, and can be contacted by phone at (760) 750-4905, or TTY (760) 750-4909. Students authorized by DSS to receive reasonable accommodations should meet with me during my office hours in order to ensure confidentiality.
Writing	In any homework or writing assignment, important factors will include: -- clarity and conciseness -- comprehensiveness in depth and breadth -- originality -- accuracy -- organization, format, spelling and grammar -- quality of literary sources used for reference, if needed