IS 469

Senior Project in Information Systems

IS 469 is a Senior Project course. From the catalog: " This course is designed to help a student synthesize material learned in other courses by applying it to a project in the student’s area of interest. It is open to IS majors by permission of the department. It will consist of an independent study/research project directed by a faculty member or a work-related internship experience focused on computer systems in a setting appropriate to the student’s interests under the supervision of a faculty member.  Note: Repeatable to a maximum of six credits. Prerequisite: Senior standing, two or more IS courses at the 400 level or permission of the department.."

Each full time IS faculty member has their own 469 section number and may decide to allow students to enroll with them on a semester basis. Or not. It is up to the individual faculty member whether or not they will take on any 469 students, and if they do allow for enrollments the faculty member will be highly selective in which students get into their sections. Sometimes faculty will have a particular research project or job opportunity that may be available for a student to use as the basis for the 469 course. In other cases the student may have a project in mind that they would like to use as the starting point for the course. IS 469 is incredibly flexible in the range of options for participation.

IS 469 may be taken for a grade or for Pass/Fail. It may be taken for 1, 2, or 3 credits in a semester and it is repeatable up to 6 credits total.

Taking 469 with Tate Redding

If you are interested in taking IS469 with Mr. Redding you need to talk with him before attempting to sign up for the course. Since enrollment is by permission of the instructor only, you can't sign up until you are approved to do so.

You should be prepared with an idea of what it is you want to do and how you want to do it. We can work together to iron out details and I will work with you throughout the semester to keep your project on-track.

If you have an IT job and would like to use your work experience as the basis for your 469 course we can do that. (Also be aware that we offer IS 399 which is a Cooperative Education course that is coordinated by the Undergraduate Director and is solely based on work experience.) For students doing 469 and using their jobs I require that you have a definable project at the job site because I don't give credit for showing up for work. I give credit for learning and creating something new.

My 469 students using their jobs for the course will have the following deliverables: First they must meet with me and develop a study plan which includes their defined project. Second the student must have their organization send me a note on letterhead indicating that the organization will allow the student to use information from the job as the basis for an academic exercise. Third- students will keep a journal of their experience. Fourth the student will prepare a report that documents the deliverable aspects of the project and will serve as a summary of the experience with a prescription for any follow-up or improvements. For a 3 credit course there will be an extensive journal log with a 20-50 page report. Outstanding work may qualify for presentation during Undergraduate Research day.

For students doing research tasks with me the deliverables will be adjusted to meet the demands of the project.

Some examples of work my IS469 students have done:

    Database design and client training..

    Security Penetration study of a multinational corporation.

    Creating Web survey tools.