Faculty Contact Information:
Dr. Jeff Jackson, MPA, Ed.D.
Home Telephone: 06375-994600 (not after 9:00 PM)
Email: jeffry.jackson@t-online.de or jjackson@faculty.ed.umuc.edu | |
Consultation:
Meeting Dates: 31 Jan, 6 Mar, 17 Apr, 22 May. In between face to face meetings, all students are expected to interact by way of the webboard conference dedicated to this cours.
Office Hours: Before/After class or by appointment. | |
Required Texts and Readings:
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Supplementary Readings:
| All graduate students should be prepared to utilize the UMUC online libary at http://www.umuc.edu/library/ to obtain the various resources necessary to develop a Professional Paper. | |
Recommended Journals:
| Publications of the various professional societies (such as ACM -- the Association for Computing Machinery, the IEEE Computing Society, and the various management professional societies) are strongly recommended. In addition, there are many trade journals (such as eWEEK) that MIS professionals should become familiar with, many of these being published both weekly and on-line. | |
Course Description:
| (3 semester hours) Prerequisites: Advancement to candidacy in the MIS program and successful completion of the graduate MIS comprehensive examination. A capstone course designed to expose the student to the various areas of information systems in the organization where concepts from other core courses can be utilized. The focus is on information science research, policy formation and issues. Students produce a professional paper within their chosen area of interest. This course is graded Pass (P) or Fail (F). | |
Course Goals:
Bowie State University requires all graduate students to complete an advanced research paper. In Europe, this requirement serves as a capstone to the students' programs of study. As such, it is designed to assist students in all degree programs to move beyond the classroom by consulting with experts from their chosen professions and engaging in professional activities. Students are encouraged to participate in the professional associations most likely to either disseminate or publish the results of their advanced research projects. UMUC Europe Graduate Programs faculty and staff refer to these projects as Professional Papers. UMUC Europe Graduate Programs contribute to the professional development of their graduate students by publishing final drafts on a dedicated web site and providing funding to attend professional conferences. Additional information on these initiatives may be found at www.ed.umuc.edu/graduate/.
Definition of a Professional Paper
- A Professional Paper is based on research conducted solely by the author. Examples include, but are not limited to:
- Academic, professional, or trade journal articles,
- Case studies,
- Policy analyses, policy proposals, project management reviews, and program evaluations,
- Pre-procurement or pre-implementation analyses of new technologies or best practices,
- Grant proposals, and
- Responses to Requests for Proposals (RFPs). This final example is consistent with the type of papers written for the UMCP M.A. in Counseling and Personnel Services.
- The length, style, and format of the final draft of any Professional Paper are defined largely by the nature of the audience and the standards employed in that particular segment of the profession. Audiences and venues for publication and dissemination of final drafts may include but are not limited to:
- The readership of academic, professional, or trade journals, including online journals,
- Conferences conducted and organized by professional associations such as ACA or EB-ACA, ASPA, ICMA, AOM, ACM, AITP,
- Political institutions (Congress, state legislatures, regulatory boards, city councils, school boards, state mental health boards, etc.),
- Management teams (government and non-profit agency directors, boards of directors, CEOs and CIOs, schools principals, etc.), and
- Funding organizations (National Science Foundation, National Institutes for Health, National Institute for Mental Health, Rand Institute, Hoover Institute, etc.).
- Any Professional Paper, written for UMUC Europe Graduate Programs, regardless of audience, length, style, or format, uses the APA citation style and reference style.
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Course Objectives:
At the conclusion of this course the student will be able to accomplish the critical tasks of developing a professional paper, including to:
- Identify a relevant research question and developing a strategy to answer that question (see the Professional Paper web site for examples of proposals).
- Identify the audience most interested in the question (examples listed above).
- Identify literature and other sources of expert information on the question.
- Present the research question, the research design, the target audience, and a broad outline of the final paper (called The Proposal) to peers and a subject matter expert.
- Obtain permission from UMUC officials to use human subjects if the research design warrants
- Obtain written permission from the management of the organization(s) involved with the research. Examples include, but are not limited to, military units, government contractors, DODDs schools, and restricted websites.
- Evaluate feedback received and making changes to the proposal as appropriate.
- Execute the research design.
- Write the Professional Paper that clearly and accurately reports the research findings in a format that meets the needs of the audience.
- Present a draft of the Professional Paper to peers and a subject matter expert.
- Evaluate feedback received and making changes to the final draft as appropriate.
- Submit the final draft to the target audience.
The student will receive 3 semester hours of credit toward his or her master's degree upon successful completion of the course. The role of the student is to:
- Initiate and complete each of the critical tasks in a timely manner,
- Be the sole executor of the research design and author of the Professional Paper,
- Cite all sources of expert information according to the APA style guide,
- Present and defend the proposal, progress reports, working drafts, and the final draft in a timely manner,
- Engage in discussions with the subject matter expert, the classroom instructor, and graduate student peers in a professional manner,
- Evaluate feedback received and make appropriate changes to the proposal, the research design, the literature review, the report of findings, the discussion, and the recommendations,
- Evaluate feedback received and make appropriate changes to the length, style, and format of the Professional Paper, and
- Provide Graduate Programs with an electronic copy of the final draft of the Professional Paper and the documentation from the subject matter expert.
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Grading Information:
This course is graded on a Pass or Fail basis only. Students who successfully complete the work in this course receive a Pass, which indicates a minimum grade of B. Students who do not successfully complete the requirements receive a grade of Fail.
The grade F(a) is used to designate academic failure. F(n) is used to designate failure for non-completion. Grades of Incomplete or Withdrawal are governed by UMUC-Europe policies. For further details, please refer to the UMUC-Europe Graduate Catalog. Hard copies of the catalog are available in your local Education Center. | |
Course Requirements:
Graduate school at the master's level focuses on helping students obtain the education needed for success as professionals in their chosen fields. Thus, UMUC-Europe Graduate Programs and Bowie State University share the common goals of promoting excellence in academic scholarship through thoughtful inquiry and the skillful application of knowledge and theory for the betterment of society.
In order to maximize your graduate educational experience in general and this course in particular, you are required to:
- Develop a Research proposal 10%
- Develop a literature review and research assumptions 10%
- Present and submit a draft of the final paper 20%
- Identify appropriate venues for publication or dissemination 10%
- Develop and present a Final draft of the paper 40%
- Participate in the review of other proposals and final paper 10%
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Description of Course Requirements:
A research paper that defines the problem or research area tutorially, clearly explains current issues, elaborates on the relevance of the topic in relation to current affairs, and provides some indications of what will happen in the future. Evaluations will be based on content, presentation, and quality of expression. Papers are expected to meet or exceed accepted graduate-level English and scholarship standards. Papers must conform to the APA documentation style. To aid the student in succeeding, the course provides the student with multiple checkpoints and opportunities to receive feedback from the instructor and other students.
Research Proposal: The one to two page Research Proposal will contain a clear statement of:
- the purpose of the research, research questions, and preliminary thesis or hypotheses;
- the boundaries of the research area;
- an outline of the research sub-topics;
- the methodology used, i.e. literature or field research;
- a preliminary reading list.
Literature review and research assumptions: A 5 – 6 page paper summarizing the academic and professional literature most relevant to the student’s topic and making explicit the student’s theoretical and conceptual assumptions.
First Draft: Students are expected to discuss their interim results with the group and accept/provide constructive criticism from/for other group members in the course of paper preparation.
Identifying appropriate venues for publication or dissemination: The literature review and first draft should culminate in the student being able to discuss a variety of possible venues for publication or dissemination of his or her research findings.
Final Draft and Presentation of Research: Participants will present their research findings and conclusions to the class using appropriate audio-visual and handout materials.
Class Participation: The essence of a seminar is the exchange of information among peers. Thus, members of the group will be expected to interact on each other's research areas in class plus via the Internet. That interaction should also involve positive comments and recommendations on how research topics can be strengthened. | |
Course Schedule:
Module 1: Development (19 Jan - 7 Feb)
31 January - present draft proposal to classroom
7 February - identify subject matter expert (SME) and deliver draft proposal
Module 2: Refinement and Initiation (8 Feb - 6 Mar)
8 Feb - 5 March - confer with SME and finalize proposal, engage in WebBoard discussions with classmates and instructor
6 March - present revised proposal to classroom and submit final draft of proposal to instructor along with the comments from the SME
Module 3:Execution (7 Mar - 17 April)
7 Mar - 3 April - develop working draft of professional paper
3 April - submit complete draft to SME
17 April - present complete draft to classroom and submit to instructor along with comments from SME
Module 4:Conclusion (18 April - 22 May)
18 April - 21 May - make necessary revisions/corrections to complete draft based on SME, instructor, and peer feedback
22 May - present final draft to classroom and submit final draft to instructor | |
Academic Policies:
Please refer to the UMUC-Europe Graduate Catalog or from your local Education Center, for information on the following:
- Academic Integrity
- Course Load
- Exception to Policy
- Grade Appeal Process
- Make-up Examinations
- Nondiscrimination
- Students with Disabilities
Hard copies of the catalog are available at your local Education Center. | |
Faculty Bio:
| Dr. Jackson has earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Accounting from Jacksonville State University, a Masters of Public Administration from the University of Oklahoma, and a Doctorate in Educational Leadership from the University of Southern California. | |