All class policies subject to change at instructor's discretion.

Quick Overview:

• Time:  Wednesdays 12:00-1:20PM and Fridays 1:40-3:00 PM
• Place:
  • Lectures and midterm exams in Levin 006 
  • Computer exercises in Levin computer lab across the hall (I am currently planning for 10 lab classes, marked "LAB" in the class schedule)
• Instructor: Jonathan Eckstein
• E-mail: jeckstei@rci.rutgers.edu
• Class website: http://eckstein.rutgers.edu/mis
• Office: 255 J. H. Levin Building, Livingston Campus
• Telephone: (732) 445-0510; also my RUTCOR office (732) 445-3272 for urgent calls.
• Office hours: Tentatively scheduled for
  • Tuesdays 1:30-4:00 PM
  • Thursdays 3:00-4:30 PM
  • Or other times by appointment
• Textbooks: 
  • Rainer and Turban: Introduction to Information Systems, 2nd Edition, John Wiley 2009, ISBN 0470169001
  • Robert T. Grauer and Maryann Barber: Exploring Microsoft Access 2003 Comprehensive Revised Edition, Pearson/Prentice-Hall 2006, ISBN 0131877410.
• Software: Microsoft Access (Access 2003 is preferred and installed in lab; you should also be able to use Access 2007, although there may be some differences)
• First meeting: Wednesday, September 3, 2008
• Final exam:  Monday, December 15, 4-7PM (common exam group F), room to be announced.  You will take the same final exam as the other two sections of the course.

Course Content

Management Information Systems means using information technology -- computers and networks -- to help run businesses.  Of course, that is a very broad topic.  The heart of the course will be studying how to best organize business-related information in a computer system.  In particular, we will study relational databases, and how to design and use them.  I will give a lot of exercises on database design -- working from a verbal or written description of a situation, and deciding what computer data tables to use and how they should be interrelated.  "Hands-on" computer experience is also important, so we will learn to use Microsoft Access, relatively user-friendly relational database software that is part of the Microsoft Office software family.  Some of the homework will involve constructing databases and associated queries, forms (screens), and reports using Access.

Intermixed with the relational database design and Microsoft Access topics will be some general lecture material on business information systems, mostly following the Rainer and Turban book.  Apart from some simple math exercises calculating storage and data transfer time requirements, this largely declarative material will be tested via multiple-choice questions on the exams.  

General Information

• Attendance: Regular attendance is essential and will be informally monitored.  Attendance does not directly affect your grade.  My view is that you are supposed to be adults, and if you can learn the material without my help, I will not be offended.  However, office hour time is reserved for students who have attended class; it is not for giving private classes to students who did not attend at the scheduled time.  In severe weather, please check the class website -- if at all possible, I will post any class cancellation or schedule change information there as soon as I can.  You can also monitor the Rutgers main website, WCTC AM 1450, or Rutgers INFO AM 530 for possible university closing information.
• E-Mail List:  I will sometimes use Rutgers' RAMS mail system to post important information such as class cancellations or homework assignment corrections and hints.  Please check your e-mail regularly for class announcements -- it will be your responsibility if you miss one of these announcements.  RAMS uses whatever e-mail Rutgers has on file for you, which is usually your "eden" e-mail account.  If you prefer to receive e-mail at another address, you must do one of the following two things.  
  • Configure your eden account to forward mail by following the instructions in http://faq.rutgers.edu/?q=node/315.
  • Update the address Rutgers officially has on file by modifying your student record online via https://www.acs.rutgers.edu/studentdir/. 
• Questions: Unless you have skipped the relevant class, questions are strongly encouraged during class and office hours, and via e-mail.
• Exams: There will be two midterm exams and a final exam, all closed book.  The final exam will cover the entire course; the coverage of each midterm will be announced in class.  Each exam will consist of some database-design-related questions, plus additional material that will depend on the particular exam.  If you are absent from an exam, you must supply documented proof of a medical or family emergency, or you will receive zero credit.  I usually grade exams myself.
• Homework:  I plan to give nine homework assignments, handed out on Wednesday and due the following Wednesday.  I may excuse you from a few homework assignments if you can supply verifiable documentation of a family or medical emergency.  I plan to drop your one lowest score when computing your aggregate homework grade.  There will be no credit for late homework.   Homework assignments are normally graded by the TA.
• Collaboration and Cheating: You are allowed to seek or give help to other students on homework assignments. However, I have found it critical for the learning process that that you do your own computer work.  While there is no formal penalty, it is not acceptable to simply watch somebody else do the work and/or hand in their files.  Collaboration of any kind is strictly forbidden on all exams, and violations will be formally prosecuted.
• Computer Lab:  The Microsoft Access 2003 software needed for this course is installed in the computer lab in the Levin building basement.  If you have Microsoft Access on your own computer, you may use your own computer.
• Using non-lab computers:  The "Professional" and "Ultimate" editions of Microsoft Office includes Access, and if you have one of these versions, you may do the assignments on your own computer.  Unfortunately, the cheaper editions of Microsoft Office, like "Small Business", "Standard", or "Home & Student", don't include Access.  From most editions of Microsoft Office that don't include Access, you can upgrade to add Access for $229 (which seems excessively expensive, but perhaps attractive to some of you who have difficulty getting to the lab).  If you have Access 2007, you may use it for the class assignments instead of Access 2003.  The interface is different, but the basic functionality of the software should be similar.  My ability to assist you with the differences may be limited, however, since I don't yet have Access 2007 on my own computers.
• Classes in the Computer Lab:  I have scheduled ten class meetings for the computer lab -- they are marked "LAB" on the class schedule.  If you have a laptop with wireless networking capability that runs Microsoft Access, you are encouraged to bring it to lab classes; you can then follow along on your laptop instead of a lab computer.
• Reading:  See "Text" under "Quick Overview" above.  Check the syllabus before each class for reading assignments.  I will also distribute lecture notes and other handouts and put them online.  You may do the readings either before or after the assigned class -- whatever works best for you.  
• Grading: No letter grades are assigned to individual assignments or exams, only numeric scores from 0 to 100. My plan is that your course grade will be based on your aggregate score, calculated by combining your scores on all written class work according to the following weights:
   
• 20% First midterm
• 20% Second midterm
• 40% Final
• 20% Homework (with zero scores for missing or late homework, but dropping your lowest score).
• If your final score is higher than your lower midterm score, then the final counts 50%, and the lower midterm only 10%

I then rank students according to these aggregate scores, and assign grades by class rank, with some subjective judgment applied to borderline cases. Thus, the grades for all your class work are jointly "curved" once at the end of the course.  For more information on my grading methods, see http://eckstein.rutgers.edu/howigrade.  In particular, since we have multiple sections taking the same final exam, we will use performance on the final to calibrate the relative grading distributions of the sections -- see the end of the "how I grade" web page.

I reserve the right to make changes to the grade calculation scheme.   

Detailed Schedule

Reading assignments are denoted as follows:

• "RT" means the Rainer and Turban Introduction to Information Systems text.  For example, "RT.2" means chapter 2 of Rainer and Turban.
• "TG" means the "Technology Guide" sections at the end of the Rainer and Turban text,  For example, "TG.4" means the "Technology Guide 4" section of Rainer and Turban.
• "GB" means the Grauer-Barber Access 2003 text, with the lighthouse on the cover.  For example, "GB.3" means chapter 3 of Grauer and Barber.

Classes marked "LAB" are currently scheduled for the computer lab.  Please check your e-mail and the class website for announcements of changes to the lab class schedule.

Detailed schedule, subject to change