CIS 4914: Senior Project - Summer-C 2000

Dr. Mark Schmalz (ph: 352-392-6831, email: mssz@cise.ufl.edu)
Department of Computer & Information Sciences
University of Florida

This document is an aid to understanding your responsibilities as a graduating senior taking CIS 4914. You should carefully read this document and provide a copy to your advisor for his or her information regarding your responsibilities.

We are deeply grateful to Dr. Paul Fishwick for providing the HTML source (Fall Semester, 1994) upon which this document is partially based. Additionally, Dr. Ralph Selfridge made valuable comments and furnished documentary support.

What's News:

• Responses to Student Midterm Comments for Summer-C 2000 posted 29 Jul 2000.

• Final Presentations: Tue, Wed 08-09 August 2000, 4:00pm to 10:00pm, room to be announced
  (Signup sheets were posted on door of CSE/E446 in late July)

• Midterm Presentations: Thu 22 June, 5:00pm to 10:00pm, Fri 23 June, 5:00pm to 7:00pm, CSE/E404
  (Signup sheet posted on door of CSE/E446 Sat 3 June 2000)
  Power Point 2000 format supported by Windows NT 4.0 on PC in E404

• Registration Procedure for Summer-C 2000 posted 22 Mar 2000.

• First Meeting: (Attendance Required) Thursday, May 25, 2000, at 7pm, Room CSE/E119

• Idea List: This link leads to a database of contacts and ideas for Senior Projects

A. Overview. An overview of the course is given in the following four links. Read these carefully before choosing an advisor or project.

• Goals - What this course is about, and Why we are doing this
• Supervision - Who you will interface with during this course
• Steps to Success - What to do, and When to do it
• Evaluation Criteria - Where and How your grade will be assigned
• Course Grades - What grades were earned in the previous semester
  (slightly different grading system from Summer-C 2000)

B. Written Reports. A clear, understandable written report is absolutely essential to successful project completion. The following links outline the two written documents required for this class, with details of preferred report format.

1. Project Planning Document -- Email that you send to advisor and supervisor during first week of class

2. Project Final Report -- Hardcopy that you submit to advisor and supervisor during final week of class
   • TitlePage
   • Abstract
   • Introduction
   • Problem Domain
   • Literature Search
   • Solution
   • Results
   • Conclusions
   • Acknowledgements
   • References
   • Appendices
   • Biography
     
     
   • Grading Criteria
     
     
   • Example Final Report for Fall 1999, more examples TBA

C. Oral Presentations. Additionally, two oral presentations are required, as follows:

• Midterm Oral Presentation - A progress report

• Final Oral Presentation - A summary of work and results

• General Comments - What to do or not do

D. Miscellaneous Guidelines. There are a few simple things you can do to make your project a pleasant, successful experience.

First, get started early, and keep up a steady, aggressive pace on the work. Don't implement a crash effort for the midterm and final presentations, with little or no work in between. This virtually ensures a shoddy result, as well as a (possibly) poor grade from your advisor. <

Second, make each paragraph that you write shine with clarity and conciseness. In the future, you will be known in your professional life by your written communications. These products should portray you as a well organized, clear-headed thinker and achiever.

Third, make your presentations clear, understandable, and on time. Also, pay attention to your personal appearance at the final presentation, where business attire is required for each presenter (suit or jacket (with shirt and tie) for the men; dress, skirted suit, or trouser suit (with blouse) for the women; closed shoes and stockings for both men and women).

Please avoid wearing cologne or perfume, as there may be people in the room with allergies that tend to be aggravated by the stress of giving a presentation.