Semester-long experiential team project to satisfy the MS-CS capstone requirement. This course should be taken in your last semester before graduation.

This course will teach students to integrate knowledge from previous courses and to demonstrate mastery of that knowledge by designing and building a software product; to develop and practice teamwork skills and leadership skills; to develop and apply professional behavior in the workforce; and to extend and apply knowledge of advanced software engineering concepts.

In this project-based course, we will function very much as a professional project in industry, with the professor serving as a project manager. Class meetings will include short presentations on advanced software engineering topics by the professor, short exercises for credit, and by individual team meetings where teams present a status summary.

The primary activity of this course will be a collaborative experiential team project with multiple milestones. Teams will have 4 or 5 members and you will be able to form your teams on your own, with additional assignments made by the professor. I will propose one or more projects and each team will choose one. You will give weekly verbal reports and submit documents at key milestones. The final project has to be demoed live in class and each team will participate in University at Albany's Showcase Day on Thursday April 30th.

Professional behavior is expected throughout the semester, including:

• Attend every class meeting. This reflects our industry focus—professional software developers who miss meetings do not keep their jobs long. Exceptions due to illness or other unavoidable conflicts must be requested before class meets.
• Be on time. “On time” means in the room, seated, ready to engage, before the official class start time. Professional software developers who regularly join meetings late do not keep their jobs long.
• Be a good teammate. This includes doing the work assigned to you and, when disagreements arise, disagreeing politely and respectfully. You should learn how to disagree without being disagreeable.
• Meet your deadlines. If an issue comes up that will prevent you from completing a deadline on time, inform your teammates and project manager (aka professor) as soon as possible. Informing us at or after the deadline is not professional behavior.
• Read your albany.edu email. “I didn’t see my email” is never a valid excuse.

You earn points by: (1) attending class (1 point for each class meeting), by (2) submitting work done during class (1 or 2 points per submission), and by (3) participating in verbal reports to the professor. Participation score is individual. Students must arrive within a 10-minute grace period after the officially scheduled class start time to earn the attendance point.

An absence can be excused if you are ill (covid, flu, cold, etc.) or have an emergency, and you document your reason for your absence. For example, a covid test result is acceptable documentation. If you have an excused absence, you will receive the attendance point and can submit in-class exercises electronically. Please do not abuse my tolerance and flexibility by asking for excused absences for trivial reasons (for example, picking up your parents at the airport is not an excusable absence). You must inform me via email for an excused absence, preferably before class starts.

Grades for the project milestones will apply to all members of the team. At the end of the semester, each teammate will submit an anonymous assessment of how each teammate performed. These assessments will be used to adjust individual project grades.

Written project reports are due at the beginning of class. Late project submissions will lose 20% per week, starting with the beginning of the class meeting on the date they are due.

I sincerely hope that everyone can earn an A in this capstone course. I also believe that all of you you can. You already have all the necessary skills and thus all you need to do to earn an A is to do the things you are required to do when they are required.

CSI 680 will not have exams.

My experience has shown that active exercises during class meetings enhance learning. Dr. Paul Ammann created a good summary of why. Thus, we will have in-class exercises every class meeting. Most will be done in small groups, and a few may be individual exercises. They count towards your participation grade and earn 1 point for a minimal effort or 2 points for a serious effort. They will be announced during class.

AI tools can effectively improve productivity, help with problem-solving, and most importantly for this course, support learning. In this course, you are expected to use AI tools responsibly and transparently, keeping in mind both academic integrity and professional ethics. To that end, every submitted milestone document must include a brief statement about how AI was used and which tool was used. If no AI was used for that milestone, then simply say that. Be sure to check carefully everything that comes from an AI tool. If an AI tool made a mistake (and they often do!), the mistake is your responsibility.

There are only two ways to fail this class. One is to not do the required activities. The other is to plagiarize or otherwise cheat. All projects are done in teams, so collaboration with teammates is not cheating. Failing to give credit to a teammate or other source of ideas or solutions, however, is plagiarism. We will discuss ethics during our class meetings.

My goal is simple: To have class meetings that enable your ability to learn as much as possible. I strive for an environment that is positive, mutually supportive, and maximally collaborative. I expect us all to respect each other, regardless of gender and gender identity, ethnic and cultural background, academic background, and abilities. Please review UAlbany’s diversity statement for the university’s commitment to diversity and inclusion (https://www.albany.edu/diversity-and-inclusion). CS courses always include students from many backgrounds. My classes are always inclusive, but I try to go beyond inclusion to ensure that everyone belongs here. In my classes, just as in the software industry, differences are normal and an asset to us all.

You are welcome to share your name and preferred gender pronouns with me and indicate how you prefer I address you. I use he, him, and his and you may address me as Professor Offutt or Dr. Offutt. I will also respond to prof, coach, or teacher. I will do my best to pronounce your name correctly. We all know that can be challenging, so feel free to correct me and please be patient.

If the campus closes or class is canceled for any reason, I will send an email regarding how you can continue to learn and include any changes to the course deliverables or deadlines. If closure is weather-related, we might move online and I will send a link. If the closure is campus-wide, you will also be informed by the university.

I wish U@Albany could declare all major holidays or festivals for all of our students as university holidays, but that seems impractical. If you need to miss a class meeting or deadline due to a religious holiday, please let me know and we can try to make appropriate accommodations.

The University at Albany is committed to providing an environment that is free from discrimination, sexual misconduct, bullying, and other acts of interpersonal violence. My classrooms are safe places: I will not accept any form of bullying in my classes, including microaggressions. I encourage students who believe that they have been sexually harassed, assaulted, or subjected to sexual misconduct to seek assistance and support. As a faculty member, I am required to report all disclosures of sexual assault, interpersonal violence, and stalking to U@Albany’s Title IX Coordinator (https://www.albany.edu/equity-compliance). Within those constraints, I am happy to talk with you about any issues and will promise respect and confidentiality. If you wish to speak with someone confidentially, please contact the Counseling & Psychological Services office (https://www.albany.edu/health-well-being/mental-health/caps).

I send course announcements to your UAlbany email account, so you must read it regularly. Professors are required to use your UAlbany email, not personal email accounts. When you send email to the professor or TA, please start the subject with “CSI 680.” If not, we may not prioritize it. Context in email is crucially important: Always include your name as it appears on the roster, clarify that you are in my course, and indicate which team you are on if that is relevant to your question. I respond to all messages and try to do so as quickly as I can, but cannot promise a response in less than one week—please do not send followup email messages until at least a week has transpired.

You will need access to a computer and stable wifi for this course. In-class exercises will often use computers, and you will find that a laptop will be better than a small-screen pocket computer (aka phone).

I always accept linkedin requests from current and former students–we clearly have a professional relationship. Be sure to remind me when you took my class.

If you need academic accommodations, please contact the office of Disability Access & Inclusion Student Services (DAISS) at https://www.albany.edu/dean-students/disability. You can then explain to me what you need, and I will work with you to ensure your ability to learn.

If you need help with food, housing, or other basic needs, please seek assistance from Supplemental Support Services in the Dean of Students Office: https://www.albany.edu/dean-students/supplemental-support-services.