Complete class. Follow instructions fron attachment. 

· Hello Everyone!

Welcome. I can’t wait to get started with you and hope that you find this class as interesting as I do in teaching it 🙂

· The topic of project management in terms of logistics and managing contracts is a key part of your education in project management.

· As soon as possible, get started with readings and discussions this first week. Post your discussion during the week of each module so that you can get a good discussion started. Don’t forget to support your main posting with a source, placed below your response, in APA format. Reply to 2 peers’ posts with significant comments (about 200 words or so) as you see peers post their work.

*  If you are new to Trident, please email me to let me know and I’ll work extra hard to get you oriented to the class.

1. As soon as you can, introduce yourself to your classmates and me in the class discussion area. Tell us about where you are in your Trident studies, and how you hope this course might benefit your career, including any general information about your career goals. It will be great to get to know you!

2. Read/view any course materials before attempting the cases and SLPs. If you skip them, you’ll find your scores lowered since they contain the learning you need to do before you apply it in research and application.

3. Please keep an eye on the course’s Module Discussion area. I post reminders there with additional coaching for assignments, when helpful. Be aware that assignments are due every two weeks on Sundays as a final due date, and that points are subtracted for lateness. Be sure to post one assignment per week to keep your pace steady. Don’t forget to keep an eye on the discussion area, visiting it at least twice a week.

HOW TO PROCEED:

· Begin first by answering the discussion question. Even though it is listed last in the module order, it is best to attempt it first since it does not require the extensive reading that the case and SLP do. * You also want to post it early in the module, so that you get full credit for posting on time. Bear in mind that you must include an outside reference in the main posting of your discussion, even if it is asking for ‘your opinion’. 

· Be sure to examine the Rubrics for discussions posted as a link at the bottom of the discussion assignment (when accessed from the module). I usually post discussion requirements early in the discussion area. I require only 2 peer responses since I want them to be substantive and exploratory. Try to keep the discussion going!

All assignments in this course should be formatted in APA, both in the document body and in the references section. Be sure that you read below this point to understand how plagiarism for your written work is to be avoided.

Label all assignments like this: ITM# Last Name SLP# or Case#

That helps me get context rapidly. And, if you are asking about an assignment, please refer to the module # and whether it’s a case or SLP. This way I can get answers to you rapidly!

Consult the rubrics for assignments and discussions to fully understand the requirements for each!

* The emphasis at Trident on using outside expert sources to reinforce key points in assignments and discussions is university-wide. As a result, I’ll expect you to include in-text citations. I do not require direct quotes unless they add unique perspectives and specific (often technical) descriptions or definitions. Feel free to use them occasionally (forty words or less).

· Use in-text citations liberally when you paraphrase information you do not know from your own experience.

In the Resources area on your own home page, look for the Writing Guide for APA. I understand there is also a Writing Center there for general help in writing papers. Some of you have been away from college for some time and may need a refresher on how to write for school. BUT, our focus is also on business writing. I’ll be reminding you of this as we move along.

General Instructions: How Trident courses work and my expectations of you:

The class consists of 4 modules, each lasting 2 weeks. Unless you have a valid excuse such as illness, hospitalization, or funerals of immediate family, I will expect you to turn in all your assignments the second Sunday of each module – at the latest. It’s a good idea to complete one assignment a week (your case first, then your SLP or vice versa). Being on time enables me to provide you with coaching that improves your work as you go!

I want to encourage you to work EARLY on each module. This way, you don’t become overwhelmed, feeling pressured to catch up. Rushing tends to make you perform in an inferior manner, and grades begin to fall.

So, do not expect to turn in all of your assignments the final week of the course. This does not provide you an opportunity to gradually improve your work as per my grading comments to you.

Also, note that your interactions in the discussion area play a key role in your education. You might find it surprising to see what you can learn by fully exploring the discussion topics as you work through the issues and defend your position to your peers. It’s challenging and energizing!

Use of Acronyms in discussions and papers:

If you are a military or technical student, be aware that not all students may understand what you mean when you discuss certain acronyms or terms. If you are in the military, be generous in explaining some of the ways the military ‘works’ and others will share with you the way their civilian jobs do, too. If you are in IT, do the same for your peers.

A handy guide to remember in papers you write as well as discussions is to write out the full name of a technical term, followed by the acronym in parentheses, for example – Department of Defense (DoD). From that point forward, you may use the acronym freely in the same discussion and/or paper.

Avoiding Plagiarism

Plagiarism is taking credit for the thoughts or ideas of others and representing them as your own. Even if you hate to use in-text citations, you will need to do so to avoid plagiarism. If a specific idea or thought is not yours, or even a more general idea, you should be citing a source for it even when you don’t directly quote it. 

https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_formatting_and_style_guide/general_format.html

I also attached Trident’s APA basics to this note for your convenience. Make sure you understand the value of in-text citations and how to note them within your document. Let me know if you have questions.

TurnItIn requirements

TurnItIn is useful to help you avoid plagiarism and to learn when to cite references. This is a good career skill since an organization you work for can be sued if you plagiarize in any of the official documents for that company. 

You will be required to submit each assignment paper to TurnItIn for review was you post it to the grade center.  Posting to TurnItIn is part of the assignment submission process and should flow seamlessly.

The goal is to achieve a less than 14% likeness to the sources you use. This means that you must avoid copying text from websites, articles or books without providing proper attribution to them.

Papers with 15% or more similarity index should be revised and resubmitted, ideally before I grade the paper. Revising a paper is highly recommended, and it should be done immediately after the 15% or more similarity index percentage is determined. Otherwise, waiting a day or so for the revision could be too long because I might have graded the paper already.

You can view your similarity report from TurnItIn by clicking on it in the grading center. The report tells you where you need to make corrections.

See table below:

Use double quotes around anything that you directly copied and provide the source citation. Use APA formatting. 

Do not assume that you can avoid quoting or using sources to avoid a high TurnItIn score. It’s easier, yes, but your work lacks precision and clarity. Remember that key points you make need support and references do that for you, even if they aren’t direct quotes. Don’t be afraid to quote a source and use an in-text citation with the APA guide in the Resources Tab on your home page.

I’d rather you try and fail to get it 100% right the first time than to be afraid to try. I will take off points for lack of citations in Cases, SLPs, and primary discussion posts. 

Why is this?

· Citations provide the proof to support your point of view from experts who have worked in the field and researched the topics you are discussing. Citations provide evidence in the form of facts, proof and/or experienced developers. This generates confidence in the paper’s key points.

· Your opinions are just that – personal opinions – unless you have some supporting evidence to back them up. Now, it’s true that your experiences don’t need to be supported per se, but opinions do. Why? Opinions in professional environments need to be supported by facts and evidence to be trusted by others. Let’s say you want to persuade your boss to adopt something new. Your personal opinion does not hold enough clout for a company to change its policy or direction. You need facts and evidence to support your opinion. In your Trident courses, you are learning how to form professional opinions, so you need sources of evidence, facts, and data.

· Quoting experts should include those who have more information and experience than yourself. If you are an expert in your area, other experts will agree with you and support your point of view with the data you need. If you disagree, it becomes your job to prove why experts are not accurate or perhaps why contributing facts may have led to wrong conclusions.

I’m sure you can think of more reasons, but those are a few key ones. Your papers should include depth of information gathering. The more you learn, the more valuable you are as a contributor and a leader who can guide others. It might be helpful to remember two words to guide you as you write: Dig Deeper

Avoid using fancy language or business or technical jargon to fill in the gaps in your papers. Direct, concise  ad plain language is highly valued in business communications.

Why do you need to include outside sources for Discussions, Cases, and SLPs?

I am required to use Trident’s rubrics to grade discussions & assignments. and they require you to use outside sources. Let me clarify:

When you are asked for your opinion in a discussion or an SLP, you are not being asked for your personal opinion. You are being asked for your professional opinion. This implies that you have evidence and findings to support your opinion(s).

To provide a professional opinion instead of simply a personal one, you will need supporting evidence for key points. This helps you become an effective persuasive professional. Evidence that convinces others is usually backed by research and/or the expertise of people who have worked in the subject area for some time and can provide knowledge, facts or research findings that will strengthen your point of view.

If it helps you, consider that you are building professional persuasive skills, even in the discussion area. (Your main discussion must have at least one outside source that reinforces a key point you are making, noted in APA style.)

Viewing My Grading Comments

Be sure each time you receive a grade that you view my grading comments. I expect you to make the improvements I recommend as you write your next paper.  I rarely allow re-do’s of the assignments unless you have received a failing grade (F). A ‘D’ is a passing grade, so be sure to do your BEST the first time you attempt a paper. I do not review drafts of assignments. 

Note:

· Please don’t post a blank document to avoid losing timeliness points. I won’t give you credit for posting a blank document or the wrong one in order to retain your timeliness points. It’s your responsibility to post the correct document to get those points.

· Fix any problems that TurnItIn is finding, to get your percentage down to 14% or less.

· Fix grammar, punctuation and any problems such as not capitalizing ‘I’ in discussions and papers. MS Word’s tool menu helps you catch errors in writing and grammar. Be sure to use the tools available..

· Post all your assignments within the course module timelines. Don’t be tempted to procrastinate because you can lose significant points as well as lower your scores in the course.

· Use references in your main discussion posting and format them in APA.

· Study APA on the site I provided above to ensure you know how to set up your assignment template and to properly cite sources.

Be sure to read any attachments I send via email. They are all important to your success in this course.

Welcome and I look forward to meeting each of you!