DePaul University 
      School of Computer Science, Telecommunications and Information Systems

IS 425 Individual Paper Specifications

• Due Week 5 -- exact date and time on COL

• An IS Competency Analysis from the MS-IS curriculum

• Choose an IS Competency that you find interesting

• Find 3 primary web-accessible sources

  • Books 24x7 texts

  • Check Online Resources as a starting point

• 3-4 pages in length (12 point font, double line spaced)

• Six sections to the paper

1. Introduction -- Name the competency module

2. Characteristics -- What are the characteristics of this competency module

   1. How many courses are in the competency

   2. Describe the prerequisites to the competency courses

3. Importance -- Why is this competency important to employers?

   1. What type of need does a person with this competency fill?

   2. What are the job positions that require this competency?

4. Skills -- What skills does this competency draw on?

   1. Describe the skills that courses in the competency develops

   2. Describe the difficulty of each skill

5. Excellency -- What makes a person more valued than others in exercising this competency?

   1. What innate abilities do the "great" call upon?  interpersonal, analytic, detail oriented, artistic, etc.

   2. What behavior marks the "great" in exercising this competency? 

6. Why did you choose this competency?  or why did you find it interesting.

Grading Criteria

A-- Statements are always backed with facts and all sections interrelate.

B-- Statements are logical but details are few

C-- Statements are mostly logical and details are present but do not further arguments made.