Students should notify their advisor of such circumstances and faculty are encouraged to suggest modifications to these guidelines as necessary. Students are advised that graduate school rules require masters project's to be approved over one month before the end of the semester. Thus, it is usually necessary to manage the development process over a two semester time horizon. Failure to follow these procedures, to not complete the project, or to create a project of inferior quality will likely lead to a failing grade for the project. To receive a passing grade, students must ensure not only that the system is technically developed but that they have done all that they can to ensure that it is implemented and working in the client environment.
Implementation is a key success criteria as is effective project management.
These may be done either in the second of the two semesters in which the student completes the project or once in each of the two semesters. In the latter case, unless substantial work is done in the first semester, the student will be assigned a grade of incomplete. In the eventuality that the project is not completed by the end of the second semester, the faculty member will have the option of either failing the student for the first course or providing a grade based on work completed thus far. A passing grade in the first of the two courses does not mean that a student will pass the project. The approval requires a two to three page proposal that documents the proposed project, project scope, the name and contact information for a consenting client, names of committee members, and dates of the four major reviews steps listed below.