CMPS 397: Leadership Development for Computer Scientists

Permission required : Course targets CS majors (sophomores and rising juniors) with at least a 3.0 overall GPA and who have completed the intro sequence, but will cheerfully consider any technically literate CMPS major. Contact Dr. Purtilo (purtilo @ umd.edu) for details / stamp.

Grading: Based on self-assessments, peer evaluations; presentations; and modest projects. Active participation is a must – this course is not for spectators. Note: A very small number of exercises may be scheduled at fixed times outside the regular class time in order to mesh with the schedule of industrial partners who are contributing to this effort. See Prof for details.

Objectives : Survey skills needed to translate success as a CMPS major into success after graduation (technical skills are only part of the package). Better yet, survey these skills in time to apply them in your first internship before graduation, to make even more opportunities later.

This course will study the business of being a scientist or technologist, whether in industry or academia. Skill-sets to be developed revolve around communication, planning and managing the process (whether of business or research.) Topics to be covered include:

•  Selling yourself and persuading others (Personal skills inventory and self assessment; technical resumes, interviews, presentations; appearance and the social graces.)

•  Business for scientists (Running a technical meeting, time management, conflict resolution, BAAs, RFPs, proposal writing, project management)

•  Tools, tools, tools! (What's out there among the buzzwords, what makes life simpler, how do we most effective use what we've got)

•  Technology policy (Standards, politics, trends, privacy)

•  Legal issues (Intellectual property, policy and practices – copyrights, trademarks, patents; employment contracts, NDAs, certification, licensing, accreditation)

•  Professional ethics

Remaining deliverable:

1. Based on the peer reviews disributed today and the video link of your presentation as sent last week, prepare and submit a short assessment of your own performance in you talk, and summarize steps you might reasonably take in order to do an even better job of technical and professional talks in the future.
2. Write at least a 2 page paper about what you have learned in this class. Describe what you expected to learn, give a summary about what you actually learned, and compare/contrast the two. Describe specific steps you will take from here in order to continue to develop as a profesisonal in the field, and how you will apply content from this class. Give tips for how we might improve this class, and present at least one main professional tip that you would bequeath to future students in order to help them as a colleague.