Work Models
Schedule
INLS 582_001, Fall 2012
Assigned Tuesday 10/2/12, due
Thursday 10/11/12. 20% of grade.
Grading: This
assignment is
worth 80 points total.
I will be looking for accuracy, completeness,
clarity, and good use of model elements. You may wish to consult the
Guidelines
for Assignments Containing Models. Include any breakdowns you
find. Remember that
if you make any additional assumptions about the scenario, you should
include them in your homework.
Please be sure you follow the
submission
guidelines when you submit your assigments on the course
Sakai site.
Scenario
This assignment is based on the SILS Travel Procedures. The scenario
webpage includes
- a description of the procedures,
- links to the 3
artifacts involved (Travel
documentation, the SILS Conference or Professional Activity Leave and
Travel
Request Form (henceforth called the Request form), and the Travel
Expense
Reimbursement Form (henceforth called the Expense Form), and
- interviews
with the Assistant Dean for Administration (ADA) and the Contracts
&Grants Specialist (C&GS).
Activity Model (30
points)
Create a Pre-Trip
Overview activity model based on the information on the SILS Travel Procedures webpage. Model the traveler's process triggered by the decision to travel, ending when the UTS saves the new travel record and the C&GS files the Request Form. Include breakdowns, if any.
This should be an
overview model, meaning that you should represent actions, not all the very specific details. For example, you
do not need to include a separate action for completing every line in the
Request Form. Instead, you can have a single action such as
"Complete Request Form". Identify and annotate any breakdowns you
observe in the process.
Hints:
- What happens
if the traveler doesn't have enough funds for the estimated cost of the trip?
- Is there any
process that has to be repeated?
- What signatures are required?
Decision Table or Tree
(20 points)
Professor Q
runs a fairly large and productive research lab. Lab member travel frequently to conferences
to present papers and participate in other professional activities. The lab has
a fairly generous travel budget, but it isn't unlimited. She has established
some priorities to guide travel funding decisions. Create a decision table or
decision tree based on the following priorities.
Presenting papers
is very important. Lab members attending a conference to present a paper will
always receive full funding for their travel.
Attending workshops to learn
about new research and discuss current policies or practices is somewhat
important. Lab members attending a workshop at a conference held in the United
States will receive full funding. They will receive full funding for a workshop
at a conference held outside of the U.S. if they have only attended 0 or 1
conferences already in the current fiscal year (FY). Members who have attended
more than 1 conference during the FY will receive partial support for a
workshop outside the U.S.
Participation
in any other conference activities, including just listening, learning,
and meeting people, is helpful, but isn't as high a funding priority.
Lab members will receive partial funding.
If
someone is attending a conference for multiple purposes, he or she will
be funded at the highest applicable funding level. For example, someone
attending a non-US conference to attend a workshop and to participate
in a committee meeting will be funded at the appropriate workshop
level.
Artifact Model (30
points)
The SILS Travel Procedures include 3 artifacts: The Travel documentation, the
Leave and
Travel Request Form, and the Travel Expense Reimbursement Form. Create
an
artifact model for the Travel Expense Reimbursement Form. The Expense
form is
intended to be used in coordination with the other 2 artifacts, so
annotations
in your model should refer to information or actions associated with them.
For
example, the documentation may include instructions that would help
someone
enter information into the Expense form. Or perhaps you think there is some inconsistency between artifacts.
You do NOT need to create
artifact models for the documentation or the Request Forms.
Recall
the various
types of annotation that can appear in an artifact model. Annotations
may
identify the purpose or intent of something in the artifact, may point
out a
confusion or breakdown, or may highlight useful or helpful aspects of
the
artifact.
Among
other
things, you may wish to consider:
- the
purpose(s) of the artifact, and how well it supports them
- the
workflow
in which the artifact is embedded, and how well it supports it
- the
source
and destination of the artifact
- the
flow and
organization of the artifact
- ease
of use
of the artifact by all its users
- the
automation boundary
- assumptions
behind its use, e.g., what does the user need to know?
- responsibilities
of those using the artifact
- relationships
with associated artifacts and tasks
- the
policies
and customs the artifact expresses
The
Expense Form is an
Excel spreadsheet. It includes several continuation pages (for long
trips). Use
the first page and 1 continuation page for your model.You may annotate
the
artifact directly, or you may record your comments in a separate
document, and
refer to the relevant region of the artifact with an index number. You
may
convert it into another format for annotation. Or, you may print it
out, label
the index numbers by hand, and scan it into a .pdf file to accompany
your
annotations.
This
page was last modified on October 1, 2012, by Stephanie
W. Haas.
Address questions and comments about this page to Stephanie W. Haas:
shaas at email dot unc dot edu
© Stephanie W. Haas All rights reserved.