ASU East

TWC 451/551 Intellectual Property and Copyright
Multimedia Writing and Technical Communication
Fall 2007

IP Policies & Procedures Assignment

In this assignment you will work together in groups to recommend intellectual property policies and procedures for the MWTC Program. The purpose of this assignment is to give you "real world" experience to apply what you learn in this class. Obviously, it will also help the MWTC Program as we expand and grow and redesign our website.

However, you will learn this semester that the work you do for assignments is your intellectual property. That means that you have the right to decide how and whether your work will be used outside of the classroom. Your first task for this assignment is to decide whether you are willing to turn over ownership of your completed assignment at the end of the semester to ASU (the MWTC Program). I will ask you to sign an assignment agreement which will transfer ownership of your work to us so that we will be able to use it and modify it, if necessary. In other words, it will become the property of ASU. If you choose not to sign and to opt out, you will complete the same set of assignments (as part of a group) with a fictitious scenario. There will be no penalty for opting out and completing the fictitious assignment.

As you work on this assignment, you will need to research and consider other organizational policies and procedures that impact what you can recommend. Like all academic programs, MWTC is part of a college which resides on a campus which is part of a larger entity. That larger entity--ASU--has its own policies and procedures which we must comply with. ASU is governed by Arizona Board of Regents policies and by state and federal law. That means that the policies and procedures must not only be appropriate for MWTC as an academic program; they also must comply with the broader guidelines of the University, of ABOR, and of all laws. You may also find that other colleges have IP policies related to faculty, staff, and student work. You may use those as models; however, remember that your policies and procedures should reflect the culture and community of MWTC as a program and ASU as a university. In your final presentation, you will need to explain why the policies and procedures you have created are appropriate for the MWTC Program.

The primary audience for your documents are the MWTC Program chair and web manager. However, your secondary audience of MWTC faculty and students are also equally important for you to consider.

Because I am, currently, the web manager for MWTC we are going to work this assignment as much as possible as though you are work teams responsible to and reporting to a manager or supervisor. You will, of course, be receiving a grade for each component of the assignment as well as working on other activities in the course in which I will respond as an instructor. But for this group assignment, you should imagine yourself to be an employee who is part of one of four teams to complete a work project within a fairly tight deadline.

In your confirmation email you will need to decide which group to participate in. Each group must have at least one graduate student (TWC551). Groups will be formed on a first-come-first serve basis:

Group Selection (due as part of confirmation email, August 26th)

In your confirmation email, you will indicate whether you will participate in the "real world" assignment (and, therefore, sign a IP assignment agreement). If you will participate, rank the groups in order of preference. Groups will be formed on a first-come, first-serve basis with a maximum of 5 per group. Each group must include a minimum of 1 graduate student.

IP Assignment Agreement (due to me by September 9nd)

The IP Assignment Agreement is a legal document in which you transfer ownership of your completed work to ASU. The agreement will allow the MWTC Program to use the documents and to edit, modify, and revise them as necessary. The document is written in legal language; please be sure that you understand what you are agreeing to and to ask questions if you don't understand. I have set up a discussion thread in BB for you to ask questions during the first week of class but you may also email questions to me if you wish to ask privately. You also have the right to seek legal advice if you choose before signing. I will need original copies of the agreement. Please print out a copy, fill in the date and your name in the blanks in the first paragraph. Sign the agreement under "student" at the end of the doument, print your name, and ID. You can either mail or hand deliver the agreement. I will be keeping copies but please note that they will be sent to AzTE, which manages copyright and intellectual property for the university.If I do not receive your assignment agreement by Sept. 10th, I will assume you are opting out and will re-assign you to the fictitious scenario group.

Group Formation Documents (due September 23rd, 10 pts--group grade)

For this assignment, you will determine the logistics for your group: assigning roles, ground rules, and developing a work/project plan.

At the end of the semester, you will complete a team evaluation in which you evaluate yourself and each other in the context of your roles for this project. Before you discuss and make decisions about ground rules and roles, you may wish to review the evaluation form and the article "The complexity of online groups: A case study of asynchronous distributed collaboration" (both posted in Course Documents in Blackboard) and/or Group Work and Collaborative Writing, particularly the sections on making your group a success and forming.

A wiki and BB group area will be set up for your group where you can post updates, documents, use a discussion forum, and virtual chat room. You might also consider using Google Docs so that you can easily share and collaborate on your documents. If you use the chat room for group meetings, be sure to save transcripts. You may also want to keep copies of group email. This documentation will serve as evidence for your participation grade.Submit to me in memo format by Sept. 23rd:

I have included in the Course Documents section a work plan submitted by a group from a previous semester. Their assignment was different from your and you do not have to follow it exactly; however, it is an excellent example of project planning.Remember you are a work team reporting to a supervisor or manager. Your memo should be written accordingly.

Grading will be based on:

Project updates (due October 14th and November 11th, 5 pts each, individual grade)

Project Update # 1 (due October 14th)

Submit a project update to me in memo format . Each member of the group should write his or her own update. Your update must include:

Grading will be based on:

Project Update # 2 (due November 4th)

Submit a project update to me in memo format; focus on weeks 9-11 (the time period since your first update). Each member of the group should write his or her own update. Your update must include:

Grading will be based on:

Draft #1 (due October 21st, 10 pts--group grade)

Post a copy of a draft of your policies and procedures.

Draft #2 (due November 11th, 10 pts--group grade)

Post a revised draft of your policies and procedures. Drafts should reflect revisions based on feedback.

Policies & Procedures Final (due November 28th, 25 pts, group grade)

Submit the final copies of your documents. How you format the documents (medium or application) is your group's decision based on your analysis of the audience and purpose. Your documents must be accompanied by either:

Grading will be based on:

Polices & Procedures (15 pts)

Presentation of your policies/procedures--memo or powerpoint/video (10 pts)

Group Participation Grade (15 pts, individual grade)

Submit your team evaluation form by December 4th.

As part of your group assignment, you will receive an individual grade based on your participation and contribution to your team. The following will contribute to your participation grade:

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Page last modified: 30 October 2007