Course Syllabus

O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs

I516 – Public Management Information Systems

Fall 2026 Syllabus - Section 14403

Instructor

Esen Tuna

Contact: Please use Canvas email as preferred communication method. Make sure to have Canvas notifications turned on for course activities including announcements, discussions, and due dates. 

Office hours: By appointment via Zoom and Teams. The links are posted on Canvas.

Course Description

Information technology (IT) is pervasive in all aspects of our society and a key component in information systems (IS) that are used to collect, process, store, and distribute information. This course focuses on the application of information systems concepts and tools to challenges and opportunities in the public sector. Topics covered include current trends in IS; managerial use of IS; hardware, software, and telecommunications; systems development processes and practices; and strategic and policy issues in IS.

Public and not-for-profit organizations rely on economic and effective use of information systems. This course provides the public manager with introductory knowledge and skills in managing information systems. Specific areas of study include: (1) information systems design methods, (2) IT governance and decision-making models, (3) basic techniques and skills for data management and decision support, (4) IT infrastructure and the cloud, (4) privacy and security policy and practices, (5) introduction to project management. 

Learning Outcomes 

Course Goal

By the end of the semester, students should be able to understand information systems concepts and analyze solutions to address challenges and opportunities in the public sector. Students will be able to articulate and justify an IT strategy for an organization. An IT strategy is defined as a plan on how IT should be used to meet a specific or a broad set of an organization’s needs that guides the investment in and the use of technology.

Course Learning Outcomes

After successful completion of this course, students should be able to do the following:

  • Explain the complex issues of managing information systems in the public or not-for-profit sector.
  • Define a process to evaluate and choose an IT solution.
  • Explain key security and privacy concerns for the public and not-for-profit sector.
  • Articulate advantages and disadvantages of using the public cloud services for IT needs.
  • Define a basic project plan and describe its critical path and slack time.
  • Demonstrate the ability to use a variety of common IT tools such as Excel for data analytics.

How much time should you be spending on this class?

For this 3-credit semester class, you are expected to spend an average of 6 or more hours outside of online class per week on reading, studying, assignments, etc.  This is in addition of reviewing 2.5 hours per week of class content provided asynchronously on Canvas

O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs Student Honor Code

Introduction

The O’Neill School takes matters of honesty and integrity seriously.  We expect O’Neill students will, at all times, maintain academic integrity and civil and professional standards of conduct.

Scope

O’Neill’s Student Honor Code applies to all courses and programs offered by O’Neill, and to all students who participate in O’Neill classes and programs, regardless of whether students are admitted to O’Neill. Students studying at O’Neill are expected to continue their commitment to ethical behavior in all their endeavors, including, but not limited to, coursework inside and outside of O’Neill, internships, community service, and overseas study.

 

O’Neill’s Student Honor Code incorporates IU’s Code of Student Right, Responsibilities, & Conduct and extends to matters of civility and professional conduct, including, expectations about class attendance, punctuality, participation in class, and decorum in class and at other school functions.

Academic Conduct Requirements  

All students enrolled in O’Neill courses are subject to the academic misconduct provisions found in the IU Code of Student Rights, Responsibilities, & Conduct.  

 

Academic misconduct is defined as any activity that tends to undermine the academic integrity of the institution.

 

The IU Code of Student Rights, Responsibilities, & Conduct lists and defines many types of academic misconduct, including cheating, fabrication, plagiarism, interference, violation of course rules, and facilitating academic dishonesty.   

 

Academic misconduct includes the use of any technology or assistance, including AI, that is not permitted by the instructor.

Civility and Professional Conduct Requirements

O’Neill requires that all students treat others with mutual respect and behave professionally in the classroom and during all academic and non-academic activities.

 

These civility and professional conduct requirements foster an appropriate atmosphere inside and outside the classroom:

  • Students must act in accordance with the O’Neill School mission and values.
  • Students must regularly attend and be fully prepared for class, including completing readings.
  • Students must not behave in a way that interrupts or distracts from teaching or learning. For example, students must be punctual in their arrival to class and be present and attentive for the duration of the class. They must not sleep, do work for another class, or wander in and out of the classroom, pack up, or leave class early (unless an emergency exists).
  • Students must abide by the course policy regarding use of electronic devices in the classroom, including a requirement that no electronics are allowed or that students are not permitted to use devices for non-class related purposes.
  • Students must responsibly participate in class activities and during team meetings for course assignments.
  • Students must attend scheduled meetings with faculty or staff, events for which they have RSVPed, interviews with prospective employers, and student organization meetings.  
  • Students must address faculty members, other students, and others appropriately and with respect, whether in person, in writing, or in electronic communications.
  • Students must show tolerance and respect for others.
  • Students must practice respect and responsible stewardship of the physical resources of the school, refraining from destroying or defacing school property, integrating practices of sustainability, and contributing to a clean and orderly physical environment in all buildings, classrooms, offices, and meeting spaces.   
  • Students must comply with the personal misconduct responsibilities within the IU Code of Student Rights, Responsibilities, & Conduct.

Reporting 

Students must abide by the O’Neill Student Honor Code themselves and hold their peers to the same standards. Students should report suspected instances of academic, civility, or professional misconduct to the instructor of the course. Students should report suspected instances of personal misconduct to the IU Office of Student Conduct.  

Course Requirements 

Course Assessment:

This course is composed of ten modules and a term group project. The final project is 30% of the course grade. Each module has a quiz and associated assignments, contributing 25% and 35% respectively to the final grade. There are also graded interactive virtual discussion items worth 10%. The total score is 1,000 points. Note that there is no final exam.

Quizzes (250 pts)

There will be a quiz at the end of each module worth 25 points.  

Assignments (350 pts)

  1. Explaining IT (50 pts)
  2. Donor Management Analysis (50 pts)
  3. Data Analytics (70 pts)
  4. IT Strategy (70 pts)
  5. Defining an information security program (70 pts)
  6. Participation (40 pts). Each student is expected to schedule two virtual check-in conversations with the instructor to review their progress.

Discussions (100 pts)

  1. Personal Introduction (30 pts)
  2. IT Strategy Review (40)
  3. Course Review (30)

Final Project (300 pts)

The final project is a group assignment. The project teams will be assigned within the first three weeks of the course. The final project consists of a well thought out and presented solution to a business problem. The deliverables in this solution cover aspects discussed throughout the course. The problem may be proposed by the project team or assigned by the instructor. A recorded presentation where each team member should have a speaking part will be one of the deliverables for the project.

  1. Project report (225 pts)
  2. Presentation (40 pts)
  3. Peer Assessment (35 pts)

Grading Scale 

The final letter grade for the course will be the percentage score achieved out of a total of 1,000 points.

Grade

Minimum %

Interpretation

A

97

Excellent Work: Assigned work is clearly presented, thoughtful, insightful, and creative; course material thoroughly learned.

A

93

A-

90

B+

87

Good Work: Assigned work is clearly presented and thoughtful; course material learned.

B

83

B-

80

C+

77

Acceptable Work: Assigned work completed and course standards met.

C

73

C-

70

D+

67

Marginally Acceptable Work: Most of the assigned work completed and some course material learned.

D

63

D-

60

F

Below 60

Unacceptable Work

How Will I Know How I’m Doing in This Course?

Grades will be posted in Canvas within one week of the due date. Since Canvas keeps track of all your grades, you should always be able to calculate your current grade in the course. If you need assistance, please contact your instructor and schedule an appointment.

Academic Integrity

Please refer to “O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs Student Honor Code” in the section above.  

Use of generative AI in this class

AI is rapidly transforming how we conduct business, utilize information systems, and above all how we learn. Using AI tools such as ChatGPT, Gemini and Copilot in a responsible manner complementing your leaning is allowed. You must cite AI sources like you must any other source for academic integrity. You may use AI to assist you in completing assignments in the following ways:

  1. Find sources of credible source of information.
  2. Cross check the validity of your position.
  3. Generate a concise summary of your original work.

 

All other use of AI is prohibited. You are permitted to use the free version of Grammarly and Microsoft Word’s spelling and grammar tool. 

If you use AI in an unauthorized manner, you will be committing plagiarism and will be subject to penalties in this class and sanctions by Indiana University. 

Plagiarism is defined as presenting someone else’s work, including the work of other students, as one’s own. Any ideas or materials taken from another source for either written or oral use must be fully acknowledged, unless the information is common knowledge. https://studentcode.iu.edu/responsibilities/academic-misconduct.html.

WARNING: Submitting any questions, assignments, notes, slides, or other instructor-produced course materials into Generative AI without permission is a violation of the faculty member’s exclusive rights and will be reported to the Dean of Students as academic misconduct.

Course Materials - Instructor’s Exclusive Rights.

The faculty member teaching this course holds the exclusive right to distribute, modify, post, and reproduce course materials, including all written materials, study guides, lectures, assignments, exercises, and exams. While you are permitted to take notes on the online materials and lectures posted for this course for your personal use, you are not permitted to re-post in another forum, upload to AI, distribute, reproduce content from this course, or sell the instructor’s course materials (including notes and study guides) without the express written permission of the faculty member.

Violations of this policy will be reported to the Dean of Students as academic misconduct (violation of course rules). Sanctions for academic misconduct may include a failing grade on the assignment for which the notes/study guides are being sold, a reduction in your final course grade, or a failing grade in the course, among other possibilities.

Additionally, you should know that selling a faculty member’s course using IU email, or via Canvas may also constitute a violation of IU information technology and IU intellectual property policies; additional consequences may result.

Required Text and Materials

Readings are assigned for each module and available through Canvas.

 

Course Policies

Attendance

This is an online course. There is no in person attendance. Students are expected to submit assignments on Canvas and participate on Canvas discussions as well to schedule two mandatory virtual office hour sessions with the instructor to discuss their progress.

Make-up Exams

There are no midterm or final examinations. The make-up quizzes are expected to be completed by the due date. The quiz may be taken during the time window they are open. The time-window for each quiz will a minimum of four calendar days. Once started the quiz must be completed for the given amount of time. This time will be proportional to difficulty of the exam. Quizzes are prepared to test the knowledge of module rather than speed of answering.  The accommodation must be arranged in advance of the quiz due date.

Late Work and Late Withdrawal

Generally, late work has a 10% penalty per day it is late. Your instructor will work with each student to accommodate unexpected hardships, as well as conflicts that are known in advance. The accommodation must be made in advance of the assignment due date.

After the auto-W deadline, withdrawal will be significantly limited, and you will need permission to withdraw and must meet requirements established by O’Neill.

Technology Use

You will need the following to participate in this course:

  • Computer, either Mac or Windows, with working audio and video devices
  • Reliable internet connection
  • Some way to make and post a simple video (e.g., using a webcam, or a smartphone)
  • Access to Canvas using a supported web browser.

For help with technical issues, consult:

Late Withdrawal

See https://calendars.registrar.indiana.edu/official-calendar/ withdrawal for dates. After the auto-W deadline, withdrawal will be significantly limited, and you will need permission to withdraw and must meet requirements established by O’Neill.

Course Schedule

The below schedule is subject to limited change in the event of extenuating circumstances. Any changes in deadlines will be posted on Canvas ahead of time. Assignments and quizzes are due at 11:59 p.m. Eastern time zone on the posted date unless noted otherwise on Canvas.

Module

Title

Pts

Starting Week of

Due Date

1

Challenges and Opportunities of IT in the Public Sector

 

24-Aug

 

 

      Personal Introduction

30

 

27-Aug

 

      Reading

 

 

28-Aug

 

      Explaining Information Technology

50

 

8-Sep

 

      Quiz

25

 

2-Sep

2

Making IT Decisions

 

21-Aug

 

 

      Reading

 

 

3-Sep

 

      Quiz

25

 

8-Sep

 3

Analyze, Build, and Implement Information Systems

 

7-Sep

 

 

      Reading

 

 

9-Sep

 

      Quiz

25

 

14-Sep

4

Acquiring IT Systems

 

14-Sep

 

 

      Reading

 

 

16-Sep

 

      Evaluate Donor Management System

50

 

5-Oct

 

      Quiz

25

 

28-Sep

5

Defining an IT Strategy

 

28-Sep

 

 

      Reading

 

 

30-Sep

 

      Review IT Strategy

40

 

22-Oct

 

      Quiz

25

 

12-Oct

6

Data Management Practices

 

12-Oct

 

 

      Reading

 

 

14-Oct

 

      Data Analytics

70

 

26-Oct

 

      Quiz

25

 

19-Oct

7

Infrastructure and the Cloud

 

19-Oct

 

 

      Quiz

25

 

26-Oct

8

Using IT for Marketing, Communication and Service

 

26-Oct

 

 

      Reading

 

 

28-Oct

 

      Developing an IT Strategy

70

 

16-Nov

 

      Quiz

25

 

9-Nov

9

Information Privacy and Security

 

9-Nov

 

 

      Information Security Program

70

 

20-Nov

 

      Quiz

25

 

16-Nov

10

The Nature of Work

 

16-Nov

 

 

      Quiz

25

 

1-Dec

11

Term Project

 

30-Nov

 

 

      Final Project

225

 

15-Dec

 

      Final Project Presentation

40

 

15-Dec

 

      Peer Evaluation

35

 

15-Dec

 

      Participation

40

 

11-Dec

 

      Course Review and Discussion

30

 

11-Dec

 

Student Support

Counseling and Psychological Services

For information about services offered to students by CAPS: https://healthcenter.indiana.edu/counseling/services.html

TimelyCare

Indiana students have free, 24/7 access to virtual mental health care services with TimelyCare. Students do not need insurance to access TimelyCare services. https://www.iu.edu/mental-health/find-resources/timely-care.html#0

Religious Accommodation Requests

The "Request for Accommodation for Religious Observances" form must be submitted by the student to the professor no later than two weeks prior to the anticipated absence.  A separate form must be submitted for each absence and for each course. Faculty do not have to consider accommodations for the purpose of allowing students to travel away from Bloomington for religious observance.  Information about the policy is found here: https://vpfaa.indiana.edu/resources/religious-observances-information.html.

Accessible Educational Services (formerly Disability Services for Students) 

Securing accommodations for a student with disabilities is a responsibility shared by the student, the instructor, and the AES Office. For information about support services or accommodations available to students with disabilities, and for the procedures to be followed by students and instructors: https://studentlife.indiana.edu/care-advocacy/iub-aes/index.html

Sexual Harassment

As your instructor, one of my responsibilities is to help create a safe learning environment on our campus. Title IX and our own Sexual Misconduct policy prohibit sexual misconduct.  If you have experienced sexual misconduct, or know someone who has, the University can help.

If you are seeking help and would like to talk to someone confidentially, you can make an appointment with:

  1. The Sexual Assault Crisis Service (SACS) at 812-855-8900
  2. Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) at 812-855-5711
  3. Confidential Victim Advocates (CVA) at 812-856-2469
  4. IU Health Center at 812-855-4011

For more information about available resources:  http://stopsexualviolence.iu.edu/help/index.html. It is also important to know that federal regulations and University policy require me to promptly convey any information about potential sexual misconduct known to me to our campus’ Deputy Title IX Coordinator or IU’s Title IX Coordinator.  In that event, they will work with a small number of others on campus to ensure that appropriate measures are taken and resources are made available to the student who may have been harmed.  Protecting a student’s privacy is of utmost concern, and all involved will only share information with those that need to know to ensure the University can respond and assist.  I encourage you to visit http://stopsexualviolence.iu.edu/help/index.html to learn more.

IU Culture Centers

https://studentlife.indiana.edu/communities/culture-centers/index.html