Software Engineering Blog

I’ve received several phone calls and e-mails from prospective students over the last year while I have been Program Coordinator for the Software Engineering Programs at WVU. There are several things that one needs to consider when seeking to further their education.

Obviously, the first concern is do I currently have the qualifications necessary to be accepted into the program I am considering. The first place to go here should be the requirements of the program. Compare what you have accomplished such as GPA, experience, and test scores to the minimum requirements to become accepted in the program. If you meet these then you will likely be accepted. There are several grey areas to consider such as type of education and experience however, this is a good start to being confident you can be accepted.

You may be wondering what does the average software engineering student look like. What type of individual is a part of the WVU MSSE Program?

First, they are driven individuals, self-motivated to learn more and improve upon their careers.
Second, they are mostly full-time working professionals, some raising families, yet find enough time to take two classes a semester for two years.
Third, they are educated. Most have a BS in Computer Science, MIS, CIS, IS, or similar field from universities such as WVU, Marshall, Slippery Rock, LSU, Shephard, Fairmont State, Mississippi State, Kent State, Missouri State, Alderson Broaddus, and Dominican College.
Third, they are talented. A few of the job titles they possess include: Web Developer, Software Engineer, Middleware Consultant, Application Developer, Sharepoint Administrator, Database Developer, Lead Technical Consultant, Scrum Master, Java Developer, Asst. VP of IT, Programming Supervisor, Project Lead, Application Development Lead, and the list goes on.
Fourth, they support core software needs already in our world. They support areas in Education, State and Federal Government, Oil & Gas, Financial, Insurance, Real Estate, and more.
Fifth, they work for major companies, institutions, and small businesses that impact every aspect of our community. Companies like WVU, ABU, Dominican College, SRA, Oracle, MRC Global, Northrop Grumman, Ultra Electronics- ProLogic, CIT, CSC, ManTech, and many others.

The faculty and staff at WVU’s Lane Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering (LDCSEE) have been working on improving the current Software Engineering Programs. We have several new things in store for the program that will become more obvious as the website is updated with new program changes.

First, Dr. James Mooney, Program Director, retired from WVU after several years of success running the programs; handing over the reigns to me, Dale G. Dzielski.
Second, last year brought a new look to the MSSE website; making it uniform with the look and feel of the entire Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources.
Third, we began accepting students as Provisional Graduate Students instead of Non-Degree Students; unless you are in the Software Engineering Certificate Program.
Fourth, we began reviewing the programs under a newly instituted national initiative called Quality Matters; focused upon improving the quality of online courses.
Fifth, we piloted the New eCampus and went live with the new Blackboard Learn 9 platform and Collaborate product on January 8, 2014 with all of our SPRING 2014 courses.
Sixth, we began this blog to interest prospective students in the programs as well as inform current students in the program.

As we pause to reflect upon the accomplishments and experiences of 2013 and look into the start of 2014, we move forward to each day with certain expectations of ourselves and others. Education is an important part of how our lives move through time. Whether it be formal or what some call the school of “hard knocks” it all is a part of the learning process. What we learn becomes a part of who we are and who we will become tomorrow. What we know now shaped our past behaviors but what we learn today will most definitely shape our future. A new year has begun on our calendar only marking in this thing called time a place where we stop and reflect and then move forward again. Our decisions impact the types of experiences we will encounter on this pinnacle of time. Advancing our ability to grow, learn, and improve are quality of life can sometimes only be realized through formal education. By deciding to experience a formal education at West Virginia University, you can begin to advance your career and life.

If you are in a career right now with over one year of experience in the software engineering field and have an undergraduate in any field with a 2.75 GPA or better consider a Master of Science in Software Engineering from WVU. Please feel free to contact me using the link provided and begin a New Beginning… a New Experience this New Year!

You might ask what Ethics has to do with Software Engineering? Let us start with what the word means. Ethics is defined in the free dictionary by Farlex as a system or set of moral principles. Ethics is “The rules of conduct governing a particular class of human actions or a particular group, culture, etc.” Rules of conduct… Programming in it’s simplest form is a set of instructions with rules governing how the computer will function. However, the focus of this discussion is how the Software Engineer governs his actions to provide a quality software product at a fair price to his customer. Recent news reports that the single website for the Affordable Care Act implementation costs the American People over $1 Billion U.S. Dollars. And, it doesn’t work. How can contractors bill a customer for a product that doesn’t work? Simple, it all falls into the project management aspect of the software on both the contractor and the government. The complexity of what should have been a rather simple system grew as the policy was interpreted by the administration through regulations. Each new regulation developed greater complexity into the software system requirements. Since the requirements continued to change so did the development and likely redevelopment of the system as well as design and redesign. Since programming is labor intensive and costly, see my prior blog on Understanding Software Engineering, then the cost naturally grew from the initial bid price to the current price. Lack of planning creates cost overruns on the customer side which is not necessarily within the contractors control. Additionally, over 50 contractors were involved because of the extensive integration the website would have with other systems across government, insurance, and healthcare. Quality software is something that must be purposed. It doesn’t just happen. A disciplined and conscious effort and investment must be made to have quality an important ingredient in the formula for success. When contractors knowingly prey on the ignorance of their customer, is this ethical? What about the ethics of accepting payment for something that is broken? The reason this may not be contractual is because in many cases the government only pays for programmers time, not the end product. The details would need examined to see if it is true in this case. Therefore, no rules may have been broken from a legal stand point which is all most companies look at. However, ethics is a much deeper question that must be considered by each person. An individual example is passing a unit of code along to the testing team knowing that it has errors throughout. The programmer looks good to the manager because he met the deadline but knowingly passed poor quality product onto the next step of the process. Is this ethical?

We explore many of these ideas in the Master of Science in Software Engineering program at West Virginia University. By having a strong foundation in software engineering with a strong emphasis on quality and the customer, ethical concerns are minimized. You can learn more by applying today!