WILMINGTON UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY
COURSE SYLLABUS
FACULTY MEMBER:
TERM:
COURSE TITLE:
CRN:
COURSE NUMBER:
Dr. Mike Scanlon
Spring 2025
IST Capstone
21959
IST 8105
FACULTY CONTACT INFORMATION:
Email1: michael.r.scanlon@wilmu.edu
Email2: Click or tap here to enter text.
Phone: (optional) Click or tap here to enter text.
Other: Click or tap here to enter text.
TECHNOLOGY REQUIREMENTS:
Students should check with their course instructor about technology requirements. As
guidance, a course may need one or more of the following:
• A headset
• Speakers and/or microphone.
• A webcam
• Course specific software/hardware
Textbook(s):
Textbook information may be found in the Learning Management System’s
Syllabus content area of this course.
Prerequisites:
None
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
This course covers telecommunications fundamentals, including data, voice, image, and video.
The concepts, models, architectures, protocols, standards, and security for the design,
implementation, and management of digital networks are also covered. Essentials of local area
networks (LAN), metropolitan area networks (MAN), and wide area networks (WAN) are
reviewed. Other topics explored are: transmission and switching efficiency, regulatory and
technical environments, security and authentication, network operating systems, e-commerce
and associated web sites and practices, and middleware for wireless systems, multimedia, and
conferencing.
MAJOR INSTRUCTIONAL GOALS:
GOAL A: The student will gain an understanding of how data communications and computer
networks impact the business function
Learning Outcomes: The student will be able to:
A-1 Describe current trends in developing and supporting a ‘business’ network
A-2 Identify network configurations that best support and meet specific business needs
A-3 Identify new techniques and approaches technologist use to provide network security in
a business environment
GOAL B: Understand conceptual requirements of computer networks
This syllabus is the sole property of and copyrighted by Wilmington University and the College of Technology
WILMINGTON UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY
COURSE SYLLABUS
Learning Outcomes: The student will be able to:
B-1 Differentiate between network components
B-2 Describe software and practices of currently installed computer networks
B-3 Differentiate between advantages and disadvantages of the primary functions of
networks
B-4 Identify, examine, evaluate, and chose a set of available components and software that
an organization can buy and/or build to satisfy business requirements
GOAL C: Understand the functionality of network technology, components, and software
Learning Outcomes: The student will be able to:
C-1 Identify, examine, evaluate, and chose a set of components and software that best meet
technical requirements of the network
C-2 Estimate initial and recurring costs for network support, components, and operations
C-3 Differentiate between networking requirements of a global and/or enterprise-wide
system and a functional informational system
GOAL D: Gain an understanding of current and future trends in the use of data communications
and computer networks in managing information technology systems.
Learning Outcomes: The student will be able to:
D-1 Identify developmental aspects of projects for computer communications for both short
(2-5 years) and long range (greater than 5 years) planning
D-2 Forecast feasibility, capability, and market projections
D-3 Identify the components of network management systems and enumerate the uses of
network modeling and capacity planning tools
METHODOLOGY:
A. Teaching Methods:
The teaching methods will include a combination of discussions, readings, blogs,
presentation, and individual research papers. A cooperative and participative learning
strategy will be deployed with every expectation that the student will contribute heavily, in a
self-directed action-learning mode, to this educational experience
B. Evaluation Procedures and Grading Policies:
Student learning will be evaluated using a variety of assessment tools, which may include,
but is not limited to: quizzes, discussion boards, voice boards, blogs, wikis, critical thinking
and analysis papers, presentations, and exams. In addition, manually graded work (e.g.,
papers, presentations, discussion boards, etc.) will be graded using the embedded rubric.
All graded work must be uploaded to the Learning Management System (LMS) using the
appropriate upload link. Work submitted or received by any other means will not be
reviewed or graded unless advanced, written permission is received from the instructor.
Student enrolled in this course may not reuse coursework submitted in any other course in
the university. Students repeating this course may not reuse coursework submitted in any
previous attempt of this course. Coursework for the purpose of this policy includes, but is not
This syllabus is the sole property of and copyrighted by Wilmington University and the College of Technology
WILMINGTON UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY
COURSE SYLLABUS
limited to, discussion boards, voice boards, blogs, papers, journals, projects, written
assignments, presentations, or any other graded components associated with this course.
Students are responsible for the reliability of their technology and IT systems (hardware,
software, networks, etc.) and ensuring reliability issues do not hinder class participation
and/or assignment uploading to the Learning Management System.
Students should thoroughly review all graded work requirements and evaluation criteria
before submitting work for grading. Submitting work means, (a) the work is your best effort
at meeting or exceeding the requirements and (b) this is the final opportunity to submit the
work. If more than one assignment submission occurs before the submission deadline, only
the last submission received before the deadline will be evaluated. If a student submits one or
more assignments before the submission deadline and submits one or more assignments after
the submission deadline (e.g., during the late period), the student must identify, via an email
to the instructor, which submission should be evaluated – the last one submitted before the
deadline or the last one submitted after the deadline. Failing to provide an email will default
to an evaluation of the last assignment submitted before the deadline
Assignments for this course must use a Microsoft Office™ file format. Text based
documents such as papers and journals must use Microsoft Word™ and be sent/uploaded as a
.doc or .docx file. Failure to use the .doc or .docx file will result in zero (0) points for the
assignment. Presentations must use Microsoft PowerPoint™ and be sent/uploaded as a .ppt
or .pptx file; and tables must be use Microsoft Excel™ and be sent/uploaded as a .xls or xlsx
file. In addition, all written submissions must use U.S.A. English word spelling, a scholarly
or formal writing format, use Times New Roman 12pt font/typeset, black text on a white
background, and strictly follow the writing guidelines of the Publication of the American
Psychological Association [APA Manual], 2020, 7th edition.
C. Incomplete or “I” Grade:
Students receiving an “Incomplete” grade (i.e., “I”) must complete all coursework, as
identified by the instructor, within the period specified by the instructor. As a note, an “I”
grade does not mean a student has 60 days to complete the coursework. The highest resulting
final course grade for students receiving an “I” or “Incomplete” course grade is a “B” unless
there are extenuating circumstances, such as a documented serious medical issue or
hospitalization.
D. Attendance Policy:
Regular and prompt class attendance is an essential part of the educational experience. The
Wilmington University web site,
https://www.wilmu.edu/academics/coursework.aspx#attendance, contains additional
attendance information.
Wilmington University expects student to exercise good judgment regarding attendance and
absences. Students accept full responsibility for ensuring that work does not suffer from
absences. All students are expected to attend every scheduled meeting of each class on time.
Exceptions may be made for Wilmington University-sponsored or work-related activities,
illness, or valid emergencies.
This syllabus is the sole property of and copyrighted by Wilmington University and the College of Technology
WILMINGTON UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY
COURSE SYLLABUS
Faculty must approve all requests for absences that are exceptions to the University Policy.
Vacations are not considered legitimate reasons for missing classes. Faculty must be
contacted prior to class in all cases except valid emergencies. Failure to obtain approval for
exceptions may result in lowering the final passing grade or assigning an FA (failure due to
absence). Early departures and late arrivals will be cumulative toward total class absences. It
is the student’s responsibility to obtain and complete assignments by the due dates. Students
not attending class for the first two weeks of a course will be Auto-Dropped by the Registrar.
Additional Attendance information and Instructor-specific requirements can be found in the
course.
Weekly attendance for online sections will be determined by the completion and submission
of all graded, weekly work. Failing to submit some or all weekly assignments may result in
being marked fully or partially absent for an online class.
E. Other Policies:
•
Wilmington University’s grading scale, policies, and procedures - link is in the course
under the Syllabus content area.
•
Wilmington University’s Academic Integrity Policy - link is in the course under the
Syllabus content area.
•
Wilmington University’s Students with Special Needs - link is in the course under the
Syllabus content area
•
Wilmington University’s Academic Integrity Policy - link is in the course under the
Syllabus content area
F. Changes to the Syllabus:
The instructor reserves the right to change the contents of this syllabus. Students will be
given notice of relevant changes in class, through a Canvas Announcement, and/or through
the university’s email system.
G. Instructor Polices/Expectations:
Correspondence: Email correspondence during this course must originate from and will
only be sent to a student’s Wilmington University email account. Email from non-WilmU
student email accounts may not receive a response.
Artificial Intelligence: All work submitted for this course must be typed or written and
your work. Using artificial intelligence (AI) or software to generate or create text without
citing the use of AI is plagiarism. Turnitin reviews submitted assignments for the use of AI.
Any assignments with Turnitin AI percentage of >= 35% will be subject to an assignment
score reduction. The score reduction will be calculated by taking the real number of
Turnitin’s percentage and multiplying it by 10 (ex: 42% = .42 x 10 = a 4.2-point reduction).
This result (the calculated point reduction) will be assessed after rubric scoring is complete,
which will result in the rubric score being higher than the score shown in the Canvas
Gradebook.
This syllabus is the sole property of and copyrighted by Wilmington University and the College of Technology
WILMINGTON UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY
COURSE SYLLABUS
Late Policy:
All assignments will be graded using Rubrics, which are in the Learning Management
System (e.g., Canvas) and attached to each assignment. Assignments uploaded to the
Learning Management System (e.g., papers/writing assignments & presentations) received
more than 72 hours late will receive zero (0) points. Papers/writing assignments and
presentations received less than 72 hours late will receive a 10%-point reduction for each
full or partial 12-hour period (there are six 12–hour periods in 72 hours) the paper is
received late. All other assignments (e.g., discussion/voice boards, wikis & blogs, journals,
etc.) must be received by the assigned due date. Submissions received after the due date,
regardless of reason, will receive zero (0) points.
Reference Verification Policy:
All sources of information or material used for assignments in this course must be
verifiable. This means all sourced material must be included as a referenced item in the
assignment with a direct link (URL) to the source material. Each reference URL, at the time
of document evaluation, must link to a ((a) complete and retrievable document; (b) a
webpage containing informative material of only these content types: informational articles,
case studies, product and service reviews, E-books, white papers, and/or PDF files.
Document excerpts, promotional material (e.g., product descriptions, sales material,
abstracts, chapter, summaries), presentations, and videos are prohibited; (c) freely accessible
document or text-based webpage (e.g., no requirement for an online account, email address
entry, subscription, or registration); and (d) complete document or text-based webpage in
English. Videos are not verifiable or scholarly sources and may not be used as referenced
sources. Exceptions to this policy will be handled on a case-by-case basis at the sole
discretion of the instructor. Material sourced from the WilmU Library must use the
Permlink associated with the source as its URL. Working links (i.e., URLs) provided after
an assignment has been submitted, or after the initial submission deadline, or after an
assignment has been evaluated will not be accepted as verifiable.
One reference not following this policy will reduce the assignment’s point total by 10
points. Two or more or more references not following this policy will reduce the
assignment’s point total by 20 points. The point reduction will be assessed after rubric
scoring is complete, which will result in the rubric score being 10 or 20 points higher than
the score shown in the Canvas Gradebook.
H. Graded Work:
Assignment Category
Point Value (ea.)
Weighting
Discussions
100
10%
Weekly Papers
100
35%
Final Paper
100
30%
Presentation
100
15%
Quiz
100
10%
This syllabus is the sole property of and copyrighted by Wilmington University and the College of Technology
WILMINGTON UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY
COURSE SYLLABUS
Discussions:
Online discussions, when assigned, should be thought provoking, and require critical
thinking. Discussion board posts may state opinions; however, these opinions must be
supported by facts in the form of professional, subject matter expert, or academic quotes.
In addition, your post(s) may agree or disagree with one or more statements in another
post provided professional, subject matter expert, or academic quotes validate and support
your argument. Initial posts are due by 11:59 PM Eastern Time by the third calendar day
after the scheduled class meeting. Responses to postings are due by 11:59 PM Eastern
Time by the sixth calendar day of the online week. Minimally, you should comment on, at
least, two of your classmates’ postings.
Detailed information about the Discussion requirements is available in the Learning
Management System.
Weekly Papers:
Weekly Papers align with the weekly assigned readings and other course content. These
Papers provide an opportunity to research one or more aspects of networking and
communications. Each paper must contain three to five pages of content. As a note: paper
content does not include the title page, reference page, appendices, tables, figures, or any
other non-content material. These written assignments must use a formal writing style and
adhere to the Publication of the American Psychological Association [APA Manual],
2020, 7th edition writing guidelines
Detailed information about the Weekly Papers is available in the Learning Management
System
Final Paper:
The Final Paper aligns with the course content. In this paper, you will research and report
on network design and management trends over the last three years (present year minus 2)
in the areas of virtualization, security, hardware, network management tools, software
defined networking, and wireless. Each paper must contain five to seven pages of content.
As a note: paper content does not include the title page, reference page, appendices,
tables, figures, or any other non-content material. This writing assignment must use a
formal writing style and adhere to the Publication of the American Psychological
Association [APA Manual], 2020, 7th edition writing guidelines
Detailed information about the Final Paper is available in the Learning Management
System.
Quiz:
Each weekly quiz covers the concepts and terminology from the assigned weekly readings
and course material. These quizzes contains 20 questions using a combination of formats
including true/false, fill in the blank, essay, and/or or multiple-choice questions, in any
combination. Each question worth 5 points for a total of 100 points. The quiz has a 15-
This syllabus is the sole property of and copyrighted by Wilmington University and the College of Technology
WILMINGTON UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY
COURSE SYLLABUS
minute time limit and, once started, you must complete the quiz in a single attempt.
Quizzes, once started, will not be reopened or reset for any reason.
The quizzes are only available to students during the assigned week.
Detailed information about the Quiz requirements is available in the Learning
Management System.
COURSE SCHEDULE:
Students must check weekly Canvas Assignments, Modules, and Announcements for due
dates, deadlines, changes, and updates to the course schedule and/or assignments.
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Discussion Board
Quiz
Week 1 Paper
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Discussion Board
Week 2 Paper
Quiz
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Discussion Board
Week 3 Paper
Quiz
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Discussion Board
Week 4 Paper
Quiz
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Discussion Board
Week 5 Paper
Quiz
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Discussion Board
Week 6 Paper
Quiz
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Discussion Board
Final Paper
Quiz
Presentation
Due Date/Time
See the Week 1 Module
for assignment due dates
& times.
See the Week 2 Module
for assignment due dates
& times.
See the Week 3 Module
for assignment due dates
& times.
See the Week 4 Module
for assignment due dates
& times.
See the Week 5 Module
for assignment due dates
& times.
See the Week 6 Module
for assignment due dates
& times.
See the Week 7 Module
for assignment due dates
& times.
This syllabus is the sole property of and copyrighted by Wilmington University and the College of Technology