This is a turnover packet created by the MIS functional team of the Sycamore Business Adviosrs.

1. Management Information Systems (MIS)
Turnover Packet
SyBA
Fall 2008
TEAM MEMBERS:
Geoffrey Teater
Thomas Clark
Evan Huffine
Jason Ireland
Joseph Swegman
Jacques Monnet
Lindsey Povelones

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Rebecca Stephens
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction/Task List………………………………………………………………………3
Setting up Blackboard………………………………………………………………………4
How to Breeze………………………………………………………………………………9
Website Information………………………………………………………………………...10
Using SNAPS……………………………………………………………………………….12
Video Information…………………………………………………………………………..13
Google Analytics……………………………………………………………………………17
External Hard Drive………………………………………………………………………...19
Scanning Documents……………………………………………………………………….21

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INTRODUCTION
Welcome to the Management Information Systems functional team! As an MIS functional team
leader or the AD in charge of overseeing the team you are responsible for the following tasks:
• Setup of Peer Evaluations for the Midterm and Finals using Snap
• Blackboard
• How to tape and Breeze usage
• Maintaining and updating the website
• Maintaining the external hard drive and its contents
• Google analytics
• Progress Reports
• Google Analytics
• Value Added Projects
Value added Projects for Fall 2008:
The MIS team provided value added projects for the semester by maintaining the SyBA
website, updating the SNAP surveys, purchasing an external hard drive, and scanning all of the
classes’ previous projects onto the aforementioned external hard drive.
The members of the MIS team updated the existing website to provide more
functionality, as well as more interactivity to the site. We believe, that this will make the
existing site more user friendly and help it to further attract new business and students to the
SyBA sections of BUS 401.
Secondly, we purchased an external hard drive, funds were provided by Dr. Robinson for
the purpose of integrating the hard paper copies of past projects, into digital copies that can be
accessed easier.

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Lastly, our team took the documents and scanned them onto the external hard drive.
Sounds easy right? Scanning documents one by one on a scanner can prove to be very tedious.
Welcome to the MIS functional team of SyBA!! Enjoy!
Blackboard
Blackboard functional team was charged with the daily updates and initial set-up of
group pages. Blackboard plays an important role in the daily operations of Sycamore Business
Advisors. It is the responsibility of this team to make sure that Blackboard is up and running
throughout the semester. For example, Blackboard needs a volunteer employee to be responsible
to set-up and manage the discussion boards, group pages, announcements, and any other features
of Blackboard that the class wants to utilize. All students need to be group for e-mail and other
import purposes. This semester we chose to give students access to all group folders. This has
allowed input from all groups to one another without the need to go through e-mail.
The team that volunteers to take on the duties of Blackboard will enjoy their experience.
A few suggestions are to get into the website and navigate. You will see features and abilities of
the software. There are many functions for the team to utilize. With some navigating under your
belt, you will be ready to establish the discussion groups and group pages. The previous
semester's information was a valuable guide to in assisting us in setting up the new information.
The student/employee can post files, exchange thoughts on discussion boards, and send e-mails.
The Blackboard team must make themselves available for upgrades and changes as necessary, by
either a phone or e mail. The team is lay is on for all groups within the organization. This means
that if someone has a problem with Blackboard or other technology-related issues, this
functional team attempts to help them out in any way possible. The MIS/IT group also hears
proposal ideas from anyone within the organization, about technologies that would add value to
Sycamore Business Advisors. We highly recommend that students check out the tutorial as it

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will help them understand the functions available. The Blackboard online tutorial can be found at
the following URL: http://www.indstate.edu/cta./Tutorials/tutorials.htm. You will have to scroll
down to find the title "Tutorials for Blackboard 6.0", there you will find all capabilities of
Blackboard.
Blackboard Setup & Training
Blackboard Learning System is the course management tool that SyBA uses to
communicate and exchange files over the Internet. Dr. Sherwood or Dr. Robinson will arrange
for Blackboard employees to have teaching assistant access. This allows those students to make
changes to the control panel that other students cannot.
Getting Started
To login to Blackboard, go to http://blackboard.indstate.edu/lwebapps/login Log in using your
ISU username and password. Select the link BUS 401 A Sycamore Business Advisors. If there are
more than one Senior Business Experience click on the pencil located in the upper right-hand
comer of "My Courses" in your layout. You can then modify what classes display on your
desktop. By un-checking the box next to the Senior Business Experience BUS 401-???, you will
no longer display both classes. This will help to assure that you are looking at the current and
updated information for the class.
Managing Groups
The Blackboard Team is responsible for setting up each project team and functional group on
blackboard. To do this, select the Control Panel option and then Manage Groups. When you are
designated as a Teaching Assistance, you will see these features. They are hidden from student
view. The following is a graphic representation using screen captures to walk you through the

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process.
Blackboard is
very user-
friendly. See
graphic below.
Left: The new control panel after access is gained
Top Right: The top right box where the groups are
managed
Below: Shows where to add groups

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Next: Add group information which is shown below.
Repeat for all project teams and functional teams. After each group is set up, add members to the
groups. To add members to the group, click the Modify button and then Add Users to Group.
Click on the List All tab and select the check boxes of the employees in that group, then click
Submit. Repeat for all groups. In the fall of 2008, we included all students in every group for
them to be able to view each other's progress. We felt that we are one company and that there are
no secrets between the project teams. Sycamore Business Advisors is one entity working

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together toward a common goal. A note of caution is in order. You must use the e-mail function
inside the group that you are intending to interact with and then manually select the users that
you want to send email to. Do Not use the "Send Email" function that is accessible from the
Communication page, if you do, everyone that is enrolled in your section will receive your e-
mail.
Discussion Board
The Discussion Board works exactly like the "Manage Groups", simply open up the discussion
board link.
The following is an example of the Fall 2008 Discussion Boards and Teaching Assistant
View.
Our project teams did not use the discussion board as other classes in the past. The use of this
feature is dependent on the Project Team Leaders, the Associate Directors, and the students using
it.
To summarize, Blackboard is simple software to use and the website is self explanatory.
The best teacher is first-hand experience and that can only be taught by going to the website and
exploring and navigating.

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The MIS team is in charge of scheduling and running the physical taping process for
SyBA on the Breeze system. Instructions for how to use the system are below:
2. Plug in computer and camera (MIS Drawer)
1.Hang Curtain (located In MIS drawer in back office) from hooks above Dry Erase Board
4. Connect laptop to internet using blue Ethernet cord that is behind desktop computer in main
SyBA office
5. If prompted, go thru steps to finish camera reconnect installation (this make take a few
minutes)
6. Connect microphone/headphones
7. Remind them to be ENERGIZED AND EXCITED or their clip will be very boring
a. They can make it fun, do goofy stuff or say funny things...as long as it’s clean!
8. Log on to Breeze
a.www.breeze.indstate.edu
c. Password: mgmt401b. Username: mgmt401@indstate.edu

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a. First, Delete the original
i. Go back to "recordings"
3. Turn on computer and login using instructions in computer case
9. Click on "Meetings" towards top of page
10. Click on a folder (HR student will know which one)
a. SPC
b. Feasibility
c. Turnover
d. Leadership Positions
11. Click on "Enter Meeting Room" at bottom of page
12. Click" Documents" in large grey pod section
a. Then click from "My Computer"
b. Then locate their PowerPoint slides in "Breeze" Folder on Desktop
13. In Camera and Voice pod click on microphone/camera icon on bottom left side
14. Click "Allow access to ISU"
15. Adjust camera to show face properly and have HR student put on headset (move away from
mouth 1"+)
16. To begin recording:
i. Go to "Meeting" at top of screen
ii. Go down and click on "Record Meeting"
iii. Name meeting
1.Use this format: "Their section name -their name"
a. Example: "Directional Analysis -Greg Fischer"
iv. Meeting will begin recording immediately
17. Student should use arrows to move thru their slides, not the mouse!!!
18. Once finished, student should click stop recording in upper right hand corner
19. To Review recording
a. Click on the original Breeze tab at bottom of the screen-"Meeting..."
b. Click on Recordings
i. Click on the file that you saved the clip as (there should be a cassette tape icon
next to it)
ii. When next screen opens "click on the URL"
iii. Playback should being immediately
20. TO RE-DO A TAPING
ii. .Make a check mark next to the file you want to delete
Iii. Click on "Delete" in the middle of the screen
b. Then repeat process beginning with (Number 7 above)
21. Once you have do the final one, just log out of the system and put the curtain and camera back in the
MIS drawer where you found it. Turn off computer and place back into the case.-

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-~
"-
V5=Company Name
V6=Business Address
V7=City
V8=State
V9=Zip Code
VIO=Business Phone Number
VII=Alternate Phone Number
Vl2=Email Address
V16=Will display numbers between 1 through 5I=Strategic Business Processing
2=Feasibility Study
3=Business Plans
4=Start-up Plans
5=Other

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NOTE: I strongly suggest contacting the person above for a login. They will give you a unique
password for your ISU account. They will then tell you where to login using SharePoint
Designer. All of the website files will load in a panel to the left
Website Information
The SyBA website was designed using SharePoint Designer. The webpage was designed
with a template and contains information for both internal marketing and external
marketing. The website is stored on wwwl.indstate.edu/syba. There is a redirect from
www.indstate.edulsyba so the simpler address can be given out. The SyBA Services
Request form has been designed using SNAP. There survey is stored underneath the
bkunesl user account. Once a potential client completes the form it will redirect them back
to the home page of the external side of the website. The information is then emailed to Dr.
Robinson and Dr. Sherwood. However, this data is still in a mode that is only understood
by SNAP. So, it is necessary to use a key to fully understand what it means. This has been
included to provide you with an understanding of how to interpret the results. There results
will be delivered with a v followed by a number and a response. It does not show the
question asked. Understanding the results is as follows:
V4=Client Name
You are able to update the website by connecting to wwwl.indstate.edu/syba with
SharePoint designer and using its extensions. The website will be included on a CD in the
MIS turnover packet. You can access the website by logging in using bkunes1 as the
username and the password of 5yb@8u5401. You are able to change the password for the
website by accessing it through adpassword.indstate.edu. Then a website will ask you to
validate yourself then you may change the password. You may need to contact CJ Nasser
to have an account added, as bkunesl account may no longer have access. CJ Nasser can be
reached at cdukate@indstate.edu or x8491.

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Snaps
These are important things to know about SNAP:
• All of the old snap files and data are located on the external Hard Drive
• All the data is stored online on SNAP’s servers not ISU’s for when the surveys are taken
at:http://www.snapsurveys.com/snaponline-webhost/
Login: bkunes1@mymail.indstate.edu Password: password

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• Make sure you contact John Gallagher in the college of Education room 120 for training
on SNAPS. His contact info is on the last page of the SNAPS portion of the turnover
packet
Video
Last semester the MIS team purchased video equipment for the class in order to document class
presentations and lectures. The video camera purchased is a Sony HDR-SR10 40 GB Hybrid
HDD/Memory Stick High Definition Camcorder. Along with the camera purchase was an
Impact 816 3-Section Tripod and a Sony ECM-HGZ1 Gun Zoom Mic. This state of the art
equipment came with a user’s manual which helped with its utilization. As mentioned before,

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the video taken with the camera is to be used for future BUS 401 classes. Also, the video needs
to be cut and uploaded to the SyBA website as an example for all to see, especially those who are
interested in taking the class. The video will also be used when presenting the class to
prospective students. There were several things that were meant to be taped by the camera
operator. Also, a screenplay, “All about Bus 401-SyBA”, was developed but never completed.
The following is the screenplay that was developed for 401:
“All about Bus 401-SyBA”
1. Narrator:
a. Business 401 is a student driven class that exists to provide quality strategic process and
business development consulting services for small to mid-size businesses and not-for-profit
organizations. The students possess a number of skills that provide the clients with reliable
consulting information that can improve their business. This class allows each student
advisor to relate to real world issues that will surface during their future careers. They learn
to work through the issues and present their clients with superior work. (Footage of SyBA
Logo)
2. Narrator:
a. Business 401 does not operate like a typical college classroom. It is led by students, and
advised and overseen by experienced and knowledgeable professors. Students are
interviewed and “hired” to lead at different levels of the organization. There is one Associate
Director that is in charge of each classroom, who works directly with the Professor, and the

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other leaders to oversee and direct the daily operations of the class. There are also two
project team leaders for each class that lead and guide their consulting team throughout the
entire project. The class relies upon hardworking students that take their positions seriously,
and work professionally on each project.
-Footage of Dr. Robinson lecturing
-Footage of actually doing the interview process (reenacted)
-Footage of a leaders meeting to show how dedicated they are to the process
3. Narrator voice explaining about the Consulting Teams:
a. There are two consulting teams in each class that work hand in hand with the client in the
community. Each team meets with their client on a regular basis in order to gain information
about the business operations and procedures to ensure that their project is focused on what
the business or organization needs. There are Quality Checks throughout the project to help
the teams stay on target. A Quality Check is a short presentation given first to the professor,
then to the client, on a section of the project to ensure that the team is on the right path for the
final project. At the end of the semester, the teams present their recommendations to the
client on how to improve their organization’s issues.
-Footage of the teams interacting together
-Footage of a team’s quality check
-Footage of the teams interacting with clients
4. Narrator voice explaining about the Functional Teams:

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a. The students also work for Sycamore Business Advisors as members of a functional team
within the class. The teams include Accounting/Finance, Education, Human Resources,
Marketing, MIS, and Operations. This gives the students a great opportunity to apply
learning from their core and major classes. This allows everyone to improve and expand the
SyBA organization. Each functional team has many tasks throughout the semester, in order
to better Business 401 and Sycamore Business Advisors. Another aspect of SyBA is that
each consulting team nominates a member of their team for employee of the week to have an
incentive for the students to work hard and stay focused throughout the semester.
-Footage of a Functional Team Leader meeting
-Footage of a Functional Team meeting
-Footage of an employee of the week winner
5. Narrator voice explaining how the students learn strategic management and utilize what they
have learned at the end of the semester:
a. Like all other classes students are required to take quizzes and tests, in order to prepare for
the services that are offered. Students learn about strategic process consultations, and the
steps on how to conduct one, before we implement them for our clients. In the end, the
students know that they have used their knowledge and hard work to prepare meaningful
recommendations for the client. The best part of the project is being able to see a satisfied
client and their recommendations and presentation. The success of Sycamore Business

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Advisors stems from both the students and the clients learning and ultimately improving
throughout the entire project.
-Footage of class taking a quiz or test
-Footage of different team’s final presentations
-Footage of client being satisfied (shaking hands with member of consulting team)
6. Final Part (Actual testimonials)
-Footage of a student testimonial
-Footage of a client’s testimonial
-Footage of Dr. Robinson’s testimonial (but keep it short! HeHe)
(ROLL CREDITS)
So far, the only footage obtained of 401 is a group’s quality check and all of the final
presentations. This footage is rough and unedited. There is also no narration to go along with it.
We recommend that whoever takes on the project of making the SyBA video be knowledgeable
of video making media and computer programs. This video needs to be professional since it is
representing the SyBA.

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Google Analytics
An important tool that future MIS functional teams should utilize is Google Analytics.
Google Analytics is a service offered by Google that delivers detailed statistics about visitors to a
web site. Some of its features include:
• Keyword and Campaign Comparison (referring): a tool that identifies how
individuals came to the site (i.e. did they find the site from a search engine? An
advertisement from another site? E-mail marketing?).
• Bounce Rate: the percentage of visitors who leave the site, rather than continuing to
other pages within the site.
• Advanced Segmentation: provides the ability to isolate and evaluate all the subsets of
your traffic.
• Custom Reports: you can create and edit custom reports that present the information
you wish to utilize in an organized fashion.

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• AdWords Integration: You can purchase keywords on Google AdWords, and then
determine which keywords are more profitable for your business. (AdWords offers pay-
per-click advertising, as well as site-target advertising for text and banner-ads.)
In order to create a Google Analytics account, go to
http://www.google.com/analytics/index.html. Click the link on the right side of the page that
says “New to Google Analytics? Sign up Now”. The next step is to enter an e-mail address and
password. The MIS team will need to coordinate with Dr. Robinson, and create an e-mail
address for this account, so that future teams will be able to use it as well. After the account has
been created, it’s very simple to being utilizing the features. When you visit the Google
Analytics homepage, there is a “features” tab at the top. If you click the tab it takes you to a
page that lists all of the features (some of them are listed above), and each section is
accompanied with a video that demonstrates how to utilize that feature.

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External Hard Drive
One task that the MIS functional team was responsible for doing was to find a way to
store all the documents linked to the Sycamore Business Advisors functional teams and project
teams. We came up with using an external hard drive to store these documents on. We went to
different retail stores and researched the different external hard drives. The different things we
compared on these different hard drives were the memory capacity, the way to connect to
computer, and the price. After viewing numerous external hard drives, we wrote our
recommendation for the one that would be most practical for our use. This external hard drive
was then approved by the person that oversees the finances for BUS 401 and Dr. Robinson went
out and purchased it using money from the class budget.
The external hard drive that was purchased is the Western Digital My Book Essential
Edition. It can store a capacity of 500 GB and uses a USB 2.0 connection. This drive has a
simple setup by plugging in the drive directly to a computer and it is ready to use. We have

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created folders on the drive already that are currently being used and will be used in the future
classes. There is one folder for each functional team, where this particular team will be able to
store the information that can be helpful for the specific team. There will be information from
previous teams and will have room for future teams to add information too. There are also
folders that will be divided into the different years and the different project teams that the
projects have been done and will include a scanned copy of the entire project packet for
reference material to help other project teams. There are currently some documents scanned
from previous semesters, but there are still more documents that will need scanned by the future
teams.

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SCANNING DOCUMENTS
What this process entails is the scanning of the documents in the SyBA office, or more
specifically, the old project reports and turnover packets among many other files. We scan these
documents to create an electronic version of each of the projects so that they can be kept on file
and serve as a backup for ones that may be misplaced, lost, or damaged. By scanning these
documents into electronic (PDF Files), they will be easy to access and they will all be stored in
one place (External Hard Drive), this will help to avoid clutter in the SyBA office and will allow
for more space for other equipment and documents.
There are several ways to go about scanning these documents into PDF files. We found that of
the many ways, two proved to be the most efficient. For your reference, we chose PDF format
because it will take up the smallest amount of space and it is easy to import scans into the Adobe
software. The two ways of scanning are: using an automatic feeding copier/scanner to go
through multiple pages in a short amount of time, and using an individual scanner at a computer
and scanning one page at a time.

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The first way of scanning by using the automatic feeding copier/scanner is obviously the fastest
and most efficient. However, this method can only be used for those projects that do not have
any binding holding the projects together. Some of this binding can easily be removed and put
back on (such as spiral binding), but the person doing this must be careful not to damage the
pages in the report. To do the scanning, you will need to open up Adobe Acrobat (not Adobe
Reader) and select File and then scroll down to the Import option where you are able to select
the scanner you wish to import and scan the files from. Once you do this, load the document on
the automatic feeder and start the scan. All of these files will then be scanned in seconds into the
PDF file and all that is left to do is save the file with an appropriate name.
The second way of scanning by manually scanning each of the pages in the document can be
somewhat time consuming. This is not a very efficient process, but it is the most efficient way
compared to others with binding that cannot be removed and put back on. The way you do this
is by once again opening up Adobe Acrobat and selecting File and Import, and then selecting
the scanner you are scanning the document from. Place the first page of the document on the
scanner and scan the image. Once the scan is complete, a dialogue box will appear asking you if
you want to scan another page to the document or if you are finished with your scanning. If
there are more pages select continue to scan more pages from the document. Once you have
scanned your last page, you need to select that you are finished scanning, at this time your PDF
file will appear and all the pages will be linked together in the document. We do recommend
that this type of scanning be done in Black and White or Grey Scale if at all possible to avoid

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making the file size too large. Once you are done, save your document with the appropriate
name that is easily identified among the other files.
Note: On some scanners like Microtek scanners(available at the 24hour lab and the School
of Technology) you can first preview the scanned documents, then adjust the scanning area
before scanning the final document and saving it to your desktop, H: drive or your floppy
disk as a PDF file. You will then save each page as a PDF and at the end OPEN Adobe
Acrobat, which you will use to combine the scanned documents into one. On the toolbar,
click on “COMBINE FILE”, select the files you wish to combine( the files you have saved
as PDF). You can do that by clicking on the first one(make sure they were saved
sequentially since the order of the pages matters),holding down SHIFT and then clicking
on the last one. Click on ENTER. Then follow instructions at the bottom of the screen.
Click NEXT. You are done. You can now save the document. Next time you open it, Adobe
Reader will be used. If in the future you need to add additional pages or if you had more to
scan but wanted to do it later, that is ok. You can go through the same process of
combining files and adding files at the end of the already combined files. If in doubt, ask
somebody for help with Adobe Acrobat.