Project Plan Document for Honors Program Web Application Page 1

Project Plan Document

for

Honors Program Web

Application
Version 1.0 approved

Prepared by Imran Ahmed, Shane McSally, Luke Payne

2/20/2018
Project Plan Document for Honors Program Web Application Page 2

Table of Contents
Table of Contents 2
1. Introduction 3
1.1 Purpose………………………………………………………………………………………….3
1.2 Scope…………………………………………………………………………………………....3
1.3 References……………………………………………………………………………………...3
1.4 Overview of the remainder of the document……………………………………………...3-4
2. Project Description 4
2.1 System Overview………………………………………………………………………………4
2.2 Client characteristics………………………………………………………………………..4-5
2.3 User Characteristics…………………………………………………………………………...5
2.4 Functional requirements………………………………………………………………….....5-6
2.5 General constraints………………………………………………………………………...…..6
3. Project Schedule 6
3.1 Approach…………………………….…………………………………………………....….6-7
3.2 Milestones and Deliverables…………………………………………………………...…..7-8
3.3 Work Breakdown Structure………………………………………………………………...8-9
3.4 Gantt chart…………………………….……………………………………………………9-10
3.5 Task Dependency Diagram………………………………………………………………....10
4. Appendix 10
4.1 Glossary of terms related to your project………………………………………………….10
4.2 Author information…………………………………………………………………………....11
4.3 Additional documents…………………………………………………………………….12-13
Project Plan Document for Honors Program Web Application Page 3

1. Introduction
1.1 Purpose

This project is a web application for the Honors program at the University of Mary
Washington. This application will provide a centralized hub for both students and
administrators of the honors program. Students will be able to view their progress in the
honors program through a check sheet provided by the client. The checksheet will break
down the students info into many different fields which will be displayed on the web
application. Administrators will able to upload a comma separated values file (CSV) which
contains all of the information for the students currently enrolled in the Honors Program.
Administrators will also be able to add announcements that can be viewed by the students.

1.2 Scope

The Honors Program Web Application will benefit students by providing a hub in
which they can view all of their progress throughout the Honors Program. They will be able
to quickly see which classes they have taken and which they have not. They will be able to
see requirements that they still need to fulfill and ones they have completed. This will allow
the student to quickly get an idea for where they are in the Program and what they need to
focus on in the future. This will benefit the student by speeding up and simplifying the
process by which they find out how they are doing and what they need to finish in the
Honors Program.
The Honors Program Web Application will benefit administrators by giving them
access to information for all of the students currently in the program. They will be able to
upload new CSV files containing students updated data. This will ensure the system is up
to date at all times. The administrators also have the benefit of being able to post
announcements that the students are able to read. This will ensure that students are up to
date with what is going on in the Honors Program. This is a major benefit for both
administrators and students.

1.3 References

Please see the Additional Documents section in the appendix for all of the provided
documents referenced in the System Requirements Document.

1.4 Overview of the remainder of the document

Section two of this document will provide a description of the project as a whole. It will
describe an overview of the system, followed by characteristics of the client and the users
of the application. Finally it will provide a breakdown of all of the requirements for the
system from the System Requirements Document. Section three will cover the schedule of
this project. It will break down our approach towards this application. Next, it will talk about
Project Plan Document for Honors Program Web Application Page 4

the milestones and deliverables for the project as a whole. It will then break down the work
for this project and all of the components that will be used. This will include software,
databases, front end systems, etc. Finally, section three will provide a Gantt chart for the
project that displays tasks from the product backlog and how long they will take. Section
four will be the final section and it will be the appendix. Section four will contain a glossary
of terms used in this document. It will also provide any additional documents or links
discussed.

2. Project Description
2.1 System overview

The Honors Program Web Application is a replacement for the current system that
is being used by the Honors Program. The honors students information are currently only
accessible by visiting the physical location of the Honors Program office on the
Fredericksburg Campus of the University of Mary Washington.

The Web Application must allow students from anywhere with internet access to be
able to view their program check sheet. It shall allow the students who are a part of the
UMW Honors Program to view their progress per semester and see what requirements
they have satisfied. The honors students shall be able to view announcements that are
posted by the Honors Program administrator which allows the administrators to keep in
touch with the students and up to date of any news from the Honors Program.

The administrators for the Honors Web Application shall be able to post
announcements. Both administrators and students must be able to change their
passwords and view the announcements. Administrators must be able to upload a CSV file
for a particular student and it must update the student’s information. This should
automatically create accounts for new students and update accounts for continuing
students. Administrators must be able to access all of the student information by searching
for them.

2.2 Client characteristics

Our client is Dr. Anewalt, who is a Computer Science Professor at the University of
Mary Washington. The reason why she is requesting this system because as of right now,
the honors students are only able to see their progress in the Honors Program through
progress reports which are sent physically by mail every semester.

When the Honors Program Web Application is created, students shall be able to
access reports on their progress page at their convenient time. Administrators shall be
able to search for a student, view the student’s information, upload a CSV file to update a
student’s information/create a new student’s account, and post announcements. This will
Project Plan Document for Honors Program Web Application Page 5

make the communication easier between the professors and staff that are in charge of the
Honors Program and the students that are a part of it.

2.3 User Characteristics

There will be two user classes for the web application, administrators and students.
Both user classes must be included in the final product. Both administrators and students
will login with their email address as their username but the password for student’s shall be
their Honors Program ID while the password for Administrators shall use a created
password. Both type of users shall be able to view announcements.

The administrator is given all privileges to upload a large CSV file, view all students’
progress, look up individual students by either their first/last name or by their email
address, and create posts such as announcements and future course offerings.

The Honors Students (UMW students who are part of the Honors program) will only
have access to view posts by Administrators and either view or download their check sheet
from the Honors Web Application.

2.4 Functional requirements

2.4.1 User Interface

REQ-1: ​The user interface must be functional.
REQ-2: ​The user interface shall be aesthetically pleasing.
REQ-3: ​The user interface must have a similar in design to the University of Mary
Washington site.

2.4.2 Logging in and Account Management

REQ-1: ​Any of the students that is in the Honors Program must be able to log in
using their email address as their username and their Honors Program ID as their
password.
REQ-2: ​All of the Administrators must be able to log in with their email address as
their username and their created password as their password.
REQ-3: ​All users must be able to change their password.
REQ-4: ​Accounts for new students in the Honors Program must be automatically
created when encountered in the upload CSV file.

2.4.3 Administrator Privileges

REQ-1: ​Administrators must be able to create and post announcements.
REQ-2: ​All administrators and students must be able to view announcements that
have been posted.
REQ-3: ​Administrators must be able to upload a CSV file which contains all of the
Honors student information for the Honors students and and it must create new accounts
as the new Honors students information are encountered in the file.
Project Plan Document for Honors Program Web Application Page 6

REQ-4: ​Accounts for students must be updated when Administrator uploads a CSV
file.

2.4.4 Student Privileges

REQ-1: ​Students must be able to view announcements.
REQ-2: ​Students must be able to view their progress per semester within the
Honors Program Web Application and this should be presented on the website.
REQ-3: ​Students shall be able to download their progress of their current semester
as a PDF file.
REQ-4: ​Students should be able to browse Honors courses on the Honors Web
Application.

2.4.5 Safety
REQ-1: ​Administrators should be able to have a local copy of the CSV file.
REQ-2: ​The administrator who shares/backs up the CSV file should have the live
copy of it if it becomes corrupted or lost.
REQ-3: ​Both administrators’ and users’ passwords must be encrypted via hash.

2.5 General Constraints

2.5.1 Hosting the application

REQ-1: ​The Honors Web Application must be handled through a free service.
REQ-2: ​The Honors Web Application shall be hosted on a free hosting site.
1. UMW Domain
2. Domain of One’s Own

2.5.2 Cost
REQ-1: ​The software implementation must not cost anything.

2.5.3 Accessibility
REQ-1: ​The web applications must be accessed with an internet connection.
REQ-2: ​The web application shall only be accessed by an authenticated user
logging in with their username and password.

3. Project Schedule
3.1 Approach

The UMW Honors Program web app will be implemented from the back end up to
the front end. This project requires relatively large amounts of data to be stored about the
students who are currently in the program. A PostgreSQL database will be deployed to
store their login information along with their checksheet data. The project’s database will
Project Plan Document for Honors Program Web Application Page 7

also store the login information of the system administrators along with any
announcements that they make on the platform.
The UMW Honors Program web app will have the look and feel of the University of
Mary Washington web sites (e.g. umw.edu, banner). This style has the key characteristics
of having a dark blue header and footer over a white background with black text.

3.2 Milestones and Deliverables

3.2.1 Milestone: Honors Student Database

This milestone will be considered completed when the PostgreSQL database has
been implemented to the point where admin and student accounts can be stored and
recalled by PostgreSQL queries.

3.2.2 Milestone: Admin Accounts

This milestone will be considered completed when the UMW Honors Program web
app administrators have the ability to login to their account using their username and
password. Requires GUI to be in place to facilitate administrators logging in.

3.2.3 Milestone: User Accounts

This milestone will be considered completed when the UMW Honors Program web
app student users have the ability to login to their account using their username and
honors program ID. Requires GUI to be in place to facilitate students logging in.

3.2.4 Milestone: User Search

This milestone will be considered completed when the UMW Honors Program web
app administrators have the ability to search the database by either student name or email
address to acquire a student’s checksheet in addition to student users being searched
automatically upon login to view their own progress. Requires GUI to be in place to present
administrators an opportunity to log in and enter the desired name into a search bar.

3.2.5 Deliverable: CSV Upload Handler

This milestone will be considered completed when the UMW Honors Program web
app administrators have the capability of uploading the CSV file which contains all of the
honors program students’ information, and that information automatically populates into
the app database creating or deleting student accounts as needed. Upon completion of the
CSV upload handler, the UMW Honors Program web app will be in the first stage of
development where a working product can be delivered to the client.
Project Plan Document for Honors Program Web Application Page 8

3.2.6 Deliverable: Admin Announcements

This milestone will be considered completed when the UMW Honors Program web
app administrators have the capability of making announcements on the homepage of the
app which can be viewed by all other administrators and student users.

3.3 Work Breakdown Structure

MS 3.2.1: Honors Student Database ​Est. 6-7 Hours

Implementing the database will not be a great challenge to the team, as all team
members have experience working with PostgreSQL databases in the past. The majority
of this time will be spent designing the database before implementation, as it must be
reliable and correct from the first iteration or the rest of the project can not be completed.

MS 3.2.2: Admin Accounts ​Est. 5-6 Hours

Implementing the admin accounts for the UMW Honors Program web app will be a
relatively simple process as long as the database was properly set up. PostgreSQL
supports permissions for certain types of users to access the data on tables within a
database. These functionalities are built-in, so implementing the admin accounts just
involves linking these functions to a new “admin” user type within the database.

MS 3.2.3: User Accounts ​Est. 2 Hours

Implementing the user accounts for the UMW Honors Program web app will be a
trivial process as long as the database was set up correctly and the admin accounts have
been developed. User accounts are the same as admin accounts, but with less privileges.
Therefore, the time estimate for this task is low.

MS 3.2.4: User Search ​Est. 7-8 Hours

Implementing the user account search feature for the UMW Honors Program web
app will be simple, as all that is needed to poll the database is a name or email address.
This milestone requires more time dedicated to it as the data returned from the database
will have to be presented to the viewers in a more user friendly manner which requires a
GUI to be made.

Deliverable 3.2.5: CSV Upload Handler ​Est. 15-16 Hours

Project Plan Document for Honors Program Web Application Page 9

Implementing the CSV Upload Handler feature for the UMW Honors Program web
app will be a substantial task in the scope of this project. In addition to supporting the
actual upload of the file to the web server, this feature also needs to handle the creation of
student accounts and repopulation of the entire database when activated. Extra time is
devoted to the estimate of this deliverable as it will have to interface with the entirety of the
program as it functions thus far.

Deliverable 3.2.6: Admin Announcements ​Est. 5-6 Hours

Implementing the Admin Announcement feature for the UMW Honors Program web
app will be a moderate sized task. The announcements will be stored in the already
created database, but a GUI will have to be made to support the creation of
announcements by the admins along with a GUI for the students to view them.

Total work estimate: 40-45 hours

Gannt chart:
Project Plan Document for Honors Program Web Application Page 10

The Gantt chart representation of the UMW Honors Program web app encapsulates
the lifecycle of this project so far. Since requirements have already been gathered and
reaffirmed the project now moves into the development of components and features.
Some aspects of the project can be worked on concurrently, such as the
implementation of the database and the design of the CSV uploader, but much of the
project is dependent upon having previous steps completed (represented by arrows).

3.4 Task Dependency Diagram

Task 3.2.2 and 3.2.3 (admin and user accounts) are dependent on MS 3.2.1
because the database must be implemented before the accounts can be placed within.

Task 3.2.4 (user search) is dependent upon MS 3.2.3 because user accounts must
exist before search operations can be performed upon them.

Task 3.2.6 (admin announcements) is dependent upon MS 3.2.2 as admin accounts

must be implemented before administrators can make announcements.

4. Appendix
4.1 Glossary of terms related to your project

● Gantt Chart - ​A breakdown of each user story and how long each is estimated to take.
● Deliverable - ​Any piece of software or demo materials that can be provided to the client.
● Milestone - ​A date set by the development team which certain deliverables will be provided
to the client.
● CSV - ​Comma separated values file. Usually created with excel
● GUI - ​Graphical User Interface
● PostgreSQL - ​The database client used for this project
Project Plan Document for Honors Program Web Application Page 11

4.2 Author information

1. Introduction - Shane
2. Project Description - Imran Ahmed
3. Project Schedule - Luke Payne
4. Appendix - Shane McSally, Imran Ahmed, Luke Payne
5. Formatting - Shane McSally, Imran Ahmed, Luke Payne
Project Plan Document for Honors Program Web Application Page 12

4.3 Additional documents

Figure 1: Checksheet example

Project Plan Document for Honors Program Web Application Page 13

Figure 2: Database example