ISTM 622 Syllabus

Course Information
Course Number: ISTM 622
Course Title: Advanced Data Management
Section: 601
Time: MW 12:45 pm – 2:00 pm
Location: WCBA 110
Credit Hours: 3

Instructor Details

Instructor: Dr. David Gomillion

Office: WCBA 330B
Phone: 979-845-1748
E-Mail: [email protected] (Canvas messaging preferred)
Office Hours: MW 2:15 pm – 3:15 pm

Course Description

Data and database management and advanced SQL techniques; issues of data security, backup and
recovery, large scale databases, master data management, concurrent user data access, scalability, and
policies.

Course Prerequisites

ISTM 615 or equivalent; graduate classification in business.

Course Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion, students will be able to:

1. Define and describe Relational and NoSQL database management systems.

2. Use SQL to create database views, procedures, and triggers.
3. Set up a cluster of SQL servers to use standard and peer-to-peer replication.
4. Prepare relational data for import into a NoSQL database.
5. Import JSON documents into a MongoDB and perform basic queries.
6. Clearly articulate how to choose the best database management system for a particular task.

Required Resources

Reliable computer and Internet connection. Readings, videos, and other materials available through the
course website. E-book purchased through the course tools.

Page 1 of 9
 ISTM 622 Syllabus

Grading Policy

Students are graded on work submitted through Canvas before the established deadline. If Canvas is not
working as required, students may email the completed work to their instructor BEFORE the deadline.
Work emailed after the deadline will not be scored. All times are in College Station’s time zone.

The gradebook contains student scores for each assignment. These grades are accurate and available to
students throughout the semester. Canvas also has an estimate of students’ overall grades, but the
official grade will be determined based on rules in the syllabus. Students are encouraged to calculate
their own grades manually to determine their standing in the course.

Final letter grades are figured as per the weighted average, which I will call WA.
A B C D F
WA ≥ 90.0 89.999 ≥ WA ≥ 80.0 79.999 ≥ WA ≥ 70.0 69.999 ≥ WA ≥ 60.0 WA < 60.0

There are five grade categories, each discussed below.

Preparation and Discussion – Students will use Perusall, an online social notetaking and discussion
system, to review course materials. Perusall provides multiple paths to earn full credit, but the best way
to maximize your score is to review all the material carefully, provide many comments, respond to other
students’ comments and questions, and to interact with the course material several times between
release and due dates. While there is a minimum number of comments for each unit, please do not aim
for that minimum. Perusall will automatically select your highest-quality comments from the many
annotations you make, so the more you interact in a meaningful way, the more your grade will be
enhanced. All preparation and discussion work must be completed by 11:00 am on the date specified in
the course schedule. Any work completed after the deadline will not be factored into students’ grades.
Each unit will be scored out of 10 points, and the average of the preparation will constitute 20% of
students’ overall course grades.

Assignments – Students will often complete assignments. Assignments may be required to be

submitted online or on paper. Assignments may be due at the beginning of class, at the end of class, any
specified time during class, or at another deadline explained to students when the assignment is made.
Students not present in class will be unable to complete many assignments. If a student has an excused
absence, the grade may be excused rather than made up. Assignments will range from simple (i.e. sign
your name here) to complex (i.e. create queries to answer the following questions). The average of all
assignments will constitute 10% of students’ overall course grades.

Participation Points – Students are expected to arrive on-time and be ready for the start of class each
day. But beyond simple attendance, this requires that you be actively engaged in moving the discussion
forward in class. This can be participating in group discussions, asking insightful questions, providing
feedback to peers, etc. Participation points are worth 10% of students’ overall course grades.

Examinations – Students will complete two examinations during the semester. The exams will be
proctored online, available from 11:00 am – 2:00 pm. Students will have up to one hour to complete the
exam once it is begun. The exam format will be discussed in more detail as each exam date approaches.

Page 2 of 9
 ISTM 622 Syllabus

In addition to the standard examinations, there will be a paper in lieu of an examination due on the last
day of class. This paper requires students to reflect on the course, the project, and everything that they
have learned throughout the process. The paper’s standards are available from the first day of class, and
students are encouraged to keep notes throughout to make completing this reflection paper easier. The
average score of the examinations and the reflection paper will constitute 25% of students’ overall
course grades.

Project – Students will complete a large project over the course of the semester that is broken into ten
milestones. Milestones that are automatically graded can be submitted up to five times, with the score
being the average of the first attempt and the highest-scored attempt. Manually graded milestones may
only be submitted once. Milestones are due before 11:59 PM on the date specified in the course
schedule. The project grade will constitute 35% of students’ overall course grades.

Late Work Policy

Submitting any deliverable after the deadline is considered late work, and late work is not accepted in
this course. Work submitted by a student as makeup work for an excused absence is not considered late
work and is exempted from the late work policy. See Student Rule 7 for information on excused
absences.

Instructor Communication

Since all email is categorized automatically, sending some emails into a Promotions or SPAM folder,
please use the Canvas messaging system for all correspondence. Most messages will be responded to
within 1-2 business days, though reasonable efforts will be made to respond as quickly as possible.

Course-specific Academic Integrity Information

“An Aggie does not lie, cheat or steal or tolerate those who do.”

Integrity is one of the core values of Texas A&M University, and one that I take seriously in my class. I
want to help all students understand the expectations for this course.

Students must complete all work independently unless an assignment clearly specifies otherwise in
writing. You alone are allowed to create code, presentations, or deliverables, or to write assignments, or
to complete course requirements.

Students may not share code, completed assignments, work products, grade reports, or any other
deliverable, either before or after the deadline, with anyone, including those not in the course. Students
may not ask for code from any person, platform, system, repository, or source. This includes repositories
of former student code, AI tools, LinkedIn portfolios, StackExchange, tutoring services, etc. If a student
receives unsolicited code, they must forward the code to their instructor immediately and not use the
code. I will follow-up, but receiving unsolicited code that is reported immediately and not used is not a
violation. You do not have the right to withhold the sending party – you must provide all information
that you have to your instructor or you will be deemed to be the source of the code that was
inappropriately shared.

Page 3 of 9
 ISTM 622 Syllabus

Students may not pass along information about the content of quizzes, exams, test scripts, or any other
tool used in the course to determine student or code performance. This includes (but is not limited to)
notes, grade reports, suggestions of what to fix, or anything else that is not shared in class by the
instructor for everyone to understand. Students may not warn peers about pop quizzes, class activities,
attendance checks, or any other graded assessment unless that information is already available on the
course website.

Students may not look at, inspect, evaluate, or debug peers’ code, either before or after any deadline.
Students may not solicit (i.e. request) any code, completed assignments, work products, grade reports,
or any other deliverable, either before or after the deadline. Students may not solicit any information
about exams, quizzes, or other similar evaluation techniques.

Students are encouraged to help each other in the following ways:

• Recommend course resources to help a student answer a question they have on how to
complete a task
• Recommend official documentation from the maintainer of software tools we use that help a
student solve a challenge
• Discuss general troubleshooting techniques for how to find the source of a problem

When asking for help, ask about a concept (good: “how do I make a script that creates a database”)
rather than how to complete an assignment (bad: “how did you create a script to define the Customer
table?”). This will avoid putting your peers in the awkward position of having to report you for soliciting
code.

When creating your solution, it is normal to learn from others’ code because it is often included when
searching for how to solve a problem. While learning is encouraged, you must cite all sources carefully
using comments in your code. Something like “# ADAPTED FROM: https://mariadb.com/kb/en/create-
table/”

All code submissions must include the following statement as a comment at the top of the file: “/* On
my honor, as an Aggie, I have neither given nor received unauthorized assistance on this assignment. I
further affirm that I have not and will not provide this code to any person, platform, or repository,
without the express written permission of Dr. Gomillion. I understand that any violation of these
standards will have serious repercussions. */”

If you have engaged in any academic misconduct, you should report yourself immediately. Section
20.1.2.2 states, in part, “Self-reporting is encouraged and may be considered a mitigating circumstance
in the sanctioning phase of a particular case.” Once I have detected potential misconduct, the sanctions
will be more severe than if you self-reported before I detected the problem. If you accept responsibility
before I have gathered sufficient evidence to prove the misconduct, the penalties will be less severe
than after I have finished the gathering of evidence. Thus, it is in your best interest to accept
responsibility for any misconduct in which you have engaged as early in the process as you are aware of
your mistake.

All misconduct will be reported to the Honor System Office. If a student accepts responsibility, I will
offer a sanction I believe appropriate. You have the right to disagree with the sanction, in which case an

Page 4 of 9
 ISTM 622 Syllabus

Honor Council will convene to determine if the infraction occurred and the appropriate sanctions to
apply in your case. If a student does not accept responsibility the first time I ask if they engaged in
academic misconduct, the case will be turned over to the Honor Council. Once a case has been turned
over to the Honor Council, I will not revert it back to autonomous adjudication.

The usual sanction for any student’s first violation is an F* in the course (see section 10.1.4.2 for more
information). Students have been separated from the University for integrity issues occurring in this
course in the past.

If you ever have questions as to whether a particular action will violate the academic integrity standards
for this course, you are encouraged to ask your instructor before you take the action.

Academic Standards for the MS-MIS Program

Attendance and Punctuality

Students are expected to attend all classes regularly and punctually. For late arrivals and absences, it is
the student’s responsibility to obtain information from missed classes from other students (this includes
changes to due dates and contents of exams, assignments, labs, and projects). A late arrival to the class
is counted as an absence.

For classes meeting twice per week:

Students with absences will begin losing “participation points.”
Students having more than 4 absences will drop one letter grade.
Students having more than 7 absences will drop two letter grades.

Page 5 of 9
 ISTM 622 Syllabus

Course Schedule

WEEK TOPICS MAJOR DELIVERABLES

1 Course Introduction, Getting to know tech preparation (8/25)
8/21 – 8/25 Database Scripting Database Scripting Prep (8/23)
Infrastructure Project Milestone (8/25)
2 ETL, ETL Prep (8/28)
8/28 – 9/1 SQL vs NoSQL SQL vs NoSQL Prep (8/30)
ETL Project Milestone (9/1)
3 Database Views Database Views and Indexes Prep (9/6)
9/4 – 9/8 Views and Indexes Project Milestone (9/8)
4 Transactions, Database Transactions Prep (9/11)
9/11 – 9/15 Prepared Statements Prepared Statements Prep (9/13)
Transactions and Prepared Statements Project Milestone
(9/15)
5 Stored Procedures Stored Procedures Prep (9/18)
9/18 – 9/22 Stored Procedures Milestone (9/22)
6 Database Triggers Database Triggers Prep (9/25)
9/25 – 9/29 Database Triggers Project Milestone (9/29)
7 Exam 1 Exam 1 (10/4)
10/2 – 10/6
8 Replication Clusters MariaDB Replication Prep (10/11)
10/11 – 10/13 Replication Project Milestone (10/13)
9 Peer to Peer Clusters Peer to Peer Replication Prep (10/16)
10/16 – 10/20 Peer to Peer Clustering Project Milestone (10/20)
10 NoSQL Introduction NoSQL Overview Prep (10/23)
10/23 – 10/27 NoSQL Concepts 1 Prep (10/25)
11 NoSQL Concepts NoSQL Concepts 2 Prep (10/30)
10/30 – 11/3 NoSQL Concepts 3 Prep (11/1)
12 NoSQL Concepts (continued) NoSQL Concepts 4 Prep (11/6)
11/6 – 11/10 JSON Project Milestone (11/10)
13 Key-value and Document NoSQL Models 1 Prep (11/13)
11/13 – 11/17 Databases NoSQL Models 2 Prep (11/15)
MongoDB Project Milestone (11/17)
14 Exam 2, Exam 2 (11/20)
11/20 – 11/24 Thanksgiving
15 Polyglot Persistence, Polyglot Persistence Prep (11/27)
11/27 – 12/1 Choosing the Right Database Choosing the Right Database Prep (11/29)
16 Course Wrap-up Course Reflection Paper (12/4)
12/4

Page 6 of 9
 ISTM 622 Syllabus

University Policies

Attendance Policy

The university views class attendance and participation as an individual student responsibility. Students
are expected to attend class and to complete all assignments.

Please refer to Student Rule 7 in its entirety for information about excused absences, including
definitions, and related documentation and timelines.

Makeup Work Policy

Students will be excused from attending class on the day of a graded activity or when attendance
contributes to a student’s grade, for the reasons stated in Student Rule 7, or other reason deemed
appropriate by the instructor.

Please refer to Student Rule 7 in its entirety for information about makeup work, including definitions,
and related documentation and timelines.

Absences related to Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 may necessitate a period of more
than 30 days for make-up work, and the timeframe for make-up work should be agreed upon by the
student and instructor” (Student Rule 7, Section 7.4.1).

“The instructor is under no obligation to provide an opportunity for the student to make up work missed
because of an unexcused absence” (Student Rule 7, Section 7.4.2).

Students who request an excused absence are expected to uphold the Aggie Honor Code and Student
Conduct Code. (See Student Rule 24.)

Academic Integrity Statement and Policy

“An Aggie does not lie, cheat or steal, or tolerate those who do.”

“Texas A&M University students are responsible for authenticating all work submitted to an instructor. If
asked, students must be able to produce proof that the item submitted is indeed the work of that
student. Students must keep appropriate records at all times. The inability to authenticate one’s work,
should the instructor request it, may be sufficient grounds to initiate an academic misconduct case”
(Section 20.1.2.3, Student Rule 20).

You can learn more about the Aggie Honor System Office Rules and Procedures, academic integrity, and
your rights and responsibilities at aggiehonor.tamu.edu.

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Policy

Texas A&M University is committed to providing equitable access to learning opportunities for all
students. If you experience barriers to your education due to a disability or think you may have a

Page 7 of 9
 ISTM 622 Syllabus

disability, please contact the Disability Resources office on your campus (resources listed below)
Disabilities may include, but are not limited to attentional, learning, mental health, sensory, physical, or
chronic health conditions. All students are encouraged to discuss their disability related needs with
Disability Resources and their instructors as soon as possible.

Disability Resources is located in the Student Services Building or at (979) 845-1637 or visit
disability.tamu.edu.

Title IX and Statement on Limits to Confidentiality

Texas A&M University is committed to fostering a learning environment that is safe and productive for
all. University policies and federal and state laws prohibit gender-based discrimination and sexual
harassment, including sexual assault, sexual exploitation, domestic violence, dating violence, and
stalking.

With the exception of some medical and mental health providers, all university employees (including full
and part-time faculty, staff, paid graduate assistants, student workers, etc.) are Mandatory Reporters
and must report to the Title IX Office if the employee experiences, observes, or becomes aware of an
incident that meets the following conditions (see University Rule 08.01.01.M1):

• The incident is reasonably believed to be discrimination or harassment.

• The incident is alleged to have been committed by or against a person who, at the time of the
incident, was (1) a student enrolled at the University or (2) an employee of the University.

Mandatory Reporters must file a report regardless of how the information comes to their attention –
including but not limited to face-to-face conversations, a written class assignment or paper, class
discussion, email, text, or social media post. Although Mandatory Reporters must file a report, in most
instances, a person who is subjected to the alleged conduct will be able to control how the report is
handled, including whether or not to pursue a formal investigation. The University’s goal is to make sure
you are aware of the range of options available to you and to ensure access to the resources you need.

Students wishing to discuss concerns in a confidential setting are encouraged to make an appointment
with Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS).

Students can learn more about filing a report, accessing supportive resources, and navigating the Title IX
investigation and resolution process on the University’s Title IX webpage.

Statement on Mental Health and Wellness

Texas A&M University recognizes that mental health and wellness are critical factors that influence a
student’s academic success and overall wellbeing. Students are encouraged to engage in healthy self-
care by utilizing available resources and services on your campus

Students who need someone to talk to can contact Counseling & Psychological Services (CAPS) or call the
TAMU Helpline (979-845-2700) from 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 a.m. weekdays and 24 hours on weekends. 24-

Page 8 of 9
 ISTM 622 Syllabus

hour emergency help is also available through the National Suicide Prevention Hotline (800-273-8255) or
at suicidepreventionlifeline.org.

Statement on the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)

FERPA is a federal law designed to protect the privacy of educational records by limiting access to
these records, to establish the right of students to inspect and review their educational records and to
provide guidelines for the correction of inaccurate and misleading data through informal and formal
hearings. Currently enrolled students wishing to withhold any or all directory information items may
do so by going to howdy.tamu.edu and clicking on the "Directory Hold Information" link in the Student
Records channel on the MyRecord tab. The complete FERPA Notice to Students and the student
records policy is available on the Office of the Registrar webpage.
Items that can never be identified as public information are a student’s social security number,
citizenship, gender, grades, GPR or class schedule. All efforts will be made in this class to protect your
privacy and to ensure confidential treatment of information associated with or generated by your
participation in the class.
Directory items include name, UIN, local address, permanent address, email address, local telephone
number, permanent telephone number, dates of attendance, program of study (college, major,
campus), classification, previous institutions attended, degrees honors and awards received,
participation in officially recognized activities and sports, medical residence location and medical
residence specialization.

Mays College Policies

Mays Food & Beverage Policy

We have beautiful and state-of-the-art classrooms in the Wehner Building and Cox Hall. We want to
maintain the high quality of these classrooms for the students in future years. Thus, it is necessary for
you to adhere to the established policy of no beverages, food, tobacco products, or animals (unless
approved) within the classrooms. Bottled water is permitted. Your assistance is greatly appreciated.

Page 9 of 9