Writing Up a Quality Contract

Download the contract from the CSS Forms and Contracts website page and fill it in. DO NOT answer the questions in a separate document and attach the answers. Put answers directly with questions. Note that the whole thing must be typed, including the first page.

For the title, make it descriptive, not too short.

• For example, "Software Development" is a weak title, too vague.
• Use something more detailed ... "Software Development for a Compiler Tool -- CodeTest"
• Do not put the company name or your specific job title or intern in the title.

For the brief description, include a summary of the material you put in question #1: It should be a stand-alone clear description, but without the kind of detail you will put in your answer to question #1.

For question #1, you're basically describing the capstone. You may repeat material you already wrote in the brief description. Everything should be self explanatory. Explain everything clearly. Assume the reader doesn't know anything.

If you are doing an industry-sponsored capstone,

• First explain a bit about the company: What does the company do? If appropriate, describe an overview of its products.
• Then explain the capstone work you are doing. How does what you're doing fit?
• What is your capstone used for?
• Imagine someone is asking questions about what you wrote, and put those answers in the contract.

If you are doing research or a project,

• You will need to include in-depth details.
• Give background information about the capstone work.
• If you are adding to research or an ongoing project, how does your part fit in?
• Imagine someone is asking questions about what you wrote, and put those answers in the contract.

For question #2, make a bulleted list of many (seven, eight, ...) of the competencies that apply and write a few sentences about each. You can find a list of the competencies on the CSS website: Competencies.

For question #6, list specific plans, deliverables, etc. for your faculty advisor. Talk to your advisor about what he or she would like from you.

If you know the scope of the capstone well (definitely for research and project capstones), define the scope with an expected set of milestones and deliverables. Example items include: a project timeline, hour breakdown, reports from weekly/regular meetings, project milestone reports, etc. Define the software development process (agile, waterfall, etc.) along with a timeline covering the full calendar term of the project. The answer to this question is the basis for the expected 400 hours of work.

If you are doing an industry-sponsored internship, you may not know the details of the capstone when the contract is due. You can have the deliverables be generic in the contract and then within three weeks after beginning the internship, submit a more detailed project plan to your faculty advisor and the Capstone Coordinator (Janet McDaniel, macdee@uw.edu ). For the generic deliverables, different options are common and two examples follow:

Option 1: You will have at least 4 reports in total for the 10 credits:
        Report #1, Report #2, Report #3, Final Report.
Specific due dates are not critical. You can say "Week of x" as the due date (where x is spread out over the time of your internship). Also, be sure to include the abstract and poster/presentation (due the day of the colloquium). Some faculty may want the abstract or drafts of the poster / presentation earlier.

    For example (of course, use correct current dates):
        Report #1     Due week of July 6
        Report #2     Due week of July 20
        Report #3     Due week of Aug 10
        Poster, Presentation     Due at Summer 2015 Colloquium
        Final Report, Abstract     Due week of Aug 17

    Another example (if the capstone spans more than one quarter):
        Report #1     Due week of July 20
        Report #2     Due week of Aug 20
        Report #3     Due week of Oct 26
        Poster, Presentation     Due at Autumn 2015 Colloquium
        Final Report, Abstract     Due week of Dec 7

Option 2: An alternative to the first three reports is to give weekly status reports saying what you have learned, and what you are working on.

For question #7, again, you should talk to your advisor about what he or she would like from you regarding assessment. You may want to include things such as:

• Successful work, meeting the expectations of your manager.
• Complete and correct deliverables (e.g., weekly status reports, larger reports, code, etc.).
• Deliverables given to advisor on time.
• Creating an excellent, clear poster.
• Giving an excellent, clear presentation at the colloquium.