Polytechnic University of the Philippines

COLLEGE OF COMPUTER MANAGEMENT AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

Sta. Mesa, Manila

Systems Analysis and Design (SAD) and Capstone Project

POLICIES AND GUIDELINES
Rationale
In consonance with the provisions of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED)
Memorandum Order ______ series of 20__, otherwise known as the Policies and Standards for
Undergraduate Thesis/Capstone Projects for Computing Programs, the College of Computer
Management and Information Technology (CCMIT) shall enact this policies and guidelines to
serve as the foundation for the implementation of the Capstone Project course and its
prerequisite course, Systems Analysis and Design. This promulgation aims to standardize the
methodology and requirement for the said courses in order to produce quality IT students that
are capable of meeting the demands of the dynamic and challenging world of the IT industry.
This code shall serve as the standard for all campuses offering the BS Information Technology
program effective immediately upon its adoption in the main campus.
Definitions
The IT capstone project is an undertaking focuses on the infrastructure, application, or
processes involved in introducing a computing solution to an existing problem or need. The
Systems Analysis and Design course, on the other hand, focuses on the identification of
problems/needs which may come from the private, government or non-governmental
organizations. These real-world problems identified in the SAD course must be solved through
the development of an implementable IT solution during the IT Capstone Project course. In
short, the SAD course shall be concerned with the problem identification from a particular client
and project proposal while the Capstone project shall be concerned with the development of a
full-blown and a fully functional IT solution in the form of a computer-based information system
(CBIS).
Project Scope
The four major areas for the IT capstone project are: (1) Software development, (2)
Multimedia Systems, (3) Network Design, and (4) IT Management. These suggested areas
according to the CHED CMO were provided to standardize the IT programs of different tertiary
level institutions. After careful evaluation of these suggested scope, the college and the
SAD/Capstone Committee decided to focus on the first category, Software Development, on the
premise that the other deliverables are commonly presented in other courses, such as
Multimedia, Network Administration, MIS, etc. Software Development is further outlined as
follows:
-

Software Customization
Information Systems Development for an actual client

Web Applications Development

Mobile Computing Systems

Regardless of the Software Development sub-types, all SAD/Capstone project

deliverables must contain significant transaction processing in order to avoid static websites or
non-complex systems guilty of the ESP syndrome (Encode-Save), which can be accomplished
by existing office productivity tools. In short, the SAD/Capstone project deliverables must
possess sophistication as it is the main deliverable of the BSIT program.
For the main campus, the project deliverable must consist of two subsystems which are
integrated. Examples of which are as follows:
-

Inventory and Sales Information Systems

Attendance Monitoring and Payroll System
Admission/Enrolment and Grade Management System
Savings and Loan Monitoring System
Patient Monitoring and Billing/Collection System

Project Duration
Students are given one semester for the SAD Course and one summer for the Capstone
Project. To help the students finish their Capstone Project course under limited time, the
students are required to present a functional prototype during the SAD Defense to ensure
completion of the project deliverable in the summer period of the Capstone Project course.
Composition of SAD/Capstone Project Groups
SAD/Capstone Project groups shall be composed of a minimum of five (5) to a maximum
of (6) members. This aims to ensure that each subsystem shall be under the responsibility of 23 students. In cases wherein a group member quits, the project may still be continued for as
long as the students are willing and capable of completing the project. In extreme cases,
however, wherein the majority of the group members are no longer performing their functions
i.e. quit, dropped, etc., the teacher-in-charge may dissolve the group and transfer the remaining
group members to other groups which are still under the allowed maximum number of members
per group. The group shall be formed by the students themselves and shall not be handpicked/raffled by the teacher-in-charge. This provision aims to avoid possible complaints
concerning the groups inefficiency resulting from not having the luxury of freely selecting the
members in each group.
SAD/Capstone Project Committee/Panel Composition
The SAD/Capstone Committee shall be composed of the SAD/Capstone teacher-incharge, central panel members and the IT Department Chairperson, who acts as chairman of
the central panel and the committee. The committee shall be responsible in addressing
concerns regarding policy formulation/revision, implementation monitoring, and conflict
resolution.

In cases wherein the IT Chairperson is not able to serve as chairman of the committee,
he may delegate his functions to an appointed faculty member. All panelists must not have a
SAD/Capstone Project teaching load within the same period he is appointed as panelist to avoid
conflict of interest. The three-man panel must be composed of full-time faculty members who
are willing to serve as panelist to all groups of students. At least one of the panelists must have
a masters degree in any computing program (Computer Science, Information Technology, or
Information Systems).
The centralization of the evaluation process is geared towards fair evaluation of student
deliverables. This aims to reduce, if not eliminate, the possible bias in the grades of the students
arising from the influence of individual differences among panelists who come from different
backgrounds, with different specializations/expertise.
Duties and Responsibilities of SAD/Capstone Project Stakeholders
1. Teacher-in-Charge
- Assists students in the initial determination of the project scope.
- Advises the groups regarding the appropriateness of the chosen company,
i.e. geographical location, access to company information, etc.
- Monitors the progress of the project development through the conduct of
mock presentations.
- Ensures that the groups adhere to document formats/standards set by the
college.
- Resolves conflicts among members of the group.
- Coordinates with the system adviser/co-adviser regarding student
performance, project monitoring, etc.
- Gives the go-signal to the SAD/Capstone Coordinator as to which groups
are ready to proceed to the final defense.
- Teach the students how to properly use the analysis tools (means), such as
the context diagram, data flow diagram, etc., in order to achieve the desired
output of the project (ends).
- Compute the grades of the students based on the approved course syllabus
of the college.
- Weigh the groups level of compliance as against the objective of the course
i.e. SAD documentation and functional prototype, and the feasibility/readiness
of the fully-functional system for implementation for SAD and Capstone
project respectively.
2. System Adviser
- Advises the students how to solve the identified problem through the use of
proper analysis of the business rules/processes, adoption of appropriate
hardware and software technology, efficient and practical software design,
and use of industry-accepted development techniques or practices.
- Monitor the progress of group through scheduled system presentation.
- Coach the students during system defense to ensure quality software
presentation.
- Coordinate with the teacher-in-charge and co-adviser regarding the scope of
the project and other group-related issues which may affect the final
deliverable of the group.

3. System Co-Adviser
- Assist the part-time system adviser and teacher-in-charge in monitoring the
progress of the students.
- Coordinate with teacher-in-charge and system adviser in matters concerning
group issues which need to be resolved.
- Assume the role of the system adviser during system defense in cases
wherein the part-time system adviser is not able to attend the scheduled
presentation.
4. Panelist
-

Evaluate the quality of the analysis employed by the students in their SAD
course, which is the basis for a solid system design.
Determine the level of complexity involved in the SAD proposal presented by
the students during defense and suggest the final scope to be covered in the
project proposal.
Recommend ways to improve the quality of work of the group.
Not role of the panelist

5. SAD/Capstone Coordinator
- Schedule student assemblies for the purpose of orienting students to the
policies of the course, schedules, etc.
- Prepare schedule of defense and disseminate the information to the panelist,
teacher-in-charge, system adviser, co-adviser, company clients, and other
students.
- Coordinate with the teacher-in-charge in order to identify groups with the gosignal to proceed to the final defense.
- Coordinate with the IT Department at the main campus regarding the
schedule of campus defense, as well as the visiting panelist from the main
campus (for Campuses only).
- Collect the rating sheets from the panelist at the end of each presentation
and prepare the consolidated/averaged grades from the three panelists.
- Sets deadlines vital to the success of the course, such as date of document
submission, etc.
- Organize the students regarding venue preparation, food distribution,
submission of documents, liquidation of funds, etc.
Course Requirement
The SAD course has the following requirement:
1. A functional prototype which means that the system maintenance modules are all
functional while the transaction, query, reports, utilities are still non-functional
interface designs/report layouts.
2. Three (3) copies of documentation containing the analysis done on the business
processes of the chosen company/institution and the proposed IT design to solve the
identified problem/s using the standard documentation format of the college.
3. 10-minute multimedia presentation showing the highlights of the analysis and design
employed in the project.

4. Proposed CBIS must not be existing in the company/institution under study.

5. Presence of adviser and teacher-in-charge during the defense proper.optional
The Capstone Project course has the following requirement: (SSD)
1. A fully functional system with the following salient features:
a. Maintenance modules includes all the settings that must be established first
into the system prior to the commencement of transaction processing. Examples
of items to be maintained before proceeding to transaction modules in the case
of an Inventory System are supplier maintenance, product category/classification,
product maintenance, units of measurement, etc.
b. Transaction modules includes all daily/routine activities of the
business/organization which must be incorporated in the system in order to help
the client with their daily operations. Examples of modules to be placed under the
transaction menu is the delivery module which will increment the item quantities
in the inventory, the issuance module which gives supplies to the different units of
the organization, the adjustment module which is concerned with adjustments
arising from damaged, expired, missing products, etc.
c. A query module (optional) though not applicable to all types of information
systems, the query module is highly essential to certain types of CBIS. Queries
should not be mistaken as the listing of the items under the maintenance
modules. Queries should contain items that are worth viewing and are likely to
change from time to time. In an inventory system, a good example is the items at
critical levels, running balances of items available at any time of the day, etc.
d. Report modules reports must be significant to the subsystems identified in the
scope of the project. An enrolment system, for example, is expected to produce a
registration certificate and master list of students enrolled per subject/per section.
A report showing the schedule of fees under the maintenance modules should
not be given credit as the usefulness of the report will be questioned.
e. Utilities modules this includes the audit trail, database back-up and recovery,
change user password, about the developers, etc.
2. A copy of the updated documentation revised using the comments and suggestions
raised during the SAD defense.
3. 2-minute multimedia presentation summarizing the features of the system.
4. Presence of client, adviser and teacher-in-charge during the defense proper.
Project Documentation Outline
(Preliminaries)
Title Page
Recommendation Sheet
Acknowledgment
Dedication (optional)
Table of Contents
Chapter 1 Project Definition

1.1. Project Constraint

1.2. Project Assumptions
1.3. Introduction
1.4. Background of the Organization
1.5. Project Overview
Chapter 2 Functional Specification Report
1. Current IT Environment/ Infrastructure
1.1. Hardware Specifications
1.2. Software Specifications
1.3. Network Architecture
1.4. Manpower
1.5. Backup and Recovery Procedure
2. Data Requirements
2.1. Forms
2.2. Reports
2.3. Logical Data Structures
3. Policies and Procedures
3.1. Procedures
3.1.1. Context Diagram
3.1.2. Level 1 DFD
3.1.3. Process Flow Diagram
3.2 Policies
4. Problem Analysis
4.1. Fishbone Diagram
4.2. Problem Requirements
4.3. Requirements-Feature Matrix
4.4. Conclusion and Recommendation
Chapter 3 Proposed System Definitions
1. Functional Specifications
1.1. System Boundaries
1.1.1.
System Use Case Diagram
1.1.2.
Detailed Use Case Diagram
1.2. System Flow
1.3. Prototype
2. Technical Specifications
2.1. Domain Object Modeling
2.2. Database Design
2.2.1.
Database Dictionary
2.3. Screen Design
2.3.1.
Screen Inventory
2.3.2.
Screenshot Transition
2.3.3.
Screen Layout
2.4. People

Grading System
Midterm

Final Term

Class Standing
Midterm Departmental Exam

70%
30%

Final Defense

60%

Teacher-in-Charge
Total

100%

Total

40%
100%

Defense Proper Implementing Rules and Regulations

1. Students, who receive a rejected mark in the defense, either due to inadequate scope
(SAD) or due to the presence of innumerable system errors which deemed the project
not ready for implementation (Capstone Project), will automatically be dropped from the
course or will retake the said course.
2. The No-Redefense policy shall be strictly observed for groups with unacceptable scope
and non-functional software under the premise that projects which exhibited a multitude
of system errors cannot be finished in a short period of time.
3. Groups without advisers and/or co-advisers will be given an adviser/co-adviser by the
SAD/Capstone Coordinator from among the other SAD/Capstone teacher-in-charge,
without prejudice to other qualified and wiling faculty members.
4. Teacher-in-charge cannot serve neither as system adviser to his/her own section nor as
a member of the central panel of evaluators.
5. Panelist must not have a SAD/Capstone load during their incumbency as member of the
central panel.
6. Late submission of deliverables must be penalized at all times by the teacher-in-charge.
7. Members of the group must come prepared to the scheduled defense.
8. Project deliverables of all groups such as the technical documentation and copy of the
software stored on a DVD or flash disk must be submitted to the SAD/Capstone
Coordinator before the commencement of the scheduled defense to ensure impartiality.
9. The top five groups shall be considered for public viewing under the meticulous
evaluation of invited panelists.
10. Students must voluntarily decide on the collections to be made to cover expenses on
food and possibly the token for panelists, clients, and advisers. No faculty member
should collect or keep the student fund intended for this purpose.
11. Liquidation reports must be submitted to the coordinator to show the transparent
utilization of funds on a daily basis.
12. In cases wherein the defense will span several days, student support groups must be
established to ensure that the students scheduled for defense on a particular day will no
longer bother themselves with the food of the panel, client, etc. Support groups should
come from the same batch of SAD/Capstone students scheduled for defense on a
different date.
13. The ideal number of groups to be schedule for presentation per day is six (6) and shall
have two (2) hours defense time broken down as follows:
Setup .
2 mins
Presentation .
25 mins
Q&A
15 mins
Deliberation & Wrap-up...
8 mins
TOTAL
50 mins
Excess setup time shall be deducted from the presentation time. Unconsumed presentation time
shall be added to the Q&A.