Original Document: "Reflection Journal" How was the creation of the final "strategic plan" process?

(No Due Date was Specified on my Grade Book Page on 7-31-2010, at when My Reflection Journal was Due. I double checked and made a copy of my grade page which includes the absent due date that was listed there for the reflection journal. Part of this assignment was turned in on 8-1-2010 prior to 11:59 p. m. (E.S.T.). I was uncertain, due to the fact that Ms. Swaine was no longer my instructor, if an additional reflection journal submission was appropriate, for library management, summer 2010).



Group 1 CEO Bayo Cary



REFLECTION JOURNAL



TEMPLATE (*Note--The reflection templates were provided by Ms. Kim of: library management, summer 2010, F.S.U., however, the original template provide to me has been altered. No author of the template was specified, therefore, no A.P.A. references are being provided.)

______________________________________________________________________

Student Name: Bayo Cary

Team Number: Group 1

Type of Information Organization: Technology Seattle, Washington

Role in the Strategic Plan: CEO



LIS 5480 Management of Information Organizations

Reflection Journal



Group #1 Planning Session

Documentation:

A.) What I Did: I showed up and attempted to discuss what type of information organization we were going to base on final project on. My team members did not attend. I decided on technology and assigned myself the CEO and gave the other members roles as well. I understood from the class chat that it was permissible, if the other group members did not attend the group meetings, to go ahead and assign roles. This was the first group meeting that I was made aware of and the first group meeting that I attended. Had I been informed of more, I would have been present. I never missed a meeting or a class while I have been enrolled in the library management class.



B.) What my Team Did:

Analysis: My team began communicating on the discussion board. I responded. I asked several times when we would be meeting again. When no one responded I sent emails to my fellow group members. They responded that they preferred to keep the discussion to the discussion board. I agreed. The next meeting was confirmed by a fellow group member and I agreed to attend.



Evaluation: Group 1 is not working well together. Although, I am not having trouble delegating responsibility, the rest of the group seems to have difficulty communicating: honestly, effectively, and in a timely manner with both me and with each other. This is unfortunate because it is difficult to work as a group when no one is willing to do any of the work. Or when someone does all of the work but does not receive enough appreciation, money, praise, etc. for their work which is commiserate to the effort extended or the quality of work provided or attribution for their contributions. I have a very bad feeling, after the plagiarism incident which occurred in the last group that I participated in, that my fellow group members expect me to do all the work.



Comments on Resources: No resources were provided by nay group members but me. I hope there will be more to write about next week. I am very “hopeful” that this group may be better than the last. It would be really nice if we could all get along and work together.



Group #2 Planning Session

Documentation:

A.) What I Did: I came to the group meeting that was scheduled and confirmed. My group members did not show up. I wanted to discuss where the technology information facility was located that what we were going to be writing about. I waited a while. Then I left. I was disappointed that no one else came. I posted to the group discussion board regarding the fact that everyone else missed the meeting. They said that the meeting had been rescheduled. I confirmed the time of the next meeting and agreed to attend.



B.)What my Team Did: The team and I decided that Seattle Washington was a good place for the technology information center to be located. Another team member was in charge of research and provided data for the submission of assignment 1 that was due today 7-9-2010. I critiqued the data that was submitted and stated that the information about the library in Seattle was incomplete, insufficient, not very realistic, and was not expressed in terms that were clear enough.



Analysis: I thought that there was no excuse for continually missing meetings and that the students should have tried to contact me and renegotiate if they were going to be unable to meet at a time that we had already agreed upon. I think that the group members should not have chosen to use only what is available on Blackboard to communicate. They should have felt comfortable writing each other emails about the final project.



Evaluation: Group 1 is not working cooperatively or cohesively. I am doing most of the work. Too many meeting has been missed by fellow group members and there have been too many excuses about absences. I am feeling like I am being taken advantage up and that my fellow group members believe that I should do all the work because I am the CEO. I think that it is unfair and if they thought that they could have done it any better then, they should have sincerely, tried.



Comments on Resources: (All team members begin responding to resources this week)

My team members were not providing an adequate amount of resources. Not even enough to make it worthwhile to record what little effort other team group members made. I am sorry to say that my team members appear to be lazy and unwilling to exert themselves. I think that they are not serious enough students to be in a graduate studies program and should have done something else instead. I am not happy about doing all off the work when I am supposed to be working in a group. And I am not willing to continue to do so after I graduate from FSU.


Group #3 Planning Session



Documentation:

A.)What I Did: I again attempted to attend the meeting that was scheduled and agreed upon. However, I was frustrated by the previous lack of contributions provided by my fellow group members. I chose to request that they decide to let me out of the group. They declined and continued to expect me to do the majority of the work. They also communicated to the professor that I had not been at the meeting and made it seem like I was not interested in working with the group. However, they made the mistake of sending me emails about the meeting that they lied and said that I did not attend. I wrote the professor and let her know that I had not missed the meetings and that she must have misunderstood what the students told her.



B.) What my Team Did: My team tried to dissuade me from leaving the group. Then they sent me several emails about my departure, even though the group had decided on no email communication. I responded to their pleas to stay very calmly and quietly and then let them know that they were taking advantage of me and expecting me to do all the work with no commiserate recognition for all the work that I had done. I told them that I was not the giving tree and that I would only continue to be CEO until I completed the class. I followed up my displeasure with the group experience by writing the professor of the course, Dr. Kim, and requesting to be allowed to work alone for the second time in the same class. I have never had that problem in any other university, in any other town, in any other class. I think that it is very abnormal and unfortunate. She failed to reply to my request and seemed very reluctant to agree with me even though she had offered before, and committed to me that she would allow me to work on my own, but was unable to keep her word and follow through with what we both had agreed upon.



Analysis: The group is still not working well together. The lines of communication are down. I had to complete the final draft of the assignment on my own. In addition, the corrections I suggested were never made. The amount of information made available could have been easily provided by a third grader. The final draft is not up to standard and does not reflect the quality or quantity of work that I complete on my own. I am certain that this will not in any way affect my grade for the final project or my grade in the class. Many students, particularly in this class, seem to have difficulty doing their work on their own or producing a high quality or work.



Evaluation: Working in a group may be helpful for some individuals, however, combining someone who still is struggling with basic grammar and research skills with someone who has advanced research and writing techniques is not beneficial to either individual. I have been in college for almost 15 years. My G.P.A. is a perfect 4.0. and I am not interested in working with a group of people who are not as capable as myself and who are not able to keep up.



Comments on Resources: (All team members) The team members did not discuss resources, however, a draft was posted to the file exchange of what my group members believed would be an accepted draft to submit for a grade for assignment 1 for the final project. I was disappointed by the quality of work, but they did not want my help, so I simply made a few corrections and contributed what I thought had been left out. Then as the groups CEO I submitted the assignment for a grade. I expect we will all do well.



Class #4 Planning Session Plans are Due July 7th 2010 prior to 11:59 p. m. and should be submitted by the groups CEO, Bayo Cary, prior to when it is due.

Documentation:

A.)What I Did: We did not meet a fourth time. The group members never showed up anyway and the assignment was already submitted. I was disappointed, yet again.



B.) What my Team Did: My team members have been traveling all over the country attending ALA meeting in Washington, etc. . The course is online and there is Internet available at almost every hotel. However, my group members have still been unable to make the group meetings, to communicate with me about their inability to attend prior to missing the meeting, and then they repeat the same mistake again. Einstein says that if you do the same things you should expect to get the same results and that is the definition of insanity.



Analysis: The group is not working well together. The group members are not trying hard enough to contribute as individuals. They continue to expect me to do all the work. I can do bad all by myself and would prefer to take total control and ignore their suggestions and their opinions because they are not helpful at all, they do not follow through, and they expect me to be greatful to them for allowing me to be part of their underachieving group. If I am going to do tons and tons of work then my fellow group members need to be greatful to me. I deserve attribution. Plagiarism is a very serious academic offense. I am sorry that some people in the FSU Graduate School of Library and Information Science have not taken the time to read the student honor code.



Evaluation: This particular classroom environment which is being facilitated by Dr. Kim seems to be full of students who do not know what it means to be honest and fair and hard working. I am sorry that things in this class are so different from things in the other classes that I have taken at FSU. Perhaps there needs to be higher standards when deciding on who is let into the FSU graduate school program in library and information science. Students reflect the university that they attend. Students which have poor morals and ethics damage the reputation of the university where they were lucky enough to have had the opportunity to be educated.



Comments on Resources: (All team members) None of my team members showed up yet again. No resources were contributed by anyone but me. I truly hope that I get credit for what I have contributed by my professors and fellow group members. However, I would never again trust someone on the basis of their color and assume that all people of one race or another are trust worthy or nicer or even less abusive than anyone else. I have copy upon copy upon copy of all of my work. I have sent it all over the country and all over the world for that matter, for very safe keeping. If anyone challenges me as to the legitimacy of my work, or my grades, or my contributions, I am ready and willing to file a complaint, to press charges, and to bring-it.





REFLECTION JOURNAL



8-3-2010 11:46 p. m. (E.S.T.)

______________________________________________________________________

Student Name: CEO: Ms. Bayo E.Cary

Team Number: Independent

Type of Information Organization: Public Library

Role in the Strategic Plan: CEO



LIS 5480 Management of Information Organizations

Reflection Journal



Class #1 Planning Session: Elluminate 7-26-2010 6:00 p .m. (E.S.T.)

Documentation:

A.) What I Did: CEO: Ms. Bayo Elizabeth Cary:

There were no class planning sessions with other group members to document or discuss. I only had one casual meeting in Elluminate (7-26-2010 at 6:00 p m.), which was less than the allotted two hour class time period, with the temporary instructor for the second portion of my library management course. Ms. Swaine is no longer my instructor, and has not been so, for some time now.

I asked questions at the aforementioned Elluminate meeting regarding how the final assignments were to be completed. A very small amount of information regarding the requirements for completing the final assignments was provided to me. It was agreed upon, at the meeting, however, that Ms. Swaine would provide me with the template(s) that I required to complete the final assignments, as well as directions to complete the final assignments (grading criterion as well), and any additional information that I would require in order to successfully complete the final assignments.

I explicitly stated, at the only Elluminate meeting that Ms. Swaine and I had, that I would need to contact her again, to clarify issues in relation to the final assignments directions. I had difficulty communicating with Ms. Swaine after that first and only meeting in Elluminate meeting on 7-26-2010. I sent Ms. Swaine numerous email messages. She did not answer the questions that I posited in my email communication to her. Ms. Swaine did not deal with the issues related to: my grade page, the final assignment directions (grading criteria), the additional templates that were needed to complete the final assignments, the extension of the due date for the final assignment, etc.,

I had three email addresses at F.S.U., for Ms. Swaine. Those email addresses, systematically began to become unavailable to me right after our only Elluminate meeting. I let Ms. Swaine know at that point that I was beginning to have difficulty reaching her by email. On 8-1-2010, my questions regarding my final assignments were all still unanswered; two of my final assignments were due on that date by 11:59 p. m. (E.S.T.). Ms. Swaine, was entirely unavailable to me the entire day of 8-1-2010, by all three email address that I had for her. She only provided me with one of them. The other two email addresses, for Ms. Swaine at F.S.U., I had to search for on the F.S.U. website.

B.) What my Team Did:

I worked on my final assignments completely on my own. I altered the template that I utilized for the strategic plan and others as well. I let Ms. Swaine, know by email, that it would be necessary to alter the template(s). I applied the knowledge that I gained from the class readings in library management as well as previous knowledge gained in the library and information science program, to fill out the final assignments (templates), with no directions.

Analysis:



I did not have the opportunity to begin working on my final assignments, that were due on 8-1-2010, until approximately 4:30 p. m. on the actual due date. I spent a great deal of time on 8-1-2010 attempting to contact Ms. Swaine, and attempting to discuss the same issues with Dean Dennis, that I had attempted to resolve with Ms. Swaine, regarding the completion and submission of the final assignments.



Evaluation:



Working with Ms. Swaine has been difficult at best. She did not provide the final assignments materials that she offered to provide, other than one template which needed to be altered, and which I could not, and did not use in the end. She did not answer the questions that I posited in my emails. She systematically became less and less available for questions and communication. She then became completely unavailable, on the due date of two of the final assignments, prior to providing me with the information that I required to complete the final assignments.