titl: The Virtual Concentration Advisor
desc: Requirements
name: mcheng
date: 02-02-00


I. Purpose
----------
The Virtual Concentration Advisor is not meant to be just a better BOCA.
It is meant to help students plan their semesters as well as their 4 years
at college. Because The Virtual Concentration Advisor uses databases of
critiques, the average college student will no longer be forced to rely on
word of mouth to find the "good" courses. Instead, by entering prioritized
lists of needs and information, and if all the fuzzy logic works out, The
Virtual Concentration Advisor will even be able to find "good" courses
taught by "good" professors while keeping in mind the fact
that the user wants to complete concentration requirements before
graduation. The most difficult and important aspect of this project will
be finding the optimal "relevance" given user priorities (fuzzy logic?).


II. Target Users
----------------
The Virtual Concentration Advisor is ideal for college students,
especially those at colleges with few general requirements. The
Virtual Concentration Advisor not only stores events like most 
organizational software, but instead is geared directly towards college
students to help sort through databases of course critiques as well as
compose a 4-year academic plan.


III. Features (prioritiy in []'s, 1 highest - 5 lowest)
------------------------------------------------
GENERAL:
- [1] Internet server or web-based
- [1] personal accounts to ensure privacy and security
- [1] intuitive, user-friendly GUI
- [1] speed, maximum 60s per search

UPON LOGIN:
- [1] weekly schedules (courses taking or tentatively taking) -> SEARCHING
- [1] 4-year plan (include courses taken, taking, and future options)

FUNCTIONS:
1. [2] USER CRITIQUES:
   supplements database critiques

2. [2] USER ENTRIES:
   user may "block out" times when unavailable (e.g. block out 1-2pm every
   day for lunch)

3. [1] SAVE
   allows The Virtual Concentration Advisor to turn into a simple
   organizational tool

4. [1] SEARCHING:

   INPUT (user can prioritize relevance/weight of each and within each):
   [EX: departments > critiques, Department Evaluations > Critical Review]
   a. [1] Critiques
      -> databases (e.g. Critical Review, Department Evaluations)
      -> individuals (See above 2. USER ENTRIES)
   b. [1] Departments
      -> concentration
      -> other departments user has interest in
   c. [1] Time
      -> select one or more time blocks
   d. [1] Past course work
      -> for eligibility for certain courses
      -> how many concentration requirements need to be completed before
         graduation

   OUTPUT (either or, user option):
   a. [2] weekly schedule with course entries* listed in appropriate time
      slots, including respective section and/or lab times
   b. [1] a list of possible course entries*, sortable of course

   * [1] Course entries are links to general course information (when,
     where, description), professor bios, notes (e.g. first/last year prof 
     teaching), etc.


IV. Extensions
--------------
We can add more organizational tools such as:
[3] reminders
[3] ability to propose/send appointments
[3] an address book
[3] a to do list
[3] a notepad
[4] ability to find common free time slots give two or more usernames
[4] ability to view others' schedules


IV. Hardware & OS Requirements
------------------------------
The Virtual Concentration Advisor should run on Solaris and UltraSparcs in
the Sun Lab as well as on major personal computers.


V. Compatibility
----------------
It would be nice if the organizational planner aspect of The Virtual
Concentration Advisor was compatible with PDAs.