Quantitative Methods

1. Quantitative Methods MPA 510 – Dr. Inscho

2. What We Will Do Tonight • Housekeeping stuff • Discuss syllabus • Intro to subject matter • Nature of the work • Substance

3. Housekeeping • Roll • Handouts • Contacting Inscho • Course Web site • Mailing list • Obtaining software

4. Contacting Inscho • 229-3924 (direct), or leave message at • 229-3626 • My e-mail address is Frederick.Inscho@notes.udayton.edu • Contact information is also available on my web site http://academic.udayton.edu/frederickinscho/

5. Finding Inscho’s Office • SJ 217 (across hall from women’s rest room) • 2:00 – 4:00 Wednesdays, after class on Thursdays, and by appointment

6. Course Web Site • http://academic.udayton.edu/frederickinscho • Place on Favorites list (Internet Explorer), or the equivalent on your Web browser • You will likely find it to be quite useful • Assignments • Lecture slides • Course information & announcements • Communication

7. Course Web Site, cont. • Lecture slides may be both viewed and printed out, provided that you have Microsoft Power Point installed on the computer which you are using • When printing slides, you will probably want to print “handouts.” This will save paper by printing several slides per page.

8. Mailing List • Please be sure that Dr. Inscho has a valid e-mail address for you • E-mail accounts are available • Lotus Notes for all UD students • Various free providers, such as Hotmail • If you use some e-mail service other than the UD Lotus Notes system, please be sure to set the UD on-line address book to forward your Notes mail to the correct address (you will need to activate your UD account and know your UD computer i.d. to be able to do this)

9. Obtaining Software • The University has site licenses for several useful sets of software. Students may obtain & install these for legitimate educational purposes • Microsoft products • Office (Word, Excel, Power Point, etc.) • These may be downloaded from the University’s software download site: software.udayton.edu • You might be able to purchase certain materials, at the student rate, in the UD Computer Store, which is located in the basement of Miriam Hall, Room 43 (near the elevators). Miriam Hall is the Business School building, across the plaza from Kennedy Union.

10. Obtaining Software, cont. • Lotus Notes • Take a flash drive or a blank 3.5” floppy diskette and your valid student I.D. to Room 53, Miriam Hall, (right across the hall from the UD Computer Store) to obtain your personal account information • Check out the Notes client software from the Roesch Library’s circulation desk • Both locations close early (4:30 or 5:00) • You will likely need your UD computer userid and password to access Notes directly or by using a web browser. The people in Miriam Room 53 can help you with this.

11. Syllabus • Class time & meeting place • Materials • Book • Calculator • Grading

12. Class Time & Meeting Place • SJ 231 (here!) • 6:00 – 8:30 P.M. Thursdays

13. Book • Susan Welch and John C. Comer, Quantitative Methods for Public Administration, 3rded, 2001. There may be used copies of this in the bookstore. • There is a new publisher for the 3rded. The cover of the text looks different, but contents (including page numbers, problems, etc.) appear to be identical.

14. Calculator • You will need one • Simple & inexpensive is good. You will need • Four basic arithmetic functions • Square root • Memory

15. Grading • Homework assignments: 30% • Mid-term exams (two): 20% each (40% of total) • Final exam 20% • Class participation 10% • Please see syllabus for additional details

16. Work!!! How Much? • Homework (lab sessions) • Mid - term exams (formulas, calculators) • Final exam

17. Work!!! Subject Matter? • Is “doable!” • Help is available • Students’ responsibilities • Stay on top of materials • Do assignments promptly • Ask questions, request help, etc. • Be mindful of the academic dishonesty policy