A Group Contract is a document prepared by each team prior to starting work on group projects.  I believe that students should be held accountable and responsible for their own actions.  As such I empower students to develop their own "rules of engagement" through development of a Group Contract.  This contract provides an opportunity for your group to specify preferred methods of communication, action plans, meeting schedules, goals, and consequences of actions (or inactions) of group members.  The contract should be developed and signed BEFORE starting the actual course project.  For the Group Contract to be valid, provide the signed and dated original typed contract to me by the specified deadline on your course schedule.  Give a photocopy of the original to each group member for their records.   This document is more for your group than it is for me so feel free to tailor it to your group's needs. I have seen some group contracts as short at two pages, some as long as ten.  As a reference point, I have copies of group contracts from former students in my office which you are welcome to review. 

A.  Objective:  Provide one sentence that clearly defines your proposed project and topic.  For example, your objective may be "To develop a strategic Internet marketing plan and redesign the home page and landing page for 2SmokeCigars.com." Another example is as follows: "To develop an integrated marketing communications program for a new snack food called 'A'lait', a calcium-fortified yogurt bar targeted towards women."  

B.  Group Business/Agency Name:  Integrated Marketing Communications (MKTG 384) students are to develop a creative name for their IMC Agency. Internet Marketing students (MBA 665) are to develop a creative name for their Internet Marketing Consulting Firm.  The "Group Business Name" is not the same as your product, client, or parent company.  Rather, give your group a business identity through a very unique name. 

C.  Names/Contact Information:  

1. List the names and complete contact information for each group member (home phone, work phone, cell phone, e-mail, fax, pagers, instant messaging, etc.).
2. Next put an asterisk ( * ) next to the contact method most preferred by each member of the group. 
3. Designate one person to lead the team by serving as the Project Manager (MKTG 384) or Team Captain (MKTG 470).  Underline their name in this section.  This leader may be asked to meet with the instructor throughout the semester to discuss the project and provide feedback on behalf of the group.  This leader will also be my primary point of contact in the event I must communicate something to your group.

D.  Schedule: 

1. Present Dr. Flaherty's schedule of office hours (You can copy/paste this information from the bottom of most of my web pages). 
2. Type in the names of individuals who are free to meet with Dr. Flaherty during her office hours.  
3. Present some type of master schedule of the work, group meetings, free times, and other mandatory weekly/daily obligations for each team member.  The purpose of this is to assist in scheduling out-of-class group meetings. 

E.  Meeting Information:  Commit to the exact days/times/locations for team meetings so you don't have to negotiate this later in the semester.  Specify if you meet daily, weekly, b-weekly, the night before the project is due, etc...?  Where possible, specify exact dates of special meetings where attendance is required from all members.  How long will your meetings last?  Where will you meet?  What other expectations are there for group meetings?  What is your group's policy on attendance? 

F.  File Sharing:   This section should address how your team prefers to share files with each other.  List the method that your team will utilize.  Your choices are as follows:

• Google Docs - A free web-based platform, which allow you share and collaborate online.  See http://docs.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=49008&topic=8613 to learn how to use Google Docs.  Highly recommended!
• Blackboard Private Group Space - allows you to store and share your files on JMU's Blackboard server. The following functions are available:  Group File Exchange, Group Discussion Board, Group Virtual Classroom, and Group Email.  (If you select this option, I will set up private group space within one week of receiving your contract). 
• E-mail. 
• Other (please specify)

G.  Action Plans:  Present your group's action plan for completing the project.  In essence, address how you will split the workload, yet work on this as a group in order to provide equal learning opportunities and create the best project possible.  You do not have to address every bullet point below.  Rather make some decisions regarding what feels right to your team.  You may wish to include issues such as:

• Who will be responsible for typing the final deliverables?
• How will you divide the work to ensure it is equitable?
• How will you record what transpired at each meeting?  Will someone be designated as the group secretary or will you rotate this duty?  (You may wish to use my Team Meeting Form)
• How and when will you evaluate each other's work before it is placed into the final report?  
• Will you work on all sections of the project individually and then discuss your results at group meetings; or will you do all work at group meetings? 
• Will you make all of your decisions and have all discussions at the group meetings?  Will decisions and discussions be conducted electronically?
• What is your proposed schedule to tackle the individual components of this project?  
• How will you go about resolving group conflicts?

H.  Procedures:  What procedures and penalties do you wish to implement in the case of "group slackers" or group members who deviate from your Group Contract?  You basically have two options here:  1.) No Peer Evaluation or 2.) Peer Evaluation.  Either option is acceptable to me, but I strongly advise you implement Peer Evaluation so that you have a mechanism in place if problems arise.

1. No Peer Evaluation:  Your group may decide that you do not want any form of peer evaluation and that you will trust each other to pull their weight throughout the entire semester.  If that is your decision, in this section of your contract, simply specify the following statement: All group members will receive the same grade on every aspect of the project regardless of their contribution and regardless of any problems that may arise throughout the semester.  
2. Peer Evaluation:  If you would like some form of peer evaluation, specify the following statement:  Our team will conduct peer evaluation as part of this project.  As an appendix to your Group Contract, you MUST include the following three additional items: 

a) a blank copy of the evaluation instrument that you will use to evaluate each other.  You will have to create this on your own in advance or you may provide a blank copy of an evaluation form used from other classes),

b) specific directions for completing the evaluation instrument (e.g., will you only evaluate other group members or will you evaluate other group members plus yourself?; will the evaluation be anonymous or will it be an open evaluation?), and

 c) very detailed directions on how you wish me to penalize group members based on the peer evaluations (e.g., if the combined average score on the evaluation form is less than 140 points, lower that person's grade by 10% on all parts of the project, if between 141-150 points lower by 5%, etc.)  In other words, explain how you wish for me to calculate and adjust grades based on your evaluations.  I will honor your requests and I have lowered grades in the past based on information found within Group Contract.  The choice is yours in terms of how you want to handle this.  Develop a procedure that works for everyone in your group.  Feel free to contact me if you need assistance.

Important notes about the Procedures section of the contract:  

• You cannot change any aspect of the group contract, particularly the "Procedures" section, once the signed contract has been turned in to me.  Therefore, be VERY SPECIFIC on the Procedures section and spend some time thinking about this section.  The only way I will accept a change to your Group Contract is if ALL members of your group sign and date a written amendment to your initial agreement.
• If you do some form of anonymous peer evaluation, please collect them in sealed envelopes from each group member.  Turn in the entire packet of sealed envelopes no later than the day your project is due or, if applicable, the date specified on the course Schedule.
• If your project has a mid-semester benchmark or group presentation, in addition to a final project, consider whether or not you want peer evaluation for these aspects as well as the final project.  If your team is doing peer evaluations throughout the semester, in addition to the date your project is due, include such due dates on your contract.
• I will provide notification via e-mail to any student whose grade may be lowered as a result of the peer evaluation.

Discuss any other information that you would like to include in your group contract.  I have also provided a Team Meeting Form, a Team Evaluation Form, and Sample Evaluation Form.  Any of these documents can be used or adapted for your Group Contract.  You can also use some of the following resources developed by Dr. Thomas Bertsch, a former instructor of MKTG 384:

• Dr. Bertsch's Project Team Organization
• Dr. Bertsch's Project Team Meetings
• Dr. Bertsch's Team Evaluation Sheet

I.  Targeted Numerical Grade:  Identify the team's targeted numerical (not letter) grade on the final project and, if applicable, the grade for the presentation (if a presentation is required for your class).

J.  Signatures and Dates:  In order to be valid, all group members must provide their written signature and the date on the final Group Contract.  Do not forget to provide a signed copy of the contract to each person in your group.

After I review your Group Contract, if any issues are unclear to me, your team will be asked to make a revision by the next class period.