The DACS sponsors training courses and seminars on a selective basis. These are made available on selected subjects based on available expertise, the currency of the subject, and the needs of the DoD. In arranging these courses the DACS has to insure that it is not unduly competing with commercial sources. Therefore, we use a set of criteria to determine whether we should offer a course in an area. Briefly, those criteria include:

Special focus. The DACS has determined that there is a current need in an area that is not being fulfilled elsewhere. An example is the area of electronic publishing on the world wide web.

Expertise. The DACS can bring a special expertise to the area based on individual work or access to experts that normally are not available to conduct seminars. An example is Dr. Vic Basili of the University of Maryland. Dr. Basili is an internationally known expert in software measurement.

Need. The DACS determines that there is a current need within the DoD and its related contractor community for this subject. An example is systems engineering. This subject is receiving wide-spread interest, yet, DoD courses have not been introduced into service educational programs with any degree of wide availability. The DACS has outlined the following courseware schedule for 1996:

• Preferred practice for software engineering and program management are two sides of the same coin
• Goals and prescriptions for achieving them propel projects to success
• Software life cycle management provides visibility and predictability
• Software project management practices provide the foundation for commitment management
• Measurement fuels improvement

Software Measurement. The course presents an overview of measurement concentrating on the principles of measurement. While the emphasis is on software the principles also apply to systems in general. Also covered are the experience factory and the goal/question/metric paradigm, major techniques in establishing a measurement program. Instructor is Dr. Vic Basili of the University of Maryland. Dr. Basili brings a special perspective to this area. This course was scheduled for 8-10 January 1996, however, it was postponed due to a blizzard in Washington, DC where the course was to be held. The course has been rescheduled for 1-3 May 1996 at the University of Maryland.

Systems Engineering. The focus of this course is on the principles of systems engineering. Software and the software capability maturity model as well as the "-ilitities" of systems engineering are also covered. Instructors are Dr. Howard Eisner of George Washington University and John Marciniak of Kaman Sciences Corporation. Dr. Eisner, the principal instructor, teaches systems engineering at GWU and is the author of Computer-Aided Systems Engineering by Prentice-Hall. The course was given in December of 1995 and was held on 16-18 April 1996.

Electronic Publishing. This course covers the Ins and Outs of publishing on the Web. As organizations put up home pages it is important to understand how they should be constructed to be effective. The instructor is Elaine Fedchak of Kaman Sciences Corporation. Kaman Sciences has performed work in this area which is becoming of increasing interest to the DoD community. Elaine is one of the authors of "Electronic Publishing on the World Wide Web, An Engineering Approach," a state of the art report prepared by the DACS. This course was delivered in December of 1995 and April of 1996 and is available based on customer demand.