You are being invited to participate in a study entitled "UVic Messenger" that is being conducted by SENG 310 - Group 17.

SENG 310 - Group 17 is a group of students currently enrolled in Software Engineering 310 Spring 2005 course in the department of Computer Science at the University of Victoria.

As undergraduate students, we are required to conduct research as part of the requirement for the completion of our term project in SENG 310. It is being conducted under the supervision of George Tzanetakis. You may contact my supervisor at 721-8769 or at gtzan@cs.uvic.ca.

The purpose of this research project is to gain insight on a new program being developed and tested, called "UVic Messenger." The purpose of "UVic Messenger" is to allow all UVic students and facility to be able to communicate with one another online, both on and off campus, using a "messenger" program designed specifically for the UVic population.

Research of this type is important because it help us understand a better way to allow students to communicate with their instructors outside of the classroom, collaborate on group projects together online with other students, and integrating "course information" (like schedules) into the program. The goal of "UVic Messenger" is to make a students life easier.

You are being asked to participate in this study because you are current SENG 310 students, and because you are near the completion of SENG 310, you have a better understanding of how to evaluate a program, like "UVic Messenger" using the tools and techniques learned in SENG 310, as apposed to someone who has not take the course.

If you agree to voluntarily participate in this research, your participation will include being able to use a prototype version of "UVic Messenger" so that we can use that valuable feedback to make changes to the next version. There are currently no known or anticipated risks to you by participating in this research.

Your participation in this research must be completely voluntary. If you do decide to participate, you may withdraw at any time without any consequences or any explanation. If you do withdraw from the study your data will not be used, and discarded.

This research may lead to a commercial product or service. The nature of this commercial use is a working copy of "UVic Messenger" for anyone who is a current or past student or factuality member at the University of Victoria to use.

In terms of protecting your anonymity all names, any information that may identify you will not be published in any of the results, and kept in the strictest confidentially.

It is anticipated that the results of this study will be shared with others in the following ways: showing them comments and statistics of this study, without identifying the participants.

In addition to being able to contact the researcher and professor at the above phone numbers, you may verify the ethical approval of this study, or raise any concerns you might have, by contacting the Associate Vice-President, Research at the University of Victoria (250-472-4545).

Your signature below indicates that you understand the above conditions of participation in this study and that you have had the opportunity to have your questions answered by the researchers.