Closing Semester

Well it seems that it has been awhile sense I have updated so let's review what has been going on.

Since last post we had our Spring Break which was a completely crazy week around here. As any of you will find out being in northwest Arkansas and Northeast Oklahoma the weather is crazy. On the Friday that started Spring Break it was 70 degrees outside, by Noon on Saturday it had snowed 8 inches, by Noon on Sunday it was starting to melt, by Monday morning I was on the sidewalk shoveling snow in flip-flops and shorts....

The weather was nasty but it did allow me some time to work on my projects for classes that I needed to touch up on. One of the greatest things about the UA MIS program is the large use of group projects that aren't simple "answer these 5 questions" type assignments but full blown project systems. In my first semester during the Database Management class each group was to design a fully functional hospital administration and patient tracking system. We spent about 8 weeks purely on coding this project while testing and building the system documentation as well. At the end of the semester we came out with a functioning VB.NET application that worked as it should and incorporated all the needs of the business requirements.

The structure of the projects are not only to include the technical side of things but to also bring in the business and teamwork aspect of it as well. My group consisted of 3 members and was seperated into a Project Leader (Myself), a Documentation Designer, and a Secondary Programmer/Presentation Designer. With the roles split up we were able to break down the project into pieces, create a scheduled timeline, and watch the project complete step by step. We were able to budget our time using online tools like www.teamviewer.com to allow each of us to work at home while still staying connected to the rest of the team.

This semester is alittle more hectic than the last. For our IT Management class our project for the semester is to create a complete prototype of a new system for an actual process at a company. Our goal is to have a complete Business Reengineering project that has drastic positive effects for an actual company. This semester my group chose to do a local dog breeding company and has seen a whole different atmosphere when dealing with a start-up company compared to large corporations as most projects are based.

Last Week the UA also held "IT Day" for local highschools to let students see the possibilities of the University and the types of jobs that are in the field right now. Most of the Full-Time MIS students volunteered to help escort the students as well as work the booths to help out the department. The great thing about the atmosphere at UA is that the Professors and other Students are always around and on campus. This gives you a chance to really get to know others that will be in your field as well as build great networking opportunities with students that graduate and move to local companies in the area. Many students tend to forget the need for networking especially in the later years of college, the University helps set up face-to-face meetings with local companies to aide in the networking of the students.