Information systems (IS) students from Millikin University's Tabor School of Business received four awards at the 5th Annual Information Systems Project and Case Competition. The 2016 competition was hosted April 15-17 by the Miller College of Business at Ball State University in Muncie, Ind.
Two teams of Millikin students competed against a total of 13 teams comprised of 80 students for the Best Real-World IS Project, Project Presentation and Best IS Case Analysis. For both the projects and case analysis, students were evaluated by a panel of five judges who all work as information technology (IT) executives and leaders across various industries. Other schools at the competition included: Ball State, University of Southern Indiana, Purdue University-Calumet and University of Toledo.
One Millikin team led by students Alex Tueth, a senior from Decatur, Ill.; Brock Trader, a senior from Riverton, Ill.; Court Tulak, a senior from Decatur, Ill.; and Peyton Munch, a senior from Loves Park, Ill., earned 2nd Place in the Best IS Project category, 3rd Place in the Best IS Project Presentation category and 2nd Place for the Best IS Case Analysis.
The second Millikin team, led by Eric Johnson, a junior from Wonder Lake, Ill.; Joe Barker, a junior from Decatur, Ill.; and Billy Neumann, a junior from Forsyth, Ill., helped Millikin win 2nd Place in the Best Overall School category.
The first team of MU students presented their client project from a database development course where they collaborated with Millikin Professor Mary Garrison, Fred Spannaus and Dove, Inc. to transform the paper-based process of counting the homeless population in Macon County into a database application to deliver more accurate and timely reports to the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development and the Decatur community.
Alex Tueth and Brock Trader will continue to work on the project with Professor Garrison, Fred Spannaus and Dove, along with two human service majors, Kaylee Smith, a senior from Macon, Ill.; and Addie Smith, a senior from Franklin Grove, Ill., as part of a two-year Performance Learning Enhancement Grant (PLEG).
Many institutions do experiential learning but Millikin is different because of the Performance Learning aspect of doing real work for real clients.
"The work that our students are doing is getting used by companies and organizations," said RJ Podeschi, Millikin assistant professor of information systems. "I think Millikin takes this type of work to another level. Not only are the students performing their craft as undergraduates, but these organizations are getting value and I think that's why Millikin has been so successful at competitions in the past. I think we do a good job of helping our students tell the story and how it's impactful to the organization."
The second team of Millikin students presented their client project from Millikin Professor Ed Weber's system analysis and web development courses, where they worked closely with Mari-Mann Herb Co., Inc. to resolve over 100 scripting errors in their homegrown point of sale system and make recommendations to improve their time clock system, server architecture and backup strategies.
"The ability to present a semester-long project at the Ball State IS competition was an experience that cannot be matched by typical classroom work," Eric Johnson said. "Understanding how to give a technical presentation to various audiences will be useful in my career, when I need to effectively present the same material to technical audiences as well as management that might not be as technically knowledgeable. The competition also gave me confidence and experience in summarizing the key points of a long project."
The Information Systems Project and Case Competition serves as a venue for students to showcase projects that were completed earlier in their undergraduate careers as well as to utilize skills previously learned by solving a case study. This year's competition also gave students the opportunity to interact and network with individuals from companies and peers from different schools.
Ed Weber, Millikin assistant professor of information systems, says, "The projects were recognized for having such a real, community impact. Many institutions do experiential learning but Millikin is different because of the Performance Learning aspect of doing real work for real clients."
This is the third year Millikin has competed in the Ball State IS Competition. In the past, Millikin has earned 1st, 2nd and 3rd place finishes across all categories.