The Client

This semester IUCG partnered with the UMass Residential Life Student Services Office (RLSS) to streamline the intricate and tedious residential reallocation process that occurs during winter break. The Office runs the logistics behind moving students out of housing at the end of the fall semester, organizing break housing, and moving students who changed their housing assignment for the spring semester. Beyond ushering students in and out of residence halls, office staff oversee and check that procedures for move out are followed, rooms are prepped for new students to move in, and all potential fees related to these processes are paid.

The Story

After meeting with Justin Dowd, a member of the RLSS Manager Team, Project Manager Alex Silva discovered the central issues faced by the RLSS Office and reconvened with the Project Team, Josh Zeff, Bill Sennot, Grant Kaplan, and Eric Brazell, to discuss potential solutions and start their research. Alex described the central issue as that, “People were slipping through the cracks;” there were numerous steps in the process to move someone in or out of a room and inefficient communication within the office as a result of older technological resources. Alex wanted to simplify the process for move-ins and move-outs and install a new software for the office computers that would create a more organized and efficient office.

Bill and Grant focused on the possible technological improvements that could be made in the RLSS Office. When the Team began its work, the RLSS Office used an Excel sheet to collect and track data. However, only the office manager could input data into this file, making it difficult to maintain accurate, up-to-date records. After researching different alternatives that would be universally accessible by the staff while protecting student safety, Bill and Grant gave a presentation proposing the three best options (including their pros and cons). The office manager chose Microsoft Access, a database management system, as the new software for the RLSS Office.

Josh and Eric concentrated on improving the day-to-day tasks of the office. They updated the office’s paper calendar and created steps for recording transactions related to move-in and move-out to remove redundancies in the process. The paper calendar was transferred to Microsoft Exchange, software that is real-time and accessible to all office employees. This created a system to prevent student appointments from being double-booked and to keep everyone in the office on the same page. They added a Notes section to Access where certain outliers and special cases can be documented; something that was previously only done in Voice, a program where employees record a note or reminder. Combining the Notes section with the pre-existing Voice system will keep all office employees cognizant of unusual transactions.

The Project Team added a personal touch to the technological updates by creating an automated report system for different appointments and transactions related to the move-in and move-out process. This reporting system is incredibly organized and easy to sort through when looking for a particular piece of information. Included with the report system is documentation explaining how to use this system and its different features and tools. This reporting system will be used year after year, leaving a lasting impact on the UMass RLSS Office.

The Project Team gave its final presentation on April 3, 2015. Both Microsoft Access and the Microsoft Exchange calendar will be implemented in the following weeks. The Team’s procedural changes are being considered, and they are awaiting the final decision.

The Lesson

Outside of providing a professional service to our client, IUCG hopes that at the end of every project the team members take away something of value, something they feel has improved their hard and soft skills and their qualities as young professionals. Senior Project Manager Alex feels the addition of a technological base to the office will improve the accuracy and efficiency of the overall housing process. Project analyst Josh Zeff remarks that, “This project was a great opportunity to enhance my technical and presentation skills. I worked with a great team, and overall I really enjoyed my first semester in IUCG!”

The Project Team

Project Manager Alex Silva, a senior OIM major who will be working for Liberty Mutual upon graduation, led the Project Team. Student analysts Josh Zeff, a sophomore Accounting major, and Eric Brazell, a freshman undeclared Isenberg student, are concluding their first semester with IUCG. Joining IUCG for his second semester is Grant Kaplan, a sophomore Sport Management major. Bill Sennot, first semester IUCGer, is a sophomore Accounting major. As a final reflection on their semester’s work, Bill commented, “This project has been a learning experience for everyone, and I couldn’t be prouder of the progress everyone has shown over the past few months. Everyone collaborated with new, innovative ideas to best serve our client, and in doing so we pushed the limits of our knowledge in dealing with new strategies, software, and presentation skills.”

The Isenberg Undergraduate Consulting Group was born from an innovative idea. IUCG was founded in Fall 2013 as a platform from which young business professionals could develop their hard and soft skills while simultaneously giving back to the community in which they reside.

An article¹ from bcg.perspectives notes the driving force separating fast growing companies from companies who fail to grow is their leadership. Those successful leaders understand a failure to grow can be the equivalent to the death of the company. They are constantly pushing and pursuing new opportunities and new ideas. They are never finished; there is always something left to strive for.

Our student leaders understand the importance of progress, and have pushed for growth both in terms of membership size and availablility of hands-on opportunities to learn outside of the classroom. Fast Forward one year from the first operational semester of IUCG: The number of projects has doubled; The membership has increased (32 members at the close of this recruiting period), and an additional four seats, from the original six, have been added to the executive team.

This semester our project managers and analysts will be divided into teams to focus on four different consulting projects: an even split with two projects based out of our local Amherst community and two partnering with our very own university. Our project with The Black Sheep, a local deli in the center of Amherst, will teach analysts how to improve the customer experience by studying wait times. Our second effort to give back to our community is through our project with Craig’s Doors, a local non-profit. The Craig’s Doors team will be working to develop a more organized operational process for the organization. Keeping a little closer to home, analysts on the Residential Service Desk project and the On-Campus Housing Assignment project will be focusing on process improvement to optimize the operations of both of these UMass-Amherst services.

Since its creation in Fall 2013, one of the core goals of IUCG has been to give back- to its members, the Isenberg community, and the Amherst community. We want to establish a culture of personal growth and community mentorship among our members by working together and learning from each other. An open culture where learning is cherished and a desire to give back is central will hopefully allow for continued progress and boundless opportunities for both our members and our clients.

New semester, new projects, new talent. We’re happily embracing the growth imperative.

¹Bürkner, Hans-Paul, Kermit King, and Nor Azah Razali. “More Holes than Cheese: Embracing the Growth Imperative” Bcg.perspectives. BCG.perspectives, 8 Oct. 2013. Web. 7 Feb 2015. <<https://www.bcgperspectives.com/content/articles/growth_vision_mission_more_holes_than_cheese_embracing_growth_imperative/>>