Current Performance Learning Clients
Dove, Inc., performs a Point-In-Time (PIT) survey to quantify the homeless population in Macon County. Their process consisted of hand-counting paper surveys according to guidelines set forth by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). This process became very time consuming and had a high probability of human error. Students worked with representatives from Dove to analyze the existing process, recommend a new survey method, and design and develop a database application to meet the survey’s requirements. The database efficiently stores the data from the surveys, generates reports to mimic HUD’s online entry system, and includes an easy-to-use interface. Students continue to work on moving this project forward by providing feature enhancements, training users, and implementing HUD changes to the reports.
Mari Mann Herbs Co., a small shop in the heart of Decatur, focuses on providing their customers with high quality products, primarily fresh herbs. After a few months without an IT resource, Mari Mann paired up with Millikin University Performance Consulting to improve their systems. The first leg of this race was to manually edit the scripts containing errors within their system and make sure that the new code ran as well, if not better, than it formerly performed. The MUPC student consultants completed the first part of the race and successfully improved Mari-Mann’s systems. Now, student consultants work with Mari-Mann through an on-call basis to troubleshoot any technical problems. This semester, students have worked on improving the time tracking software that Mari-Mann has currently integrated.
The James Millikin Homestead, located in Decatur, Illinois, is the former residence of James and Anna Millikin, founders of Anna B. Millikin Home, Millikin Univesity, Millikin Bank, Millikin Estate Trust. The James Millikin Homestead, Inc., a not for profit corporation, was created in 1979 and is responsible for the maintenance and restoration of the interior of the Homestead. MUPC’s student consultants and the Homestead have partnered to develop and host a website. MUPC also researched member management software to help the Homestead keep better track of their donor and member information.
The Decatur Bar Association was originally formed on September 17, 1917 to establish By-Laws and a Constitution and to make plans for a permanent organization. Later in that same year, they established as a permanent organization and have continued operating for over 100 years! This semester, MUPC students are working hard to update their website and add new functionality to it.
The Millikin Arts Recording Studio (MARS), focuses on multi-track audio recordings for Millikin students and faculty musical recitals/performances. MARS prides themselves on providing the Millikin and Decatur community with unmatched quality and service to retain their most treasured moments. In past semesters, MUPC has partnered with MARS to design a custom website that meets the needs of their business. The student consultants at MUPC now work with the MARS team to host their website and provide updates to the site when necessary.
Past Performance Learning Clients
Pipe Dreams Studio Theatre (PDST) is a Millikin student-run venture, comprised of and completely run by students with a passion for the performing arts. They offer a full season of awesome performance experiences in musical theatre and drama each year. In 2018, Pipe Dreams was using a ticketing software that was expensive and had a lot of features they didn’t use. MUPC researched several different ticketing vendors, using the criteria established by PDST. Once MUPC had narrowed it down to three different options that would fit the needs and criteria of PDST, they presented them with the options. Pipe Dreams chose Brown Paper Tickets and are still using this platform today.
BabyTALK is a local non-profit organization that specializes in educational programs for early childhood development. Because BabyTALK is a non-profit organization, they require donations in order to fund these programs, and they needed a way to store donor information in a simple, effective manner. At the time, this information was being housed and maintained in a database that was not serving the client’s needs. Using Microsoft Access and database modeling tools, MUPC created a data model that could store all donor information and metadata in an efficient manner. Additionally, queries, reports, and forms were also tailored to fit the client’s needs. MUPC was also able to simplify the user interface and make it more aesthetically pleasing.
Hatpin Group is a discussion forum for hatpin enthusiasts. MUPC was approached in early 2017 by the owner of Hatpin Group after their site had been down for about 18 months. Their original IT support had long since stopped responding when we came into the picture. We performed a full analysis of the site to determine the cause of the site failure, and once we diagnosed the issue we began development to bring the site back online. Over the next 12 months we worked with the client to update the framework that the site ran on, migrate over all the previous data, do an end to end test of the functionality, and update and remove non-active users. Now the site is up and running at its new domain, hatpin-board.com, and has been issue free since 2018.
Heidi Dippold is an actress, teacher, coach, and intimacy choreographer. In 2019, she approached MUPC in hopes that we could provide her with her a website that served as a portfolio for the many performances she had been apart of and highlighted each of her talents. The consultants of MUPC worked closely with Heidi throughout the process to ensure she was getting the website she wanted. There were several check-in points throughout the creation of her site that allowed Heidi to give feedback and make changes before the site went live. In just two months, heididippold.com was created. MUPC is currently hosting her website through our web hosting services.