First Advisor

Likarish, Daniel M

College

College for Professional Studies

Degree Name

MS Computer and Information Technology

School

School of Computer & Information Science

Document Type

Thesis - Open Access

Number of Pages

211 pages

Abstract

The Regis University Networking Lab Practicum (NLP) allows MSCIT graduate students the opportunity to gain hands-on experience in IT topics in a controlled computer network environment. The NLP also introduces students to a wide range of external IT projects such as the Volunteer System Project. The Volunteer System Project was the construction of a database system for a non-profit organization. The Volunteer System captures all of the personnel data, work time and project affiliation information and is a critical tool in managing and maintaining a successful volunteer workforce. The performance of the original spreadsheet-based Volunteer System was declining and could not support the business needs for time tracking, querying, and reporting functions nor the rapidly increasing growth of the volunteer base. The NLP studied the original Volunteer System and proposed a project concept to reconstruct the system using relational database technology. The project was developed within the scope of the nonprofit group's business requirements and implemented using industry-accepted project management processes, all phases of a standard system development lifecycle, and database development research and application. The non-profit organization would only consider the project if there were no budget requirements and only if existing licensed software, such as Microsoft Access, were utilized. Other software alternatives were considered, such as Oracle and MySQL, however the business did not have the budget to procure any new software licenses and would not have adequate support for a non-Microsoft solution after the project concluded. The NLP participated, managed, and implemented the project with an additional constraint of only one primary project resource. The Volunteer System project provided a sound topic for the NLP student's professional project while benefiting the non-profit group with free IT development. Additionally, the documentation of the implemented project can be used as a project management and development learning tool for future NLP students.

Date of Award

Spring 2006

Location (Creation)

Colorado (state); Denver (county); Denver (inhabited place)

Rights Statement

All content in this Collection is owned by and subject to the exclusive control of Regis University and the authors of the materials. It is available only for research purposes and may not be used in violation of copyright laws or for unlawful purposes. The materials may not be downloaded in whole or in part without permission of the copyright holder or as otherwise authorized in the “fair use” standards of the U.S. copyright laws and regulations.

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