Fall 2001

Volume 4 Number 1
A publication of Macon State College

Giving IT Back

Macon State College and the Community Foundatoin join forces to provide IT internship opportnities at the Hay House and the Children's Museum. Pictured are (left to right) Dr. Bill Elieson, MSC; Manish A. Parikh, Hay House IT intern; Suzanne Harper, Hay House; Richard Malone, MSC; Carolyn Raines, Children's Museum; Rene E. Roberts, Children's Museum IT intern; Lynda Brown, Community Foundation; and Tom Glennon, Children's Museum. Photo by Sheron Smith

Community Foundation, Macon State College Join Forces to Help Hay House and Children's Museum with Technology Needs

By Sheron Smith

In a unique partnership, juniors and seniors in Macon State College’s bachelor of science program in information technology are helping the Hay House, Bibb County’s oldest non-profit attraction, and the Georgia Children’s Museum, one of the newest, improve their services through the use of IT, thanks to a $35,000 grant from the Community Foundation of Central Georgia.

The grant, awarded to the Macon State College Foundation, will provide funding for student IT interns; hardware and software packages needed by the non-profits; and faculty oversight of the project.

Over time, several Macon State interns will address various technological needs at the Hay House and Children’s Museum. For the initial phase of the project, interns will help the two organizations conduct systems analyses. Specifically, they will review the opportunities to be explored or problems to be solved through the use of information technology. They will do this by learning about the organization’s short-term and long-term goals and operating procedures. The interns will then develop an improved model and see how it will fit into the current system. They will also build a budget and plan the IT workforce necessary to carry out the planned system improvements. At some point they will turn over fulfillment tasks to other IT professionals but continue to participate as problem-solvers until the project is completed and the system installed. The rate at which the project will progress depends on how much work is needed and the availability of funding.

Other interns will join the project later to work on networks, write the databases, design web pages and perform other tasks.
For the Children’s Museum, the work will allow the organization to set up exhibits with interactive DVD video and audio kiosks and create databases of donors and visitors. For the Hay House, the project will result in the implementation of a monitoring system to record and measure temperature, humidity and light levels in order to see how they impact the structure and art collections inside. The Hay House also wants to create a series of databases to track visitors, donations and evaluations of educational programs.

“This project will accomplish two worthwhile goals,” said Sue B. Chipman, director of Development & Alumni Relations for Macon State College. “First, it will help non-profit organizations’ ability to deliver services through the improved use of information technology. Secondly, it will provide quality-learning experiences for Macon State College IT students. It’s definitely a win-win situation for everybody involved.”

Ray Caraway, president of the Community Foundation, said the project fits in perfectly with the organization’s desire to be more proactive in grant making.

“Our grants committee has been impressed with MSC and, particularly, its IT program,” he said. “We also know from experience in working with area non-profit organizations that many have less than adequate computer capabilities. We came up with the idea of providing financial support for MSC students by funding internships at local non-profits. To the extent these organizations can modernize their operations, they should be in a better position to serve their various constituencies in the future.”

Suzanne Harper, Hay House director, said the project will help “a 19th century landmark join the 21st century.

“Funds are rarely available for a non-profit to undertake a project like this,” she said. “We congratulate Macon State College and the Community Foundation of Central Georgia for their vision in planning this project and are pleased to be one of the first two non-profits to participate.”