Presentations by Project Management Class

January 5, 2022

The fall project management class had some great final presentations and projects with companies. Each team was paired with a local business. Descriptions are below.

PROfessionals—This team worked with The Beacon (formerly Beacon of Life) in Des Moines to gather supplies needed for their facility. They put together a supply drive for one of the football games, and also worked with local churches to try to set up drives. They were able to attend The Beacon’s annual fundraiser, the cake gala, and helped the staff tear down after the event. This team was made up of Isabel Gscheidle (Izzy), Alexis Hulls, Phat (Chris) Tran, Ashlyn Williams and Lukas Aaeberli. Beacon web site:  www.thebeacondm.org

Aces—This team worked with me to set up a Toss-N-Fetch League in Altoona. They had to work with the city of Altoona to determine where a good location would be, develop a flyer to advertise, look up rules, regulation & equipment requirements. Toss-N-Fetch is a world-wide dog frisbee league where teams compete against one another around the world.  Team members: Jacob Backlund, Cheyenne Boze, Nathan Haynes, Marty Margolis, Amoria Sriviboon. Toss-N-Fetch web site:  www.tossandfetch.com

Cuddle These Paws-N-Claws—This team worked with Paws-N-Claws in Newton, Iowa. They are an animal shelter that specializes in placing animals with special needs. They rescue animals from shelters and breeders that need surgery or treatment, and place them with foster families until they can be adopted. This team worked with Rachel Long to find a better platform to communicate with their foster families. They currently use Facebook and Facebook messenger, but there are challenges with not everyone having access to the platform and there are challenges using the platform. This team found options for PNC and presented them to her. Team members:  Cam Maxfield, Natalie, Rigatuso, Brady Sartorius, Macklin Shanahan, Lonnie Taylor. Paws-N-Claws web site:  www.pnciowa.org

Team On Your Side—This team worked with Nationwide to review data and drive people to the web site vs. calling in to perform certain changes to their commercial lines policies. They made several recommendations that would save the company money. Team members: Oscar Bustos, Gabriel deMedieros, Gabriel Ferriera, Jackie Minsoe, David Reid. Nationwide web site: www.nationwide.com

Free Thinkers—This team had the unusual experience of starting the project, then the original non-profit made some changes so they ended up with a project that wasn’t “real." The original project was to help “Every Pet Needs a Home” (EPNAH) out of Columbus, OH rebrand to “Beautiful Redemption." Even though the project didn’t proceed as intended, they learned a lot and were able to complete the requirements of the class and did a great job. Team members: Gus Arellano, Peyton Krugler, Sam Lockhart, Ricardo Magana, Bryce Dean, Tyler Zink. Beautiful Redemption web site:  www.beautifulredemptionrescue.godaddysites.com

Lecturer of Business Administration, Brenda Gill, says, "I love teaching this class, because I really enjoy watching the students tackle real-life projects. At the beginning of the class I can tell the text learning is somewhat making sense, but it’s so fun to see it click once they start applying that knowledge to their projects. I tell everyone who takes this class, it is a LOT of work, but you will get a LOT out of it if you do the work.”