Fisher projects connect undergraduates with nonprofits
A partnership between Fisher College of Business and organizations inside and outside The Ohio State University is ensuring the undergraduates hit the job market the with real-world problem-solving experience managers need.
Fisher students recently presented the results of 15 projects undertaken through the semester at a range of nonprofit entities in Ohio State and around the community. External projects touched a range of sectors but focused on service-minded nonprofits such as organ donation coordinator Lifeline of Ohio.
Jordan Ross (pictured), a junior at Fisher, participated in the Lifeline project, which sought to bring much-needed efficiency to the organization’s phone-call system, a time-sensitive and critical element of the donation process. According to Lifeline, only about one in 100 people in the U.S. will die after given the brain-death classification that paves the way for organ donation – this condition isn’t necessary for tissue donation – and getting to the right donation candidates quickly can literally be a matter of life and death.
The current state, Ross said, was unnecessarily siloed with scheduling issues. Using the five-step DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control) problem-solving process outlined in the Six Sigma methodology, Fisher students outlined a phone tree and shared calendar that established a formal communication system at Lifeline.
The students’ recommendations were simple, Ross said, but they could make a difference for the organization – and certainly made an impression on him.
“I learned a lot of problems have simple solutions,” Ross said, “but because of hierarchies and communication issues, they’re not simply resolved.”
Another undergraduate project became an fortuitous collaboration with Fisher students and a graduate of the college’s Master of Business Operational Excellence program, Dublin City Schools Superientendent Todd Hoadley. The longtime education administrator asked Fisher students to examine the district’s contracting process for athletics administrators, which had little visibility as it progressed and was missing targeted completion windows.
Students scrutinized the process and eventually create a future state map aimed at increasing visibility. Hoadley said he and the district were extremely impressed by the results of the students’ project.
“It’s evident these students have been exposed to a rich curriculum and been held to high standards of learning,” he said.
The nuts and bolts of problem solving, however, are only part of the education students get out of the project work. Allison Johnson, a senior who worked on the project, said working with high-level employees was initially daunting – especially as students were in a position to identify shortcomings in the process – but ultimately valuable.
“It’s challenging coming in so young,” Johnson said,” but I really learned a lot of communication skills I’ll be able to build on in the future.”
Those “soft” skills are an added – but very important – bonus to the projects as they blend in-class and real-world experience, said Cheryl Dickerson, a senior lecturer at Fisher and coach for the program.
“Students start out thinking they know solutions, but this causes them to be more thoughtful,” Dickerson said. “They’re developing critical thinking and people skills, all at the same time.”
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