TeamNASupdate092309^?

Progress Since Previous Update

Since our previous update, TeamNAS^? has unfortunately been able to make the kind of progress that we had initially hoped for at the beginning of this assignment. Scheduling conflicts between TeamNAS^? and the National Audubon Society prevented the first meeting from taking place. An employee of the National named Daniel Bryan will be working closely with us on the database, and he cannot meet with Daniel and I until September 29th at 10am. On a brighter note however, TeamNAS^? successfully completed the Database tutorial and is continuing to explore and (in time) master Microsoft Access.

Goals

For the next update, TeamNAS^? will have met with the National Audubon Society in person. We will know exactly what NAS expects from us and what challenges could prevent us from achieving the National Audubon Society's goals. Also, TeamNAS^? would like to have a timeline of the project established by the next wiki update on October 14th. With a timeline, the problems that were encountered for this wiki update will not be repeated. Furthermore, TeamNAS^? has committed itself to having some deliverables for the National Audubon Society concerning the database. The details of these delieverables will be outlined in the meeting taking place Sept. 29th.

Issues

The biggest issue that TeamNAS^? faced was the inability to arrange a meeting with the National Audubon Society that fit the schedules of all the parties involved. However, this issue has been overcome since the scheduling of the Sept. 29th meeting. A smaller, more one-sided issue concerns Microsoft Access and TeamNAS^?. Even though progress has been made since the last update, the team as a whole must improve their Access skills and understanding in order to meet and surpass the expectations of the National Audubon Society. Creating a functional and efficient database is without a great challenge for inexperienced students, but it is an even great opportunity to prove to ourselves and the greater Richmond community that we have earned the right to be counted among the students at a Top 15 Business program.

Team Self-Evalution

The communication between TeamNAS^? itself requires improvement. Students at the University of Richmond have many competing obligations, and it is possible to put less emphasis on team based assignments that individual ones. Economists call a similar problem free-riding, and each member of TeamNAS^? must hold the other member accountable for their actions (or lack thereof) and place this project as their top priority.

Having said that, both members of TeamNAS^? are extremely satisfied with the partner they were assigned. Both members feel like equals, and treat each other as such. Not one personality dominates the discussion concerning the best course of action, and both members have valuable insight and experience to offer. In short, each of us is excited to work together on the completion of the database throughout the semester. -- MichaelHumbert - 23 Sep 2009

TeamNASupdate101309^?

Progress Since Previous Update

Team NAS met with Mary Elfner and David Bryan of the National Audubon Society to determine the scope of our database and their business needs. Mary Elfner, who was previously our primary contact, has given the responsibility of being our primary contact to David Bryan. Over the course of the meeting Daniel and Michael were made familiar with the information (in the form of Excel spreadsheets) that we will be inputting into the NAS database. Daniel and Michael were also instilled with a sense of urgency and importance because Mary informed us that our database would be part of an End of the Year Appeal to the Audubon Headquarters for additional funds for the Richmond branch. This made us realize that this project is not just an assignment but a professional project that will have consequences on NAS even after the semester is over. Therefore, Daniel and Michael want to create a database that we can take pride of.

Goals

Daniel and Michael have decided to meet at least every Thursday at 5:00 pm in the TLC lab to work on the database while using the resources that were provided in class. The National Audubon Society has placed one Excel spreadsheet containing hundreds of contacts as well as information about each contact as a top priority, so Daniel and Michael have decided that they would like to have this spreadsheet finished by October 29th. When we say finished, we mean that we would like each contact to have a primary key and the necessary amount of tables to ensure the information is organized and unique. It should be noted that our weekly meeting is in place to ensure a constant progress, but our meetings are not limited to once a week. As we progress through this project, Michael and Daniel will meet as many times as necessary in order to meet our deadline.

Issues

Mary Elfner would like to be able to merge her e-mail contacts to the database as well as to flag her most important contributors. In addition, she would like to be able to add new contacts to the database with relative ease. So far, Daniel and Michael have been unable to find a way to accomplish this task, which Mary has indicated to be among our top priorities. We have been exploring the option of not using Access, and instead choosing to use a different, more compatible program such as Highrise or Fundraiser. However, Mary has indicated that she has no budget for such a program. Therefore, Daniel and Michael plan to teleconference with David and possibly Mary in order to determine the limitations of Access and, if necessary, to rearrange our priorities. So far, TeamNAS^? assumes that we will be working with Access with the possibility of not being able to meet all of the business needs of Mary Elfner.

Team Self Evaluation

Daniel and Michael have an incredible chemistry. Each partner feels that the other is doing more than their fair share of the workload. Daniel has always made himself available to work around Michael's schedule, which includes fraternity commitments, other team projects, and regular investment club meetings. On the other hand, Daniel also has several extracurricular activities that must be accounted for when scheduling meetings, and Michael has been very understanding of this fact. Initially, we had difficultly communicating our schedules to each other, which resulted in missed opportunities, but TeamNAS^? has rectified that weakness and turned it into a strength of ours.

Feedback from Professor

Thank you for pointing me to the current location of your wiki updates. Before the next wiki update, please move these two updates to the wiki below (this is the wiki where you entered your first update in class), and please format that wiki so that each update appears under a separate wiki WebTopic^?. Please let me know if you have any questions on this request. Thank you.

http://learning.richmond.edu/twiki/bin/view/BUAD391TeamNAS/WebHome

I would like to put in writing some items I have discussed verbally with Daniel. My priority is to make sure that the project is realistic and not excessive, so you can have a positive learning experience with the project. As I have discussed with Daniel, Mary is requesting some items (such as automatically flagging e-mails) that I would not expect in an Introduction to IT course. While automatically flagging e-mails may not be possible, it might be possible to use the export feature in Outlook to populate a database. I recommend that you follow this gameplan:

1. Compile a specific list of Mary's and David's requirements, and evaluate which requirements are possible in Access (basic requirements) and which requirements are either not possible or would require advanced programming skills (advanced requirements).

2. Check to see whether each basic and advanced requirement is contained in Fundraiser.

3. Please give me a verbal update based on the outcome of steps 1 and 2 above.

4. Once you give me a verbal update and receive my feedback, you will need to explain the options and make a recommendation to Mary and David. If National Audubon Society cannot afford the $149 for Fundraiser, they will need to understand that they can only have the basic requirements that are possible in Access. Depending on what additional requirements may be possible in Fundraiser, perhaps this would encourage National Audubon to purchase the software.

As I have discussed with Daniel, your time on the project is worth at least $5,000 or $10,000 if not more. I do not want National Audubon to waste this large value just because they do not want to spend another $149, particularly if the software will help with future fundraising. I am also happy to contact Mary at any point if you believe that would be helpful. Again, please give me an update once you complete steps 1 and 2 above. Thank you.

-- JonathanWhitaker - 15 Oct 2009