Collegian Programming For Success Capstone T he Cameron University
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Monday, March 27, 2017
Volume 96 Issue 6
Vicky Smith
Graphic by Jacob Jardel Photo by Christopher Reif
“Database is the backend,” he said, “and the CS team [is] doing the web portion. That’s the Staff Writer front end.” Cameron University students enrolled in Although Wolfe may receive instruction a spring interdisciplinary course are in the from his professors, he and his fellow process of developing a web application for the classmates are responsible for facilitating United States Army Department of Defense communication amongst themselves. at Fort Sill. “The instructor is not in here telling you The capstone classes for information how to do it,” he said. “If you have a question, technology (IT), computer science you can go to the instructor, but it’s really up (CS), multimedia (MM) comprise the to the students.” interdisciplinary course. English students Senior information technology major are also a part of the project as part of their Ayo Kumni, the assistant project lead for internship. team two, said her primary job is to fulfill Once the students complete the web administrative tasks. applications, Cameron University students “We have to make sure everyone working will have contributed to the technical is putting in hours and getting virtual pay for organization of the United States Army what they do,” she said. Department of Defense. Dakotah Chander, a junior management Instructors Dave Smith, Dr. Chao Zhao, information systems major, serves as an IT Dr. Abbas Johari and Dr. William Carney, lead, a position for which his previous classes operate the class as though it is a software prepared him. company. They serve in virtual positions such “I took Database last semester, so that as chief executive officer, chief information helped significantly,” he said. “Other than officer, chief knowledge officer and chief data that, I’ve had a lot of knowledge in different officer. operating systems and just basic knowledge of Smith assigned two students to be project computers.” leads whose duty is to collaborate with two After both products are complete, client separate groups of students, who are building Linda Paridon, a supervisor and process two different versions of the same product. improvement lead for the FIRES Division of Psychology major Randy Wolfe, the project CECOM Army Materiel Command on Fort lead for team two, said several subgroups, Sill, and her decision chief will decide which including a database team management team, version they like best. Alternatively, if they a CS team, a security team and a MM team, desire, they can choose to combine the two comprise the main group. versions into one. Paridon said the product is a web application that will process library assets. “Employees in the organization can use it to help them do their work, to drive process improvement efforts [and] to help new employees … understand how they work in the organization,” she said. According to Paridon, both versions of
students design software for Dept. of Defense
the web application must meet to the same standards. “They only have four and a half months to complete the project and to be able to handle all the requirements,” she said. “Both teams, I’ve heard them talking, and they’re all working together. They’re taking pride in the school. They’re taking pride in their project.” She said this project is significant because students gain hands-on experience as opposed to reading about project management without a context. “They are doing virtual dollars,” Paridon said, “so they are telling us, ‘We’ve already spent 18,000 dollars worth of your money.’ They relate that to the real world, and this is a real-world project.” She said this project is an asset as students make their way into the job market. Their experience in working on this project will demonstrate their ability to operate within a team and use soft skills to communicate with others. “Hopefully we’ll have some employees in the future who want to work for the Army,” she said. As the students work, Paridon provides them with feedback as questions or obstacles arise. “It’s just a pleasure to work with the class,” she said. “They’re our future leaders, and I just love to see the growth in them and the smiles when they solve something.”
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