The Pen Pals Five SI 501 Contextual Design & Inquiry

Who are the Pen Pals Five? Lance Emi Chen Emily Kevin

“K-grams is a mentoring and learning program that pairs up college and elementary school students through a suite of programs. An entirely student-led organization, K-grams brings people together from all facets of the University of Michigan campus and the local community. “ Completely Student Run (All Undergrad)‏ Non-Profit Part of developing a rich college experience Focus: Involving Students in the Community

Core Program: Letter Writing

Methodology Interviews

Methodology Models

Constraints Money Time Expertise High Turnover

Findings

Transitions

Findings Transitions Communication

Findings Transitions Communication Technology

Finding 1 Transition Issues Recruitment  “We start recruitment at the beginning of each year”  Collecting and processing applications takes a lot of time Training  There is no formal training process for directors  Rely on binders to communicate information from one year to the next ”Transition is our biggest challenge” -Director

Finding 1 What does institutional memory look like? Transition Issues

Finding 1 In most organizations, much institutional memory is passed from person to person. ”New things are tried every year, so if they don’t work, someone may still try the same thing again two years later.” –Director Transition Issues

Finding 1 At K-grams high turn over causes a reliance on artifacts. Transition Issues

Finding 1 What do years of institutional memory look like? Transition Issues

Finding 1 What do years of institutional memory look like? “The transition binder was poorly done last year.” -Director Transition Issues

What can K-grams do? Finding 1 Transition Issues

Recommendation 1 Recruit and train Directors and Swing Kids early:  Allow for training based on personal experience and relationships rather than artifacts.  Let Swing Kids get involved in the training of pen pals Transition Issues

Recommendation 1 Rethink role of binders  Use binders as reference tool rather than as a means of training  Consolidate old binders  Standardize the content Transition Issues Recruit and train Directors and Swing Kids early:  Allow for training based on personal experience and relationships rather than artifacts.  Let Swing Kids get involved in the training of pen pals

Finding 2 Communication: Sharing the Love Strengths  K-grams members are very excited to be involved with the program  Members are motivated by the mentor relationships with kids “I get a lot of joy out of doing this” -Director

Finding 2 Communication: Sharing the Love Top to bottom communication  Swing Kids and Pen Pals are out of the loop  Lack of feedback “The swing kids don’t always know what’s going on.” –Hall Head Strengths  K-grams members are very excited to be involved with the program  Members are motivated by the mentor relationships with kids

Recommendation 2 Communication: Sharing the Love Begin ing periodic newsletter to announce current activities and future events Informal Engagements Short Term

Recommendation 2 Communication: Sharing the Love Send out online/paper survey to pen pals and teachers after every semester. K-grams blog Longer Term Begin ing periodic newsletter to announce current activities and future events Informal Engagements Short Term

Finding 3 Technology: Tools for Success “The Website is a mess” -Director Website  Only one director knows how to use database and website  Outdated information  Content has been compromised: inappropriate spam

Finding 3 Technology: Tools for Success Applications Processing  Pen Pal applications are not standardized between web and paper models  Online applications are sent to a g-mail account and must still be entered into the K-grams database manually “The Website is a mess” -Director Website  Only one director knows how to use database and website  Outdated information  Content has been compromised: inappropriate spam

Recommendation 3 Technology: Tools for Success Clean up website content  Update static web content  Remove guestbook altogether Short Term

Recommendation 3 Technology: Tools for Success Redesign Website  Find volunteer in University community to implement overhaul of website  Configure content management platform  Integrate online application and pen pal database Longer Term

Recommendation 3 Technology: Tools for Success Institute Maintenance of Web content  Recruit from within K-Grams  Use Pen Pal application to locate recruits with website experience  Consider creating a position responsible for electronic communications Redesign Website  Find volunteer in University community to implement overhaul of website  Configure content management platform  Integrate online application and pen pal database Longer Term

Conclusions Summary of recommendations: – Continue the good work! –Recruit and train early to reflect roles in the organization – More person-to-person training, use binders as a reference – Enhance the feedback within the organization and with schools. – Update the website and recruit students with technical expertise.

Questions