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Cabrini Connections, Tutor/Mentor Connection

800 W. Huron, Chicago, IL 60622
www.tutormentorconnection.org
www.cabriniconnections.net

 Projects
1

Cabrini Connections is a non-profit organization with a local and global strategy. The local strategy is represented by the Cabrini Connections tutor/mentor program, which connects 7th through 12th grade teens with a variety of workplace volunteers in weekly one-on-one tutoring/mentoring and group learning. The long term goal of this project is that, kids who are in 7th grade today are starting jobs/careers by age 25, and that many of the volunteers are still involved and helping them with job interviews, networking and social/emotional support.

The Tutor/Mentor Connection is a leadership and knowledge networking strategy intended to have programs like Cabrini Connections operating in every poverty neighborhood of the Chicago region. Through the Internet this strategy is shared with leaders in other cities and other countries and build partnerships that increase the knowledge and resources available to leaders, volunteers, students and partners of tutor/mentor programs throughout the country.

Projects

Student-Volunteer Organizational History and Tracking System (SVHATS)

Dawn Barton. Code: CABRINI-01

Interns
1

In every organization there it is a challenge to document the actions a group of people take over time to achieve a goal. In a youth development program, the long term outcomes are difficult to track because they may take place when the youth is no longer attending the program, and/or even living in the same community. At the University of Kansas a work group began to address this issue by developing an on-line documentation system that many stakeholders could contribute to, and which others would be able to review to understand the impact the group has over time. At Cabrini Connections, Tutor/Mentor Connection we've piloted this thinking on two levels. In 2000 we began to create an Organizational History and Tracking System to document actions the T/MC takes to achieve its goals. In 2003 we created a version of this that would track the journey of youth and volunteers in our Cabrini Connections tutor/mentor program. You can review this at http://www.tutormentorprogramlocator.net/svhats/default.asp

The project we propose for a one-week internship is to update the current SVHATS to add automated information aggregation and reporting features. The initial SVHATS was developed by an intern during fall 2003. While he was able to build the information input systems, funds were not available to continue fine-tuning the system to encourage youth and volunteer use, nor to add the aggregation and reporting features, or survey features, that would enable staff and evaluators to more easily view the data in report form, thus increasing uses of the information for analysis and process improvement. We feel that in a one-week internship, some of these components could be developed and added to the system. SVHATS was developed as a web interface using Microsoft technologies that allow students and volunteers to document their interaction/experiences and day to day activities.

Interns working on this project should have competence in: Programming Languages: ASP (Backend), JavaScript (Frontend) Databases: Microsoft Access 2000 Editors: FrontPage 2000/Dream Weaver Images: Photoshop, Fireworks Server: IIS Server 6.0, Windows Server 2003

The technologies that it can be extended to include: Programming Languages: ASP.Net (backend), JavaScript(frontend) Databases: SQL Server 2005 Editors: FrontPage 2000/Dream Weaver Images: Photoshop, Fireworks Server: IIS Server 6.0, Windows Server 2003 GIS Technologies: Live maps (Microsoft), Google Maps This system is currently hosted by Brinkster.com

The SI Alternative Spring Break is open to graduate students of the University of Michigan's School of Information. Undergraduates looking for Alternative Spring Break opportunities should look into the University of Michigan Alternative Spring Break program administered by U-M's Ginsberg Center.