The Student Association recently started a program that allows students to work on class projects for campus organizations and local businesses.
SA Attorney General Hunter Jones, coordinator of the plan, said the idea for the program, “Co-op on Campus,” came from organizations and departments that were working on a tight budget and looking for help on specific projects.
Jones said the main idea of the program was to take class projects that are already being done and apply them at the university.
“We saw classes on campus already doing this work, like designing Web sites and landscaping,” Jones said. “So we said if it’s already being done, why can’t we just use it for the organizations and departments?”
Jones said the SA had been looking for landscaping designs for a project it was working on. Instead of contracting the job out, students in the landscape architecture department submitted designs, which saved the SA between $2,500 and $3,000.
Donna Reese, a computer science professor, said she already has students working on a project for the office of student life.
In addition to receiving class credit for the project, Reese said she offered honors credit to the students working on the project since they also had to deal with a customer, which added a new level of difficulty.
Reese added that the program was a good idea for all the instructors on campus who were struggling to find meaningful projects for students to work on, as well as for the departments on campus that have certain projects they are looking to get done.
SA President Josh Blades said the program has generated support from the Dean’s Council, among other organizations.
“It just makes sense. It’s logical,” Blades said. “We have people doing some very valuable things on campus, and it’s amazing how talented our students are. Why in the world would we let that talent go to waste?”
Jones said the SA is gathering a list of classes that could possibly participate in the program. The list would then be compiled into a database and placed on a Web site where organizations on campus and within the Starkville community could visit the site and see a list of projects being done. The organization would then contact the SA office, and the office would contact the appropriate instructor.
“We feel like this will benefit those instructors,” Jones said. “And we’re trying to leave them with as much room to work with. The instructors will have the final say.”