Service Learning Commons^™

Easy Peasy Low Carb Meals, Sophia Maria Sanders

IPS/BAS 495 Undergraduate Capstone Projects

Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) is a hormonal disorder. Complications of this disease can cause metabolic syndrome (high blood sugar, unhealthy cholesterol, and high blood pressure) and Type 2 diabetes. Doctors suggest a healthy diet full of fruits, vegetables, and healthy carbohydrates to help control symptoms. PCOS is one of many health issues that can be managed with a low-carb diet. My capstone project is a recipe book filled with quick or easy low-carb dinners created with a busy parent in mind.

Building Bridges, Kaitlin Jane Cox

IPS/BAS 495 Undergraduate Capstone Projects

In an effort to mend divisions and cultivate a more cohesive work environment, I organized a team bonding event tailored to the preferences and input of my fellow coworkers. Through open communication and collaboration, I facilitated polls to gather insights and preferences, ultimately crafting an event aimed at bringing colleagues together to strengthen relationships and enhance collaboration.

The chosen venue, the Meridian Dog Park, was intended to provide a relaxed and inclusive setting where coworkers could connect on a personal level while enjoying the company of our furry friends. Despite meticulous planning and enthusiastic anticipation, the event unfortunately did not …

Community Family Game Night, Adrianna Green

IPS/BAS 495 Undergraduate Capstone Projects

In the community of Tetonia, where social opportunities outside of church events or bars are limited, organizing a community game night emerged as a solution to enhance engagement, particularly for young children. Through a service-learning project, the project began with discussions with the Tetonia First Ward young women's group and the Mayor of Tetonia, gathering valuable feedback, including insights from about the need for increased involvement for senior citizens. Recognizing the potential for intergenerational connection, the event aimed to bring youth and older community members together.

Supporting Young Children Through Big Feelings, P. Diane Stoecker

IPS/BAS 495 Undergraduate Capstone Projects

This is a service-learning project centered around solving the problem of how I can provide support to young children and their adults as they work through big emotions. Specifically, I wrote a children’s book titled My Big Feelings, which tells a narrative from a child's perspective about what they need from their adult as they experience big feelings. The second part of this project is a companion section in the back of the book focusing on emotional intelligence concepts. Included in this section are quick tips, ideas, and other resources designed to help adults provide support for children as they …

My Day At The Races, Emily Marie Duran

IPS/BAS 495 Undergraduate Capstone Projects

The project was to research the difference between illiteracy and functional literacy. The hope was to spark the love of reading in elementary school students

Story Time To Encourage Early Literacy, Emily Denae Penaluna

IPS/BAS 495 Undergraduate Capstone Projects

In light of falling literacy rates among children, I hosted a story time at the local public library in hopes of encouraging reading and literacy in early childhood aged children. I believe these rates are falling because of the lack of exposure to books and digital distractions. The children and their parents were able to benefit from the story time by providing them with an entertaining event while revealing to them what the library has to offer. Although the event itself was small, the lasting impact it can have is great. Keywords to represent this project are encouraging, educational, and …

Family Cookbook Recipe, Cecilia Julia Bonoweme

IPS/BAS 495 Undergraduate Capstone Projects

The idea of the Family Cookbook Project stemmed from a profound love for cooking and a desire to preserve cherished culinary traditions. Inspired by the memories created in the kitchen with loved ones, I started a project to gather all our family recipes together into something we can hold onto and keep. As family members moved away or passed on, I realized the importance of preserving these culinary treasures for future generations. Thus, the Family Cookbook Project was born. It's all about celebrating different traditions, bringing families closer, and helping people cook healthier meals. The project wants to help families …

Scholarship Awareness Of Idaho, Gabbriella G. Lifferth

IPS/BAS 495 Undergraduate Capstone Projects

Many young adults who are about to start on their educational journey lack awareness of scholarships, hindering their ability to access financial support for their education. My blog is designed to be used as a helpful guide for individuals facing this similar issue that I once faced myself. Using a blog to deliver current and available information on local scholarship opportunities. The project's main goal is to create an easily accessible platform for scholarship awareness and empower young adults to gain a higher education. The website is designed to allow students to actively search for and apply for scholarship opportunities …

Nebraska Women In Agriculture Conference Marks 39 Years, Ryan Evans, Sarah Treffer, Jessica Groskopf

Cornhusker Economics

The Nebraska Women in Agriculture program marked 39 years of educating and empowering females in farming, ranching, and agribusiness, with nearly 380 people attending its annual conference on February 22 and 23, 2024 in Kearney, Nebraska, with a pre-conference session held on February 21. Including 25 workshops, 5 keynotes, and activities to help learn about risk management, farm and ranch improvement, and successful business practices.

Fundraising For Local Nonprofits: Raising Money To Grow Our Roots-Chrysalis Women's Transitional Living, Brent Steven Beckwith

IPS/BAS 495 Undergraduate Capstone Projects

This project was a partnership between myself and Chrysalis Women's Transitional Living in Boise, ID. The goal of this project was to raise awareness of the organization in the Boise, Meridian, and Nampa communities as well as the rest of the Treasure Valley. In addition to raising awareness, other goals included raising a financial donation amount of $5,000, item and furniture donations.

Redefining Cybersecurity Approaches In Small Businesses: A Journey From Digital To Tangible Solutions, Brooke J. Lacey

IPS/BAS 495 Undergraduate Capstone Projects

This capstone project addresses the critical need for enhancing cybersecurity awareness in small businesses. Despite the rise in cyber threats, there's a notable gap in proactive measures, with the industry often resorting to reactive, lazy solutions. The project involved creating a comprehensive cybersecurity toolkit and training programs, tailored to small businesses. Despite initial enthusiasm, the project journey revealed a prevalent industry attitude of reactivity and a general apathy among small businesses towards preemptive cybersecurity measures. This paper discusses the innovative approach taken, the results, and the lessons learned in attempting to shift the paradigm from reactive to proactive cybersecurity in …

Cda And Continuing Dental Education On Company Time, Christopher Arnold Ponte

IPS/BAS 495 Undergraduate Capstone Projects

As a Certified Dental Assistant (CDA), the obligation to obtain Continuing Dental Education (CDE) credits to maintain one’s certification is an annual occurrence. Through the Dental Assisting National Board (DANB), annual renewals for CDAs consist of a fee, CPR certification, and one’s CDE acquisition. Working for a nonprofit community health center, Terry Reilly Health Services, I find it crucial to be able to share with my colleagues resources on finding CDE opportunities. Thus this led to the creation of my CDA quickstart guidebook to ensure staff have the correct resources for pursuing or maintaining a CDA certification. It is a …

Offensive Security Techniques Using Kali Linux, Kurtis Brent Kenady

IPS/BAS 495 Undergraduate Capstone Projects

For my capstone project, I built a cybersecurity website that provides practical resources and hacking tools for any cybersecurity student or enthusiast. This website details the exact environments and steps needed to perform strategies including man-in-the-middle, SSH brute-forcing, wireless network password cracking, and other attacks. It includes complete instructions for getting started in offensive security and includes other valuable cybersecurity information, such as secure coding practices and Security+ certification insights. It shows complete instructions for start-to-finish of downloading the necessary operating system for performing attacks, Kali Linux.

Financial Wellness For Recent College Graduates, Haley N. Westenskow

IPS/BAS 495 Undergraduate Capstone Projects

This service learning project focused on financial resources that are available to individuals that have no cost or have a minimal cost for the resource. There is a plethora of resources that are available, but it can be difficult or overwhelming to locate those resources, let alone know if they are a reputable resource. My project was to take some of those available resources and create a “one stop shop” for a recent college graduate to access. The webpage has several entries that highlight some of the reputable resources that are available, so new graduates have the ability to start …

Nonprofit Website Design For Mission And Stakeholder Impact, Amy Elizabeth Mcintyre

IPS/BAS 495 Undergraduate Capstone Projects

Idaho Giving Garden was founded in 2020, and official recognition as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization is set to be granted in January 2024. Idaho Giving Garden’s mission is to combat food insecurity in its community by growing and distributing fresh and nutritious produce to the Meridian Food Bank, fostering a healthier and more equitable food system for all. For my service-learning capstone project, I developed a website for Idaho Giving Garden to raise awareness of its mission and goals and engage volunteers, funders, and donors to support its cause. With greater community engagement through the website, Idaho Giving Garden hopes …

Autoimmune Allies Blog Project, Rebecca A. Kelley

IPS/BAS 495 Undergraduate Capstone Projects

My project was based around starting a blog summarizing and sharing my own experiences with autoimmune diseases. I was diagnosed with my first autoimmune disease when I was eight and it drastically impacted the way I grew up and have subsequently lived my life. I wanted to create a platform that both shared these experiences as well as shared information and resources to other people who might be struggling through something similar. I also paired it with another capstone project that involved organizing a local meetup support group for individuals.

Supporting A Community Of Pets, Noah C. Madden

IPS/BAS 495 Undergraduate Capstone Projects

This capstone project highlights a community's efforts to support in-need pets, particularly dogs and cats, as well as their owners. For this project, I organized and executed a multiple-week food drive focused specifically on collecting pet food. The objective of this project was to help diminish the rate of food insecurity found in pets within the Boise community, as well as bring a fresh sense of hope to pet owners who may be facing financial hardship or other personal challenges. Over nearly a month’s time, my pet food drive was able to raise over 750 pounds of food for those …

More With Less: How Visual Media Can Improve Training, Matthew R. Adams

IPS/BAS 495 Undergraduate Capstone Projects

The human mind is only able to process a finite amount of information. Learning new processes can invoke significant stress levels. By applying modern research into brain processing and tailoring visual media to capitalize on those processes we can reduce overall stress while optimizing the learning process expediting information uptake and application.

Clothing My Community, Megan Anderson-Way

IPS/BAS 495 Undergraduate Capstone Projects

My Capstone project is doing a clothing drive and swap for my community. I was inspired when I was back to school shopping for clothes for my daughter and realizing how expensive it is. I asked myself how do families afford it with multiple children afford clothing in this economy.

Aircraft Forms 101, Ryan Donivan-Laydon Meili

IPS/BAS 495 Undergraduate Capstone Projects

The premise of this project is to inform pilots how to correctly fill out aircraft forms. The data and slides show the noticeable errors and how to correct those. By doing this we are eliminating extra work that is required to fix these entries.

Bridging The Gapp, Betty Trandem

IPS/BAS 495 Undergraduate Capstone Projects

The German American Partnership Program (GAPP) is a short-term high school student exchange program that provides students from both countries to gain perspectives from alternative culture exchanges. The GAPP program is not a school sponsored club or organization. This service-learning project involves assisting coordinators by creating resources to educate individuals regarding cultural and language opportunities and provides support to an already overburdened education staff. Communicating expectations and cultural information allows students to travel safely and remain open to new perspectives.

Book Club For Communication: Bringing The Four Agreements To A Trauma Recovery Group, Taylor Renee Dobson

IPS/BAS 495 Undergraduate Capstone Projects

This service learning project started a book club within the Idaho Community Outreach Behavior Services (COBS) program; a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, that aims to help victims of sex-trafficking get the trauma care they need and helps them with a safer lifestyle and living situation, if necessary. The book The Four Agreements was provided for each woman to read the assigned weekly section, and come to the group each week prepared to discuss what they read and how it relates to them personally. Participation in an open discussion would allow each person to share while also following the theme of the …

Para Educator And Classified Staff Study: Hacker Middle School, Cierra Hunter Donlee Webb

IPS/BAS 495 Undergraduate Capstone Projects

The following research and data collection was conducted over the course of 7 weeks during the capstone period of the authors final course for their Interdisciplinary Professional Studies degree. The following content is the interviews, data collection, and experiences of the author on their journey of this project. It establishes the wants and needs of the staff at a local middle school in Mountain Home Idaho. The author’s goal was to establish a foundational path for improvement and communication when it pertains to the classified and para educator staff at the local middle school and how this establishment could be …

Empowering Voices: Designing An Employee Feedback System At Like Media, Jackson A. Russo

IPS/BAS 495 Undergraduate Capstone Projects

This paper outlines the design and implementation of an innovative employee feedback system at Like Media. The project integrates principles from organizational psychology, web development, and user experience design to create a user-friendly, anonymous feedback platform. Key findings indicate the system's success in promoting transparency, enhancing internal communication, and fostering a positive work culture. This paper explores the methodology, development process, results, and potential future implications of the project.

From D1 Athlete To… What’S Next?, Makayla Hansen

IPS/BAS 495 Undergraduate Capstone Projects

After going through a career ending injury as a D1 volleyball player I am finding my new identity. I share my experiences as a collegiate athlete, hard times I have gone through, and a passion for learning something new. The focus of this blog is trying new activities and potential hobbies to fill my time.

Creating Homes For Ethiopia's Future, Roxanna M. Dempsay

IPS/BAS 495 Undergraduate Capstone Projects

Creating Homes for Ethiopia’s Future is a fundraiser project inspired by my travels to Ethiopia and opportunities to work with Maji’s Miracle, a nonprofit organization in Meridian, Idaho, advocating for vulnerable youth who have aged out of orphanages in Ethiopia. This capstone project was narrowly focused on one specific portion of the Maji’s Miracle intake process identified as a point where having a restricted reserve fund would allow the organization to act more efficiently to get youth into safe, secure housing, reduce delays and pressure on the organization and youth leaving orphanages, and eliminate concerns for potential homelessness while awaiting …

Missionary Of Faith: Uniting And Educating Catholic Youth Under God, Joshua Ryan Mcgarvie

IPS/BAS 495 Undergraduate Capstone Projects

Religion, as discussed further in the following research, is clearly not the focus of many people’s lives in our society today. In my opinion, younger generations should be taught Catholicism to develop a solid moral foundation at a young age. For my capstone project, I volunteered to teach a Religious Education (RE) class to 6th-8th graders in my local parish. Through the development of a more robust and engaging curriculum, specifically designed to teach the most profound concepts of the Church, I was able to further the cause of bringing Catholicism to these younger members of society. As a leader …

Employee Recognition Program, Michael E. Brady

IPS/BAS 495 Undergraduate Capstone Projects

This semester, I focused on developing an employee recognition program for my organization as a capstone project. This initiative aims to bring substantial value by acknowledging and appreciating the hard work, dedication, and outstanding performance of our employees. The program is designed to enhance morale, satisfaction, and motivation, fostering a culture of appreciation and loyalty. Its implementation is expected to result in increased productivity, improved job performance, and higher employee retention rates, thereby maintaining a stable workforce.

To ensure the effectiveness of the program, I considered key elements such as defining clear criteria for recognition aligned with organizational goals, timely …

Community Car Care Workshop, Zachary Davis Hunsuck

IPS/BAS 495 Undergraduate Capstone Projects

This project aims to fill a notable deficiency in fundamental automobile maintenance knowledge within the local community, a deficiency that has resulted in increased repair expenses and potential hazards to safety. The proposed approach entails the creation and execution of an interactive workshop that specifically targets fundamental car maintenance activities such as oil changes, tire rotations, and brake inspections. This workshop utilizes a service-learning approach, actively involving the community and partnering with local auto repair shops and other relevant parties. The program seeks to equip community members with essential skills in basic car maintenance through interactive learning and practical demonstrations. …

Hunter's Vegan Cooking, Hunter L. Wahl

IPS/BAS 495 Undergraduate Capstone Projects

This is a project that provides recipes for foods that are nationally loved, but in a plant-based way. I have been vegan for two and a half years now and I have an extensive background in cooking, as I worked in some very fast-paced kitchens throughout Boise as a young adult. These recipes are designed to not only provide recipes for those who already follow a plant-based lifestyle, but also maybe urge others who have no dietary restrictions to give vegan meals a shot. These recipes could also be a saving grace for those who have food allergens and just …