Service Learning Commons^™

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 …

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 …

Community Assisted Fundraiser For Camp Rainbow Gold, Ethan Johnson

IPS/BAS 495 Undergraduate Capstone Projects

My service learning project was a garage sale using items donated by my local community. I gave 100% of the funds generated to Camp Rainbow Gold, a local charity that focuses their efforts on supporting children who have been directly impacted by childhood cancer, and their families. Camp Rainbow Gold is currently fundraising for their Hidden Paradise Project, which will be Idaho’s first medical camp aimed at providing a space for children and their families affected by childhood cancer to heal. I held the event on November 12^th and solicited donations from my local community through online sources such …

Improving The Work Quality In The Kitchen Using A Cook Checklist, Tim S. Anderson

IPS/BAS 495 Undergraduate Capstone Projects

This paper represents the work of putting together a checklist and implementing it in a kitchen workplace in order to ensure all items are done and all cooks are able to rely on each other to relieve any additional stress from the job.

Improving The Workplace: One Procedure At A Time, Hailey Higgs

IPS/BAS 495 Undergraduate Capstone Projects

My capstone project addresses the lack of formal procedures and employee training at Realms. Realms is a new bar, arcade, and venue in Boise Idaho where I am currently employed as the bartender. During my time there so far I have observed the lack of written procedures, an employee manual, or an official training process. As an employee, I have witnessed these shortcomings at Realms result in various mistakes which ultimately negatively affect my main stakeholder, Tanner Nielsen, the owner and operator of Realms among my fellow employees and the Realms customer base. In order to improve the efficiency, clarity, …

A Social Media Marketing Plan For Premiere Property Group, Emma Claire Pittman

IPS/BAS 495 Undergraduate Capstone Projects

This project took the current stats of Premiere Property Group, LLC’s (PPG) current social media presence and curated a plan to increase both engagement and brand awareness for the company. The social media marketing plan was created to set specific goals for the marketing department and to utilize the techniques and tools of current social media platforms to market the company without a large budget. The current social media platforms, Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn, were assessed for followers, likes and views, as well as overall engagement. A social media marketing plan was then created specific to PPG’s target audiences and …

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.

Frontline Leadership: Strategies And Tactics For First Responders, Dan P. Ziem

IPS/BAS 495 Undergraduate Capstone Projects

For the workshop, I plan to provide a comprehensive three to four-hour session focusing on the principles of extreme ownership—a leadership approach that has proven successful, particularly in high-pressure environments. Drawing inspiration from the renowned philosophy advocated by former Navy SEALs Jocko Willink and Leif Babin, the workshop will dive into realistic strategies for effective leadership. To ensure relatability to the First Responder field, I will tailor the content to the unique challenges and environments faced by those in law enforcement at all levels. Real-world examples and personal experiences will be included, making the training not only educational but also …

Helping Hoodies Clothing Drive, Nicole Hawkinson

IPS/BAS 495 Undergraduate Capstone Projects

This service learning project recognized the needs for warmer clothing for disadvantaged children that they genuinely wanted and would wear. Oftentimes, children who are in the care of the state for any purpose are children that have suffered trauma and loss. Not only loss of their possessions, but their families, friends and stability. I partnered with a non-profit organization, The Closet, that gives these children back their ability to choose clothing items that fit their style and helps them to gain back a piece of their identity. I created the Helping Hoodies clothing drive that ran for a week in …

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.

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.

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.

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 …

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.

Calling All Students? Enrollment In Community-Engaged Learning Courses At A Marianist University, Molly Malany Sayre, Castel V. Sweet, Kelly Bohrer

Research and Reflection on Learning and Teaching in Higher Education

‘Community’ is a pervasive concept at the University of Dayton, a Catholic, Marianist institution in Dayton, Ohio. As such, it was unknown how students who enrolled in community engaged learning (CEL) courses were different from their peers in demographic characteristics, previous experiential learning, and views of community engagement. Findings can inform CEL recruitment as well as evaluation of CEL outcomes, especially at institutions with a similar values orientation. This mixed-methods study indicates that among four semesters of students in three selected CEL courses, few differences were found with students in non-CEL control groups. One significant difference found was in racial …

Swing With Me, Daniel Kyle

IPS/BAS 495 Undergraduate Capstone Projects

This is my Capstone Project for IPS introducing my business plan for Swing with Me, a country swing dance business me and my girlfriend Chelsea are going to start here in Ontario!