U-M looks to pair students to firms, find efficiency

Internships aren't necessarily the only way students can help businesses or businesses can teach students a thing or two about the real world.

The University of Michigan School of Information started the Contextual Inquiry in Project Management program with that idea in mind. The project is looking for a few local companies interested in working with these students to find inefficiencies.

"The client gets an opportunity to have their inefficiencies mapped out and a recommendation made," says Kelly Kowatch, the project manager for the Contextual Inquiry in Project Management. "The students get professional experience in how businesses can be flawed."

The 3.5 month program lets masters students from the U-M School of Information conduct a thorough analysis of the participating company for free. The point is for students to study how information travels in these companies. They recognize where it hits snags and make recommendations on how to fix the problems.

Interested companies should contact Kowatch at kkowatch@umich.edu.

Source: Kelly Kowatch, the project manager for the Contextual Inquiry in Project Management
Writer: Jon Zemke