BATS Management

1
BATS Management

• Robert S. Sheffey
• Undergraduate Assistant
• Spring 2009

2
Overview

• The BATS system is an ocean during a murderous
  squall.
• You row and row and row and continuously get
  beaten back by wave after wave
• But when the storm is over
• You pull your boat ashore, sleek and muscle bound
• Hardened by the struggle to survive
• Ready to meet the challenges of a behavioral
  world

3
Roles and Responsibilities

• You dont suffer the trial alone
• Your team members grab an oar as well

4
Caitlin OBoyle
5
Kelly Stone
6

• And you all work toward a common goal
• Its beautiful in its own way
• To save the world
• To make a difference
• To light the way on a dark and unknown path
• Our responsibilities are magnificent, and only
  matched by our actions to rise to the challenge

7
My Roles and Responsibilities

• There are no small parts, only small actors
• I dont know who said that, or if it means what I
  think it means
• But it sounds smart
• And cool
• And if I got it right, it is an accurate
  description of my role
• Alumni manager
• Thats what it says on dickmalott.com
• I like the title, and I enjoyed the work, and I
  met a few
• strange folks along the way
• Out in the world, doing what were training to do
  now

8
Problems

• I never restored a classic car, or reupholstered
  a piece of antique furniture
• A fresh coat of paint is the extent of my
  restoration experience
• But what the hell?
• The problems of the BATS system were no different
  
• Some overhauling was necessary
• And anything was possible
• My only limitation was time

9
Design the Intervention

• My ideas were met with enthusiastic support
• I didnt know how to deal with that to be honest
• Go ahead, they said, Can we see it next
  Friday?
• So I scrambled
• I sought council with those who knew better
• I poured over online material, articles, how-tos
• The hours passed by like leaves on the surface of
  a swift and vivacious stream
• And the deadline loomed
• Dreadful, unpleasant

10

• .Just what I needed
• What we all need.
• If we want to keep our shit together

11
Implement the Intervention

• And so it goes.
• The Friday deadline always on the horizon
• As soon as one ends, another one begins
• And the train kept a rollin, all night long
• Steven Tylers words, not mine
• But he wasnt talkin about deadlines, I dont
  think

12

• But on Saturday you could feel it
• A rumbling under your feet
• Standing on the cold iron tracks
• Almost imperceptible
• In the distance a faint light
• And a far off whistle from a locomotive
• A warning from the engineer
• Be wary, those who travel here

13

• The vibrations only grow stronger as the days
  pass
• Sunday, Monday, Tuesday..
• Click-clack, click-clack
• The steel wheels eating up the space between you
  and your fate
• And soon the light is upon you
• The sound of the whistle the only sound you can
  hear
• And then

14
Evaluate the Intervention

• Well, thats BRSS for you
• Sweet BRSS
• The dichotomy of friend and foe
• Without it, many of my projects this semester
  would still be just ideas on paper

15

• Instead, we have an entirely new way of keeping
  track of our prolific Alumni

16
(No Transcript)
17

• Job listings, at one time available on the ABAI
  website
• In the black and white, uninteresting format of
  an online classified ad
• Can now be perused as a colorful and useful
  spreadsheet

18
(No Transcript)
19

• And of course, there were the Goal Survey Graphs
• The pulse of the student body

20
Recycle

• For many hours I labored over goal surveys
• Compiling results
• Creating graphs of those results
• Recreating the graphs again and again
• Yet they still fell short of expectations

21

• And I thought to myself..
• There has to be an easier way
• How can we automate this process so the compiled
  results and their related graphs turn out the
  same
• Every time, every semester

22

• So we developed a Goal Survey Template
• Just type in the values for a particular graph
  and PRESTO!
• And just like that, problem recycled
• It nearly cuts the time in half
• And
• The graphs look the same each and every time

23
Future Application

• Who can say?
• Are these useful products?
• Only time will tell
• Undergrads who follow in my stead will be the
  judge

24
Personal Experience

• I braved the rough waters of the BATS system
• And I lived to tell about it
• I know what it takes to make it in this world
• As a professional..
• Hell.

25
..As a human being
26
?? Questions or Comments ??