INDIANA UNIVERSITY PURDUE UNIVERSITY INDIANAPOLIS

COMMUNICATIONS & MARKETING Administration Building, Suite 136 355 N. Lansing Street Indianapolis, Indiana 46202-2896 317-274-7711 Fax: 317-274-5457

IUPUI STUDENTS HELPING LOCAL YOUTH ORGANIZATIONS CROSS DIGITAL DIVIDE

INDIANAPOLIS - Every month secretary Sister Merrita Mary at Holy Trinity Community Daycare and Kindergarten painstakingly tallies up the number of children who attended, how many meals they ate, and what they ate each day as required by the Department of Education. Now, thanks to the help of an IUPUI student, a computer does it for her, freeing her to spend more time with the children.

Through a program developed by the Indiana Youth Institute (IYI), IUPUI computer technology students are helping local nonprofits who work with youth to better use technology. IYI created the program, called Techwizards, after they conducted a study that showed 60% of Indiana youth organizations did not have a technology plan in place, nearly half did not budget for technology maintenance and upgrades, and more than 40% did not have access to the Internet.

IYI consults with IUPUI computer technology faculty to match students with appropriate knowledge according to the needs of the non-profits. Through the support of the Indianapolis Foundation and other local organizations, the nonprofits pay only $5/ hour to IYI, with no project exceeding $200. That's one-tenth of the cost of standard technology consultants. IYI then pays the students a nominal fee of $14/ hour for their work.

"The program has been great for both students and the youth-serving organizations of Indianapolis," said IUPUI computer technology Professor Ed Sullivan. "The organizations get the benefit of technical services that they otherwise couldn't afford. The students get valuable experience before attaining their degree and without the pressures of the corporate environment."

IYI matched senior computer technology major Montrial Harrell with Holy Trinity to help them upgrade their computer system, get access to the Internet and find ways to computerize many of their daily tasks.

"My most important thing was to get hooked up to the Internet so we could have e-mail access," Holy Trinity Director Sue Ann Yovanovich explained. "E-mail allows us to trade information with schools and to communicate with organizations like IUPUI and IYI." Saving time was also an important factor. "Basically, we were doing everything by hand. Now we can just print out the records insteading of tallying them by hand."

Yovanovich found Harrell to be not only very knowledgeable, but also very compassionate, sometimes stepping in to help out with the kids.

"Seeing the reactions of Techwizards students as they work in grassroots youth organizations has been great for me," said IYI Project Administrator Lynn Clough. "I think it's important for students to be exposed to non-profits, because oftentimes their work experience is in the corporate world. Non-profits are a different animal. Getting a chance to see a youth organization in action can be an eye-opening experience."

IUPUI students are currently working on projects that include everything from developing web sites to creating databases to upgrading computer systems. IYI, which serves organizations across the state, is also working with Ivy Tech campuses in other Indiana cities on such projects. They hope to have completed 40 of these projects by next June.

The service is available to any Indiana youth-serving organization with an annual agency budget of $1 million or less - those least able to afford this kind of assistance. For more information, please contact Lynn Clough at (800) 343-7060.

IYI is a nonprofit organization that promotes the healthy development of children and youth by serving the institutions and people of Indiana who work on their behalf.

###

Return to IUPUI Home