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This semester, 18 students who are enrolled in the Decision Information Technology (DIT) Business Decision Making course worked on an assignment for UNIT (University Information Technologies) which will have a million-dollar impact on the University. The assignment was to develop a new architectural plan for the existing e-mail messaging system. During the first half of the semester, Dr. Robert Nydick, associate professor and chair of the DIT department in the College of Commerce and Finance, and Dr. Stephen Andriole, the Thomas G. Labrecque Professor of the DIT department, who co-teach the class, taught their students the methodology. In the second half of the semester, the students collectively applied the method to the e-mail messaging challenge, ultimately providing UNIT with their recommendations.
“The problem with the current system is that e-mail is growing at a phenomenal rate,” stated Andriole. “We keep having to deploy patches, trying to make something older work as the number of users increases dramatically and the number of messages increases almost exponentially.”

To solve the problem, UNIT decided to develop a more powerful system, rather than try to repair the current one. The investment in a new system would be costly, having a million-dollar effect.
Operating first as teachers, Adriole and Nydick taught the students the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), an extremely structured procedure. The students were arranged into subgroups in which everyone was delegated a precise position. Adriole and Nydick then functioned as consultants, facilitators and coaches as the students became “impresarios of the methodology.” The students’ challenge was to use this complex method to select a system based on multi-criteria such as cost, reliability, and stability. Nydick explained, “By working with this methodology and analyzing the criterion, the students were able to get inside the CTO’s [chief technology officer’s] head to recommend a system that can be used for the next three to five years.”

The students’ insight and problem solving abilities shone during the presentation of their proposal to the University’s chief information officer Stephen Fugale and chief technology officer Timothy Ay, on Dec. 10. They organized a PowerPoint presentation that included every step of their problem-solving process, ultimately leading to their proposal.

Although Ay played a role in the project— providing the students with an informational background and lending support when necessary—he and Fugale both heard the proposal for the first time during the presentation. Although it is too soon to know if the recommendation will be implemented, Fugale was pleased with the result: “They did a good job. The more minds working on this, the better,” he said. Although it would be great if the students’ recommendation was implemented, it is even more important that the students learned and were able to apply this complex process.

Ay, Nydick and Andriole’s initial expectations were exceeded. The students were thorough, organized and conscientious. Nydick stated, “The very first day of class my objective was to have every single student think, at the end of the semester, that this was the best course he or she has ever taken at Villanova.” After participating in this project, many of the students, including Stephen Geria ’04, a management and marketing major, agreed.

According to Andriole, the course is important for seniors as they graduate: “It will play a prominent role on their résumé. They will have the written paper, the PowerPoint and will tell future employers about how they amplified the content of the course by solving a real problem.” Jeannine Cacovean ’04, a MIS major, is already reaping the benefits of this course-- she has an internship where she will begin to use AHP.

In the past Nydick, who has taught the course for the eight years, has had his students work in small groups on various projects. He decided to have the students collectively apply the methodology to a larger project. After collaborating with Andriole, they contacted Fugale, and the suggestion was made to work on the e-mail messaging system. The most prominent differences with this pursuit compared to past years are that all 18 students are working together on one project, and the application is a huge issue, since e-mail is an integral means of communication. Next fall, Executive MBA (EMBA) students will work on a similar project at an even more advanced level.

More than half of the students in the course are management information systems (MIS) majors, for whom this course is an elective. The remaining students are management majors, for whom the course is required.