Done

Well i just posted my case study to Blackboard. Didn't realized I had so much to write about KM or lack there of at University College. And after writing it I'm glad that I focused on other aspects besides the e-capstone library. There were really some key experiences that happened over the last year that has moved the organization into the KM direction. I have had several meeting with the Dean about things that we need to do around here to become a better learning organization. Most recently one regardng motivation. Davis is very receptive to new ideas, and I feel that he will definitely be able to pick this organization back up.

Going beyond the capstone library

Since I've had three meetings about the capstone library canceled on me in the last few weeks, I've decided to include some other KM issues into my case study.  I am going to include the quasi knowledge base that houses shared information in the organization.  I am also going to detail the communication issues that are repetative.  And i'm also going to talk about the one things that I feel is getting University College on the right track.  I sware not to completely blast the organization.  :)

I'm such a bad poster

I haven't gotten this blogging thing set into my daily functions yet. My luck I won't remember to do it regularly until the class is over.

Well as for my little project, things are coming along smoothly. The e-capstone group had a meeting last week with the folks from CTL (Center for Teaching and Learning) to see the progress that has been made on the database. They have really come a long way. One of the first things I realized in our meeting is that we are definitly not communicating some very important things. The most glaring was the change that we had made at University College regarding out capstone project process. There were just a couple of deadline changes but this was very important informaton for the CTL guys to know since they are building in deadlines to the database/capstone management system. Luckily we're not too far along that this was of any consequence to the project development. But I did feel that it would have helped.

How confusing can we make it for people to finish a capstone

Well I must admit that using University College as the subject of most of papers, but it's just such a hotbed of juicy KM screwups. And I do care about this organization a lot, and want to see it grow and mature. So if my papers can help it do that, then I will continue to study it, and test it so it may become a true learning organization.

Did that just sound like a campaign speech?

I am going to look at what is the triumphant end for all students at University College, their capstone project. This part of every degree program has gone through a ridiculous amount of changes in the last year. And unfortunately no one really knows what is going on. I am in charge of the electronic capstone database project. And even I don't know what is going on most of the time. Let's just say there is a little communication problem around here. So right now is a perfect time to do yet another study. By the end of the summer the first phase of the electronic capstone project should be launched. We (including myself and two of our Academic Directors) are working with the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) here at the University of Denver. They are actually building the huge database that will house all of our future capstone projects as well as thesis and dissertations from other units on campus. This is a very exciting venture for University College because we are paving the way for online education for the University of Denver. And with the new database our student will be able to showcase their work to anyone, anywhere. More importantly, future students will be able to search these capstone projects from anywhere.

The upper management is very excited about this study because we are going through a big transition. As the entrepreneurial arm of the University of Denver, we are always looking to the future. The future of this organization is online education and to stay on top of this market, and to provide the best quality to our students we have to stay ahead of everyone else. By taking part in this electronic database project, there will be many obstacles to overcome. It will be important to see how we communicate to CTL what specification we need, and how we communicate how this project will function for the students and University College faculty and staff. As a guideline for the study, I will use the four characteristics mentioned in the Sun Microsystems article “What is Knowledge Management”: Repository Model, Communities of Practice, Continuous Learning and Business Intelligence. I believe that University College has all four of these characteristics; we’re just not very good at them. So hopefully this study will highlight the things that need improvements, and also the things that have already been improved.

KM Cluster Event

Well the event turned out to be really fun. I met a lot of people who hold KM positions in various companies here in Denver. Some where consultants others were Directors of Knowledge Management for their company. I think that this community of practice is extremely valuable. There were presentations from people from around the country who are practicing KM. One presentation I thought was extremely interesting was from Ron Muns (CEO & Founder) of the Help Desk Institute. One of the things that he recommended for a company or organization to get people on board with collaboration is to have them sign a formal collaboration agreement. This way they know what what is expected of them and have committed to it.

Anyways, they are having another meeting October 8th entitled "Leveraging Intellectual Capital". www.kmcluster.com (Rocky Mountain Chapter)

Rocky Mountain KM Cluster Conference

Well I'm a little nervous today. I have a really great opportunity to promote the new Knowledge & Information Technologies program this Friday at a conference hosted by the Rocky Mountain KM Cluster (www.kmcluster.com). The conference is entitled "Innovation and Adaptation:How KM Helps Organizations and Leaders Build Thriving Business Innovation Ecosystems." (http://www.kmcluster.com/den/index.html)
I registered to be a participant in the discussion with KM insiders. Hopefully I can talk the talk. They only reserved 40 spots for participants, so I feel lucky to have gotten in. There are going to be some very important KM industry people there from the Denver area. I'll try not to embarrass the KM program too much. :)

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