BASE – Business Analytics Service Experience
What is Base?
BASE — Business Analytics Service Experience — is a student group that began in the fall 2022. BASE offers students the ability to learn and apply data skills for partners in the community. Students will gain valuable real-world experience and partners will have access to data skills they don’t have. Each semester, students choose a team to join to work on a project. BASE is hosted by the Department of Information Technology and Supply Chain Management in the College of Business and Economics at Boise State University.
The BASE Experience
BASE creates great experiences for students and community partners. Hear what the creator, a student and a community partner have to say about BASE.
“I started BASE as an opportunity for COBE students to use their data skills for good. Often, non-profits lack the resources to invest in data but want to harness its capabilities. In spring of 2023 we wrapped up a data visualization project for Jannus and a process improvement project for Ronald McDonald House Charity – Boise. If you are interested in serving your community while improving your data skills BASE is a wonderful fit for you!” — Megan Marshall, BASE Founder and 2023 BEA graduate.
“My experience with BASE has been fantastic. I’ve been able to mesh my passion for data and business processes with my heart for volunteering. It’s so cool to be able to give back to my community in that way.” — Kaitlyn Glatfelter, 2022-2023 BASE member
Jannus's Experience
“We are so happy we were able to work with the BASE team! Our large data project had been placed on hold for months due to staffing, training, and budgetary issues and may not have happened if not for this team being willing to volunteer their time to help.
“From the very first introductory and exploratory meeting to the day we received the final product, our interactions and experience with this student team were excellent. They listened to our needs, asked questions, offered solutions and were even able to adapt on the fly when our needs changed.
“We were so pleased with the overall experience and final project that we have recommended other departments keep the BASE team in mind for future data projects.” Nathan Sandoval, HR director at Jannus
Types of projects we do for our partners
We can do projects lasting a few weeks, a semester, a school year or even longer. Potential project topics include:
- Designing new surveys or revising existing surveys
- Data collection via surveys or other data sources
- Clean and organize your data
- Build databases
- Create data visualizations (such as in Tableau or PowerBI)
- Perform many types of data analysis – either simple or complex
- Design inventory management systems
If it involves data, we can probably do it!
Who can get involved in BASE
All Boise State University students are welcome to participate. Students just need to have an interest in data and in serving our community. While we primarily partner with nonprofit organizations throughout the Treasure Valley, we will consider projects with geographically remote organizations.
How to get involved in BASE
Questions about BASE? Please contact Christie Fuller (christiefuller@boisestate.edu) or Shelly Moore (shellymoore@boisestate.edu), BASE co-advisers
Students
New projects are typically started at the beginning of the fall and spring semesters — this is the best time to join. If you are interested in learning more, please fill out this student BASE interest form.
Please commit for at least a semester. Expect to spend a few hours each week of the semester on your BASE project. You will be required to meet with your project group and/or advisers approximately twice a month.
Community Partners
We are always looking for new partners for the group. We typically start projects at the beginning in of fall and spring semesters. For fall projects, please contact us by August 1. For spring projects, please contact us by November 1. We may also be able to connect you with a class that may be able to incorporate your project. Please fill out this community partner BASE interest form.