The BYU Management Society was established in 1977 by Dean Merrill J. Bateman as an organization of alumni and friends of the BYU College of Business - now the Marriott School of Management. In the past, administration tasks for Management Society chapters were performed using various independent systems to track membership and coordinate chapter activities.
The purpose of the Management Society Database project is to facilitate administration of Management Society chapters and strengthen the connections between chapters. Among other features of the application are tools that perform the following core functions:
* Member signup, including online dues payment.
* Membership search by name, chapter, and expertise.
* Chapter event scheduling, including online RSVP and fee payment.
* Database driven chapter web page.
Chapter leaders met in the fall of 2002 to determine the functional requirements of the system. A database design was created based on the understood requirements. In November of 2002, development was begun on a web application (implemented in ColdFusion) that would perform the tasks described in the database specifications.
In March of 2003, the beta version, including the most critical components of the application, was released to selected Management Society chapters for testing. Completion of beta testing and full release of the first version of the application is scheduled for May of 2003. Soon after the full release, work will be begin to integrate the Management Society Database application with LDS Networking, a project developed my Management Society members in Phoenix, Arizona intended to further promote networking among professionals.
The Management Society Database project will allow Management Society chapters to more easily operate their internal affairs. Data for all chapters will be kept on a central system on BYU campus. Communication among chapter members and between the chapters will be improved. Access to resources existing among Management Society members will be enhanced.
The Management Society Database was developed by a student member of the Rollins eBusiness Center and a member of the Marrriott School web team using resources (including ColdFusion licenses and development environment, web server, and office space) belonging the Marriott School External Relations office.
The project was completed ahead of schedule and within the allotted budget constraints. The features of this first version of the Management Society Database web application can now be integrated with the BYU alumni database, and the network of BYU graduates will be tied together more closely, with resources and contacts within the network more accessible than ever before.