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Case Study

San Diego State University Social Policy Institute

The Social Policy Institute (S.P.I.) is dedicated to helping create quality human service programs through the integration of policy development, state of the art practice models, and relevant research. The Institute provides expert technical assistance and consultation to public and private sector leaders in the development of progressive social policy, strategic planning and quality management.

The department came to RosArt as a referral in need of greater exposure to the general public. The department also wanted to create more prestige through a formal and professional presence online. A third goal was to create a forum for communication amongst the national communities of educational institutions and those involved in the social policy industry.

When S.P.I. came to us, they knew they didn't have a lot of funding for a new web site. After discussing project details and organization goals, it was decided that we'd do it on a pro bono basis. Due to the amount of paperwork involved, the University preferred to actually pay for the site. We accepted a minimal amount of money for the project, and built a $15,000 site. RosArt received recognition in the San Diego Business Journal in August of 2000 for our work for S.D.S.U.'s Social Policy Institue.

They already had a logo, and most of the necessary text existed on their old web site. The new site has a flash intro, and all the elements that S.P.I. needed. The site (www.sdsu-spi.org) includes a home page, and About Us section, a Staff Page, Links, and Contact form. The most important element, however, is the Resources section.

The S.D.S.U. Social Policy Institute's Resources Database is designed to be a digital repository of information dealing with a wide range of topics primarily surrounding research, policy-making and practice in the human services industry. In some cases, entire documents are available for downloading, such as training manuals and previously unpublished papers.

In other cases, links are provided to access professional journal articles and other materials archived elsewhere on the World Wide Web. The SPI Resources section offers a full search function to easily access the database. Direct contributions of appropriate materials or suggestions for contributions from other sources are encouraged and always welcomed. The Social Policy Institute reserves the right to preclude those contributions that are inappropriate to the intent and subject matter of the resources database.

Impressed with the work we accomplished with the web site, S.P.I. contracted RosArt for another project. We are developing a unique program - On the Go Management Information System (OTG/MIS) - that will be used by social services agencies and nonprofit organizations. This was a unique challenge for RosArt's programmers and as it was the first major piece of software for the firm.

OTG/MIS is an innovative database management system that replaces the current FoxPro-based system that does not meet many current standards set by the SDSU Social Policy Institute. Although the current system is still in use by the SPI and many other organizations, requirements such as reporting and generalization of the application for resale, require a re-architecture that preserves existing data.

OTG/MIS maintains information about social services clients and their family members, the services rendered to them, classes and special services in which they are enrolled, class attendance, assessments (tests), etc. It allows social service workers and researchers to track all of this information efficiently and generate various reports. It allows multiple social services sites to aggregate their data and send it to a central database. It also allows multiple users to work over a LAN or the Internet (from home or from the "field").