A first -grade group from the Annie Fisher Magnet school on Hartford sat down with the floor crossing at the Stowe Center for Literary Activism on Hartford on the last Friday morning, eager to explain what the word “freedom” means.
Stowe Center is Harriet Beecher Stowe, the well -known author of the novel against slavery “Uncle Tom’s Cabine”, published in 1852, which helped change Americans’ attitudes towards abolitics.
The mission of the Stowe Center is to encourage social justice and the activism of literacy by exploring the heritage and Harries and ideas of others who defend hope and freedom. They seek a world in which commitment leads to empathy, empowerment and change for the better.
“One can definitely argue that this perspective is now more needed than ever,” says Executive Director Karen Fisk, who, with her team, welcome about 5,000 visitors to the center every year.
UCONN Business Students analyze, organize center data
The Stowe center, located on the Forest road and adjacent to Mark Twain’s home, is one of the precious Hartford pearls, and is known by Endowment National for Human as critical for American history and culture.
Although the leadership at the Stowe Center had a pace of data for its visitors, it was not in a format that could be easily organized, analyzed and presented. They wanted to track where their visitors came from, what attracted them to the center, and the dates and hours when the visit reached its peak. This information can guide future strategy, staff and growth.
Fisk arrived at the Business School for assistance and was linked to staff at the Digital Frontiers (DFI) initiative, which springs, Vets and sets stem -based projects for students. Five university students assumed the task of the Stowe Center as part of their High Analytical and Information Management project (AIM) Capstone last semester.
Aditya Mamidi ’25 (bus) says he enjoyed the challenge and responsibility he and his team experienced.
“The great thing I liked was the creative freedom we had, without the strict instructions you have with a traditional college project,” he says. “We put our heads together to come up with something we hope the Stowe center can use for a long time.”
In addition to Mamidi, the project team included, from the Business School: Gregory Bliss ’25, Liam Wagner ’25, Alexander Brynczka ’24 and Daniel Rodriguez ’24. Mamid, Bliss and Wagner are elderly, and Brynczka and Rodriguez graduated in December.
‘This shows what I can do and what I have learned’
One thing that was important was the presentation of the data, which traveled from 2017 until today, in a way that was easy to understand for them without an analytical backdrop.
“We took the time to create in -depth training videos, so anyone who looks at you would understand without trouble,” says Mamidi, who plans to practice at Deloitte after graduation and is considering an advanced degree in business analytics. “This is eventually going to my linked, and my resty, because it demonstrates what I can do and what I have learned.” “
Bliss also described the Capstone project as a great experience and says he prepared him for his career, especially having to design a project.
The team originally recommended a very expensive program for the Stowe center, and they realized they needed a more affordable plan. They were able to find a replacement plan that worked very well and cost only part of the original price. It is a bliss strategy knows that he will use in the future.
“If an idea doesn’t work, you have to have a spare plan,” Bliss says. “Important is important to be prepared and ready to make adjustments when needed. I liked to work with ‘real’ data and know it could benefit from the Stowe Center. ”
Bliss says that through this project, as well as his work at the National Life Group, he has been confirmed how much he enjoys the work of the data project and has a clearer idea of his narrow career path.
‘I can’t say enough … for these young people’
Fisk says students exceeded her expectations with their skills, professionalism and project management.
“What they did was so complete. They were patient, explained everything well and were extremely professional. They were quite impressive, ” she says. “I felt so well cared for the whole project.”
If it were not for the pro-Bono student work, Fisk says it would have to start a fundraising initiative to pay to hire a data expert, and that would have long extended the project.
For Opim Jon Moore, who oversee the project along with Opim Professor Stephen Fitzgerald, the Capstone project was a valuable experience not only for students but also for the Stowe Center and the wider community.
“The Stowe Center for the Literature Activism Project was an amazing experience for students, as they were plunged into center data to create dashboard, penetrations and predictive models about attendance and commitment,” says Moore, who is also the DFI executive director. “Their work helped the Stowe center better understand the trends and connect with visitors in the smarter, more influential ways.” “
“The Department of OPP and Business School recognizes the tremendous value of cooperation with local organizations like Stowe Center, giving students the opportunity to address real world challenges while making a significant change in the community,” Moore says. “Utilizing digital boundaries as a bridge between the Academy and the industry, the project illustrates how UCONN students gain practical experience while offering significant solutions to real world challenges.” “