Friday 20 July 2018

NEW Pro Bono OR Project: OR in Schools


OR in Schools Project
Matching volunteers to events through data analysis

Project:
Review and analyse data currently held and collected on events and volunteers and make recommendations for improvements.

Project description:
OR in Schools (ORiS) is the outreach and education aspect of the OR Society that aims to raise awareness of the importance of the real world applications of OR and highlight potential careers in the field of study. This is done by arranging for practitioners and academics to visit various schools, colleges and universities, to talk to students about what OR is, how they got into it and how they use it in their professional lives. ORiS currently have a register of about 300 people who have volunteered for these events.

Unfortunately, it can be difficult to match volunteers to events and on these occasions, students miss out on the opportunity of an ORiS visit. Therefore, ORiS have asked if a pro bono volunteer can help improve the effectiveness of the current process used to match up events and potential volunteers. They would like the pro bono volunteer to suggest ways in which they could improve both the information held on volunteers, and the ways in which this data is managed and used.

Suggested outputs of the project include:

·       a review of the information currently held

·       an analysis that determines the key criteria that needs to be known about volunteers to enable them to be effectively matched to events (e.g. location, time restrictions)

·       an assessment of how well the on-line form currently in use collects those criteria

·       a report setting out the findings and any recommendations for improvements.

It might also be helpful to consider how often volunteers should be asked to update their data.

This project will need the volunteer to be able to draw upon a range of statistical skills such as regression or cluster analysis. The volunteer will also need to be sensitive to general data protection requirements.

Time commitment: Approximately 5 days

Location: The project can be undertaken remotely subject to compliance with data protection requirements

If you feel you are able to offer your assistance please complete the application form and return along with your CV to amy.hughes@theorsociety.com by Monday 6th August.

The OR Society fully supports equal opportunities. As such, we welcome applications from the partially sighted or blind, or those with disabilities.

Information about the organisation:
OR in Schools (ORiS) is run by the education department of the The OR Society; the professional body and oldest learned society for operational researchers. ORiS promotes operational research (OR) in education to raise awareness of the importance of its real world applications and highlight potential careers in the field of study. We do this by visiting schools, colleges and universities, attending careers fairs, running interactive workshops and giving presentations on recent projects. They have the stretch goal of “every school child knows what OR is” and have created resources to support this.


For further information about OR in Schools:


Visit OR in Schools OR Society webpage: https://www.theorsociety.com/Pages/ORinSchools/ORinSchools.aspx 

Visit OR in Schools blog: https://orinschools.blogspot.com/

Contact The OR Society’s Education officer Sophie Parker: Sophie.parker@theorsociety.com or 0121 234 7816

For further information about the Pro Bono OR scheme, please visit: www.theorsociety.com/Probono  or email amy.hughes@theorsociety.com


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