Madison, WI, January 2009 - Maverick Software Consulting (www.mavericksoftware.net), the only US supplier of onshore outsourcing and college recruitment services is proud to announce that it will be sponsoring two $2,500 scholarships one for the Department of Computer Science and one for the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

Peter Warwick, President and CEO, North American Legal
12 Dec 2008

The sixth annual Awards of Excellence recognition ceremony was held last night, in conjunction with the North American Legal (NAL) Senior Leadership Meeting. This year, we had the opportunity to celebrate the accomplishments of our colleagues at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, Minn. During the ceremony, representatives from each of the winning submissions accepted an award on behalf of their team.
Today, I am pleased to recognize these teams by sharing each of their stories with you. These teams faced substantial competition to become Awards of Excellence honorees. We received more than 50 exceptional nominations from colleagues across NAL and from this group only seven winners were selected.
Colleagues were recognized for their contributions in our four new award categories, in recognition of the Thomson Reuters values:
• Customers are the heart of everything we do.
• Business is global.
• People make the difference.
• Performance matters.
Through their innovative projects, these teams made a significant impact on the business and helped drive the values of our organization, and the goals of NAL.

I would like to thank everyone who participated in this year's program. I would especially like to congratulate our President's Award and Awards of Excellence honorees. Their accomplishments made tremendous contributions to NAL’s success this past year, and will continue to strengthen the business as we join with International Legal & Regulatory to form a new organization in 2009. Their examples of collaboration and innovation will serve as a model for all of us in the years to come.

Peter
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2008 Awards of Excellence Winners
On Dec. 12, Peter Warwick announced the 2008 Awards of Excellence winners. The contributions made by the 2008 award winners represent some of the most exceptional achievements across North American Legal. More than 50 applications were submitted this year, out of which seven winners were selected in four categories, based on the Thomson Reuters values. You can read more about the contributions of each team below.

Winners:
People make the difference
• Offsite College Intern Program
 
Offsite College Intern (a.k.a. Maverick Software Consulting) Program
Category: People make the difference
Project Description
The Offsite College Intern Program employs computer science students from three area universities to perform software development and testing tasks on West Technology projects.  The program has established a pipeline of high-quality college graduates, while providing a unique, low-cost staffing alternative.

Ames, IA, September, 2008—Maverick Software Consulting (www.mavericksoftware.net), the only US supplier of onshore outsourcing and college recruitment services opened its new 2000 sqft office, one block from the Iowa State Campus. A dramatic increase in demand for the company’s services necessitated a new facility at a new university; the strong IT program at Iowa State made the Ames location an obvious choice.

With the addition of the Ames office the company boasts over 50 software engineers at three locations, and will expand to 70 in Jan of 2009.

Program gives opportunity to work with specific computer software, meet potential employers

by Rebecca Cole

Media Credit: Rojeena Kayastha Project Maverick employees Mitch VanEps, left, and Dave Erichsen, right, agree their skills have improved since joining the program, which offers students a chance to work with computer software.

All too often in college, "real world" experience appears to take a back seat to note taking and paper writing. Based in University Square, Project Maverick is a program that allows students to get a taste of real- world experience while developing and testing software.

The programs developed in Aug. 2006 when Minnesota State signed a contract with Maverick Software Consulting, which has a contract with Thomson-West.

The students in this program mostly work with the software Westlaw. Westlaw is an application that contains easy access to court cases, statutes and other public records. Project Maverick is used as an alternative to off-shoring or hiring workers in India.

The project provides many opportunities for students that they may not find elsewhere.  "Most programs like this go in the summer for three months and it's over. Here we ask for a one-year commitment," said the director of Project Maverick, Dr. Michael Wells.

All work is done in University Square and the students' work schedules are set up around their class times. Students involved in the project also have the chance to work at Thomson in Eagan, Minn., during the summer months. This gives the students a taste of what life would be like working for Thomson.

Although the program is barely a year old, it has gained prestige and is growing incredibly fast.  "The contract signed with MSC won MSU's 2007 Research and Sponsored Program's External Funding Incentive Excellence Award for generating the most indirect cost return for MSU," Wells said. Thomson-West also received the national award Law Technology News Award for Knowledge Management Systems.

The software that won the award was an application that interns for Project Maverick worked on diligently. In 2006, Project Maverick had only 10 interns. This year it has expanded to 20 interns.

To be hired as an intern for Project Maverick, students must meet some basic requirements: They must have two semesters of programming courses and make a one-year commitment to the program. The students can work up to 20 hours per week during the school year and 40 hours per week during various breaks.

It is also beneficial for MSC to have programs like this because the future employee's are trained already. There is a similar program affiliated with MSC in Madison, Wisc. These programs give the industry a highly skilled group to recruit from for new hires.

The students also receive a number of benefits while working for Project Maverick.  "The thing I most enjoy about the program is the connection to the professional field," said Dave Erichsen, an employee of six months.  Students also work close to campus, become marketable to recruiters and often have full-time job offers before graduation.  "I have already received an offer from Thomson," said senior Mitch Vaneps.

In Project Maverick, students work both individually as well as in groups of two to four."You get matched up with great people. MSC is willing to take it slowly but they do have high expectations," Erichsen said.  Both Erichsen and Vaneps agreed their skills have improved since joining the program.  "They want you to grow here. As they begin to trust us more, the work gets more complex," Erichsen said.

For more information on Project Maverick or to apply, visit http://cset.mnsu.edu/isys/proj-mav.

Rebecca Cole is a Reporter staff writer

Dr. Michael Wells, associate professor of information systems & technology, is on a roll. In the last year and a half, Dr. Wells has secured more than $1.5 million dollars in external funding through the creation of two university-industry partnerships, with much of the money going toward paying the undergraduate computer and information science interns who participate in the programs. "These types of projects are winners for all participants: industry partners, the university, faculty, and, most importantly, students," says Dr. Wells.

The first partnership began in January 2006 with the creation of the Brown Technology Campus Cooperative (BTCC), a collaboration between the university and Brown Printing Company in Waseca, Minnesota. Dr. Wells negotiated a 3-year contract with Brown to provide paid student interns to help the company develop and test their printing software.

Chad Vidden, a BTCC intern and mathematics major and CIS minor, says the program offers students a chance to apply what they've learned in class. "The projects that we work on directly reflect and model the printing process, and it is easy to see where our work will be put into place," says Chad. "It is the real-world experience that makes this project so valuable."

Following the successful startup of the BTCC, Dr. Wells established a second partnership, called Project Maverick, in August 2006 with Maverick Software Consulting and Thomson West, a leader in legal information publishing and owner of the Westlaw research system.

Maverick Software Consulting acts as an intermediary between Thomson West and the university and directly oversees and evaluates the students' work before submitting it to Thomson West.

Martin Hebig, President of Maverick Software Consulting, has been impressed with what he's seen. "The students' work ethic is outstanding," he says. "They are eager to get into a real world work environment where they can roll up their sleeves and get the job done."

The quality of the student interns has also impressed Thomson West. "In a span of less than one year, Thomson West signed a contractual agreement with Maverick Software Consulting to be their exclusive client, increased the student work force by 60% (10 to 16), and hired the first two graduates of Project Maverick to full time information systems positions," says Dr. Wells.

But the benefits to the students stretch farther than Thomson West or Brown. "In addition to the corporate partners," says Dr. Wells, "other organizations that regularly recruit our information systems majors have become aware of these projects and are actively recruiting their participants."

The high quality of the university's students not withstanding, neither program would exist if not for the vision of Dr. Wells. "He has been very committed to this project and to providing unique opportunities to students in the computer and information science department to gain valuable skills and experience beyond traditional classroom training," says Anna Grecco, senior director of technology at Thomson West. "Dr. Wells is an advocate and a champion for experiential learning."

Chad Vidden agrees with Ms. Grecco. "I have worked with Dr. Wells both in the classroom and with the BTCC. In both cases he has been very motivated, helpful, and encouraging."

In addition to providing students with valuable work experience, Dr. Wells is also using the programs to conduct research on university-industry partnerships. In one recent publication, Dr. Wells examined industry preferences for management information systems curricula, and he is using the findings to help develop the curriculum standards of the information systems major in the newly formed Department of Information Systems & Technology.

The two programs and Dr. Wells's personal research all lead toward providing a better undergraduate experience for the university's information systems students.

"It's been a lot of fun," says Martin Hebig. "The students really know what they are doing. They have a great attitude, are willing to learn, and have been a complete blast to work with. What more could you ask for?"

Madison, WI, January 2007—Maverick Software Consulting (www.mavericksoftware.net), the only US supplier of onshore outsourcing and college recruitment services opened its new 3000 sqft office, three blocks from the University of Wisconsin Madison. A dramatic increase in demand for the company’s services necessitated a new facility at a new university.

With the addition of the Madison office the company boasts over 50 software engineers at two locations, and will expand more in the future.