Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category

College loans improve education chances for single parents in Michigan

Aug 18th, 10 / 0 Comments

Since the Unite States economy has taken an economic downturn in recent years, much attention has been focused on the state of Michigan, especially when it comes to the value of college educations.

Though Michigan has a long standing relationship with the manufacturing industry, the state is now turning its attention to improving chances as well as opportunities for single parents to pursue a college degree so that more doors of opportunity may be available to them should they choose a non-manufacturing route, something which may be the result of so many jobs lost within that industry.

According to an article published on Helium, Michigan competitiveness scholarship programs are:

…open to student who can demonstrate both financial need and merit. However it is only open to those students who have been out of high school for ten years or less. The maximum award granted under the scholarship is currently $510 per annum at a public college or $1610 at an independent college. Students must maintain a grade point average of 2:0. [source]

Single parents and college grants

A large part of the problem with regards to college grants and the single parent student population is that often, single parents find the thought of raising money to support themselves through college incredibly intimidating. However, what even more students fail to realize is that there are several financial programs aimed at helping out with the costs of a college education.

One example of such a financial program is the federal Pell grant. This grant is non repayable and is awarded to those students who demonstrate the most financial need. Single parents are first encouraged to fill out an application through the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).

Another option available to single parents in Michigan is the Michigan Tuition Grant, which doles out a maximum of $1,610 per academic year to those students who can demonstrate financial need, which most single parent students are already eligible to do. With such financial options available to single parent students in the form of grants, scholarships and federal loans, obtaining a college education is most certainly attainable.

(Via: Helium)

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Helpful tips for writing a grant application

Dec 1st, 10 / 1 Comment
[source: National Institute of Health (NIH), U.S. Department of Health & Human Services]

At IT Works, we provide top grant management software solutions for some of the United States’ leading research and healthcare institutions. That said, while providing grant accounting software is quite an undertaking in and of itself, so is writing an actual grant. The following are some helpful tips on writing a grant application and what is actually involved:

Preparation

  1. Review the grant application instructions as well as the funding opportunity announcement (FOA) for any additional instructions.
  2. Prepare an outline following the application framework and structure as per the application guide.
  3. Make sure you have adequate preliminary data.
  4. Develop a timeline, complete with application deadlines. Be careful to allow enough time for any edits and reviews that may need to be made to the application.
  5. Become familiar with the peer review criteria for the application as reviewers will use it to rate your application.
  6. Assess the competition to find out what other projects are being funded in your field.
  7. Generate a hypothesis and make sure that your research goals can be accomplished within the given timeframe/deadline.

Questions to ask prior to writing a grant proposal

  • Does the project address an important problem or a critical barrier to progress in the field?
  • Are the PIs, collaborators and other researchers well suited to the project? If the project is collaborative in nature, do the investigators have a demonstrated, ongoing record of accomplishments in their field(s)? What is their level of expertise?
  • Does the application challenge and/or seek to shift current research or current clinical practice paradigms by utilizing different approaches or methodologies?
  • Are potential problems, alternative strategies and benchmarks for success presented?
  • If the project involves clinical research, what are the plans for the protection of human subjects from research risks?
  • Will the project benefit from unique features of the scientific environment in which the research is conducted?

These are just some helpful tips for beginning to write a grant application. For more information on writing a grant application, see the link listed at the beginning of this post. Also, check back in next week where we will discuss the effort certification system and how it benefits administrators as well as research faculty.

Questions? Concerns? Contact IT Works at 919.232.5332.

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Equipment/Asset Management Solutions That Work

Jan 19th, 11 / 0 Comments

Equipment and asset management is important for colleges, universities and research institutions in that it helps department managers instantly locate any missing items, unnecessary expenditures or other assets.

Monitoring Your Assets with Asset Management Software

At IT Works, we provide the most accurate, cost-effective asset and equipment management solutions. Using a user-friendly interface, our asset and equipment management software system combines state-of-the-art database management software with barcode scanner technology so that you can quickly place concise, informative asset management reports right at your fingertips.

Choosing Asset Management Software

Before you decide to purchase asset or equipment management software, it helps to know a little about the various types that are out there. Among the different kinds of asset management software include the following three types:

  1. Inquisitive
  2. Repository
  3. Automated

Additionally, before you purchase or commit to anything, you should be able to answer the following questions regarding whether or not you really need asset management software:

  • How much does the asset/equipment management software cost?
  • What is the benefit of having equipment/asset management software?
  • What functionality will my department need?
  • How many people will be using the equipment/asset management software at any given time?
  • What is the scalability? Will the software work if a new department is added? Will the software work outside of the United States?

Information That is Tracked While Using Equipment/Asset Management Software

At IT Works, we track specific information regarding each piece of capital equipment. Some of the variables that are tracked include the following:

  • Equipment description
  • Manufacturer
  • Origin of purchase
  • Cost
  • Location
  • Current status (missing, discarded, or in use)
  • Ownership (department, division, and faculty member / investigator)

For more information about our equipment/asset management software, contact us at 919.232.5332 today.

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Patient Billing Under the Department Manager Module

Apr 27th, 11 / 0 Comments

The Department Manager Module falls under IT Works‘ Patient Billing Module and is designed for use in clinical departments that deal with billing for patient services. One of the key components of this module is its capacity for tracking bills for work performed. Other highlights include:

  • Ease of use
  • Billing for multiple services
  • Automated notification system to remind physicians when new treatment plans need to be developed
  • Electronic invoice formats for transfer to central or external billing agencies
  • And more!

Aside from the above mentioned information, the Department Manager Patient Module also allows administrators to access and manage patient billing records from the convenience of their desktop computer. Reports are easy to understand and provide department administrators with a breakdown of specific information organized according to:

  • Service
  • Provider
  • Attending physician
  • Diagnosis (ICD)
  • Procedure (CPT) code

With a module such as the Department Manager, there is some concern over the safety and security of information that is stored. At IT Works, our Department Manager securely stores information via a secure MS Access or SQL Server database. Using a multi-tiered security system, access to data is automatically limited by service and/or an admitting physician.

For more information on the Department Manager module or any other issues related to data security and patient billing, contact IT Works today at (919) 232.5332.

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Grant Management Systems for Higher Education Institutions

May 18th, 11 / 2 Comments

Whether you are looking for effort certification reporting or space management solutions, IT Works has been providing grant management system solutions since 1987 for colleges, universities, healthcare and other types of research-based institutions worldwide.

What is the purpose of IT Works’ grant management system?

Besides being designed specifically with higher education institutions in mind, our grant management system is aimed at making sure that we meet all of the unique needs of individual departments, centers, schools, colleges and universities. For instance, our grant management software assists research administrators with the following complex issues:

  • Misaligned budget periods that fail to match the current fiscal year
  • Research funding competition
  • Highly scrutinized regulatory compliance by external auditors

By tracking such items as: budget period, project period, agency deadline and more, IT Works’ grants management systems are aimed at being able to provide a pre-award grant management system at the macro-level that is unmatched by others in the industry. Besides this, IT Works also provides post-award grants management systems for grant tracking as well as day-to-day project management. Within the post-award system, items such as: time and effort reporting, compliance monitoring, project tracking and more are standard.

Whatever your department’s financial management issue may be, rest assured that IT Works will be able to provide you with the grant management system to get you where you need to be.

For more information about our grant management system, contact IT Works at (919) 232.5332. Also, make sure you check out the following video, which talks a little more in depth about our grants management systems software.

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College Accounting Software and University Research Programs

Jun 1st, 11 / 0 Comments

How do good colleges become great? Some might answer that it has everything to do with the faculty, while others would argue that it’s the students who make the difference. Well, what about the college accounting software administrators?

To the average person, college accounting software is a term best left to those who know a thing or two about technology and numbers. However, it is more than likely due to these same administrators that universities such as Stony Brook University in New York are able to continue putting forth brilliant ideas due to smartly-funded projects and research.

Stony Brook University Focuses on More Research

In a recent article, published in The Chronicle of Higher Education, Stony Brook University was highlighted as one of the leading institutions along the eastern coast of the United States for its research efforts as well as its faculty and staff. But now, with federal money on the decline, department managers and college administrators are hard at work, making sure that they have systems in place so as to ensure the continued financial success of the institution.

Stony Brook University is not alone, however. As the U.S. economy begins to trim spending, grant administrators at varying research institutions are responsible for making sure that they work with university faculty, staff and students in order to assess and reassess where their budgets stand. Now it is more important than ever to have grant software in place- grant software that will be able to assist administrators in keeping track of where and how money is spent, something that is crucial to the success of a research institution and its members.

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