Case Studies

Accessible Phi Alpha Theta Induction Program

I created the original printed program for a Phi Alpha Theta honor society induction ceremony in spring 2025. I later evaluated the document through an accessibility lens and developed an alternative digital version for attendees who use screen readers or benefit from a simpler presentation of information.

The printed program contained visual formatting that did not translate well to assistive technology. Expanded letter spacing interrupted the text, headings lacked a consistent structure, and the document did not provide a logical reading order. These features could make the program difficult for screen-reader users to interpret. The decorative layout could also create unnecessary barriers for people with visual or cognitive disabilities.

For the accessible version, I restored natural word and sentence spacing, established a clear heading hierarchy, organized the content in a logical sequence, and selected a legible font. I also simplified the layout so readers could locate names, ceremony details, and program sections with less effort. The revised document preserves the original information while providing a more usable way to access it.

Presenting both versions demonstrates how visual design decisions affect access and how an existing document can be adapted without losing its purpose or identity.

The Lesson

This project taught me that a document can look polished and still create barriers. Accessible design requires attention to structure as well as appearance. By providing both print and digital versions, I could preserve the ceremony’s visual character while giving more attendees access to the same information.

HBI Auto BDC Training and Assessment Plan

This consulting project addressed a real training need within the Business Development Center at HBI Auto, a privately owned luxury automobile dealership in Mocksville, North Carolina. I worked with the BDC manager as my client and subject-matter expert to examine employee performance, define the desired learning outcome, and identify practical ways to assess and strengthen employee skills.

I conducted a needs assessment, researched evidence-based approaches, and presented two technology-supported recommendations. After the client selected an approach, I helped develop the assessment materials and implementation plan. I then reviewed the initial results and client feedback to identify what worked, what required adjustment, and how the training could improve during its next use.

Although I completed the project for a graduate course, the work addressed an active business need and was developed for use in the dealership’s BDC department.

Gilead: Digital Writing Support Platform

Gilead is a proposed digital writing-support platform designed to help students develop stronger research, planning, drafting, and revision practices. The concept responds to a growing challenge in higher education: supporting authentic student writing when generative AI can produce a finished paper without requiring the student to build the underlying skills.

The platform guides students through structured stages of the writing process, including assignment analysis, source evaluation, note-taking, claim development, drafting, and reflection. It also gives instructors evidence of how a document developed, allowing them to focus on learning and authorship rather than relying on AI-detection scores.

I developed the project as a grant proposal for my graduate capstone. The work included identifying the educational need, researching the problem, defining the intended users, planning the intervention, developing an implementation and evaluation strategy, preparing a proposed budget, and presenting the concept to an academic audience.

Student Worker Hub & Employment Checklists

As Administrative Assistant II for several College of Liberal Arts departments, I hire, train, and supervise the student workers who support History, English, Political Science, and Sociology. When I started, MSMU had no resource explaining how to do this. I learned the process on my own, then built the tools I wished I’d had.

The Problem

Student workers faced unstructured downtime, missed tasks, scattered faculty requests, and hours that were hard to verify. Many worked in other buildings with limited supervision. Informal verbal training wasn’t holding up, because tasks were intermittent and expectations were easy to misunderstand.

The Hub

I storyboarded a Microsoft 365 Student Worker Hub using a workplace-performance approach tied to the ADDIE phases. SharePoint serves as the main hub, Microsoft Lists as the data layer, Planner for tasks, Teams for communication, Forms for intake, and OneNote for training. The guiding principle was that students should not have to guess what to do. The hub makes the next step obvious: start the shift, check tasks, complete the checklist, use job aids, log work, and submit hours.

The live hub is private to MSMU, so I built a demo that shows its layout and components.

The Checklists

Alongside the hub, I created a fillable PDF packet of supervisor and new-hire checklists. It covers hiring, HR clearance and orientation, first-week training, work expectations, faculty and adjunct hire support, and offboarding. The packet documents the responsibilities and recurring tasks of my role, so the next person who inherits it has a clear place to start.

BDC Leadership Portfolio

I worked with an automotive Business Development Center leader to plan and build a professional portfolio website, résumé, and LinkedIn presence for his job search. His audience was dealer group executives, BDC directors, internet sales directors, and general managers looking for someone who could improve lead handling, show rates, appointment quality, and team performance.

The Approach

Before writing any copy, I created an outline and a storyboard that defined the site’s purpose, core message, audience, and tone. The tone rules were plain and direct: use numbers wherever possible, keep the sentences human, avoid buzzwords, and let the metrics and customer reviews do the bragging. The storyboard also covered the site layout, page-by-page web copy, a content checklist, and build notes.

The Result

The finished site is short, proof-based, and easy to skim. It opens with performance highlights, including an 83% appointment show rate sustained across 20 consecutive months, then moves through his approach to BDC leadership, customer communication, and reviews. It reads as a sales leadership portfolio rather than a creative one, which is what his audience expects.