Solver Brings Hands-On Practice to College Students

School is out for the summer, but the Solver team was busy in the classroom this past spring semester. We spent three days in April giving back to college students who are pursuing careers in information systems and business analytics with a hands-on learning module.

Jonathan Stavros, head of the Solver Academy, and Michael Buehner, our global sales director, teamed up to give back to students in Buehner's community. The pair taught a series of three classes for an Excel-based business data analytics course at the University of South Florida in Tampa.

The project-based course was designed to give students a chance to explore business analytics using advanced Excel techniques. By bringing Stavros and Buehner into the classroom, students had an opportunity to see behind the curtain of a real software solution and apply their data analytics know-how with hands-on practice.

“Over my consulting career, I saw so many clients struggling with reporting that had data coming in from many sources,” Professor Michael Travis shared, head of the course. “I saw great functionality in the data management and data warehousing side of the product. Your [Solver’s] reliance on Excel, I'm sure, helps all new users quickly grasp and get up to speed on the reporting side.  Solver really has a great technical design, and I see why your business is so successful.”

Sample Solver Class Agenda

Although the agenda can be customized for future courses, here is what the course covered:

Day 1: Corporate performance management and Solver

• Introduction and overview
• Financial reporting
• Data warehouse terminology

Day 2: Reporting and analytics

• Hands-on data analysis with Ad Hoc tool
• Designing reports in Excel
• Creating a new template
• Building a trial balance

Day 3: Planning and dashboards

• Budgeting
• Forecasting
• Planning strategy and goals
• Using dashboards

Connections Made the Difference

Buehner kicked off the module with an introduction to corporate performance management solutions like Solver. Stavros provided technical product explanations, demonstrating how corporate clients use and benefit from Solver’s technology. Topics included financial reporting, data analysis, budgeting, and forecasting.

“Michael and Jonathan were outstanding! They connected with–and related very well–with the students,” - Professor Michael Travis.

If you or your school are interested in partnering with Solver to integrate real-life applications of data analytics in business and get hands-on experience in the classroom, please contact: Jonathan Stavros, head of the Solver Academy.