Context: Worked as a Writing Advisor at the Brandel Library, helping students write their essays and career advise. 

Task: Improve the efficiency of the Writing Center and/or improve the employee satisfaction of the advisors. 

Problem: 

• Advisors don't know how much work they can expect to perform during a shift. 

• Some shifts, no students show up, other shifts, they are overwhelmed by demand. 

• Dispite this, each shift is staffed with the same number of advisors. 

• This creates operational inefficiencies and employee dissatisfaction. 

Solution: Developed a forecasting formula that estimates the number of drop-in students every shift using historical data. 

Outcome:

• Forecasting formula had a Mean Average Error of ~0.7 students per shift. 

• Identified possible annual cost savings of ~$5,000 by reducing staff during low demand periods. 

• Perceived unceartanty of workload decreased in advisors. 

• Overall job satisfaction increased.