Interns for the IRS Office of Performance Technology This past summer 2000, Cathleen Brown, Renee Carson, and Sue Phares, SDSU EDTEC graduate students, worked as interns for the IRS in the Office of Performance Technologies (OPT).The interns' projects supported an expanded internal marketing effort. Sue Phares worked with two IRS OPT staffers, Jerry Bradburn, Computer Specialist and Terry Veazey, Program Analyst, on a project to redesign the website for the OPT. They wanted their website to effectively introduce the services OPT provides, and to educate other IRS departments about performance technology and performance consulting. The second project focused on a vexing problem for government managers and supervisors. Cathleen Brown and Renee Carson worked with OPT instructional designer, Linda G. McBurney, on on a project to develop an online decision support tool for government managers regarding family and family friendly medical leave policies. This effort was part of a bigger project to develop a manager's e-guide, basically a one-stop shop for managers. The OPT initially approached SDSU EDTEC professor, Allison Rossett and the San Diego Sandbox for help with new media and online performance support. Their ensuing conversations resulted in the development of these internship opportunities. Dr. Rossett said, "The IRS faces many challenges - tax law, compliance issues, taxpayer confidence, and technology opportunities. Because of these great challenges, the IRS Office has begun to attempt to do many of the things to which our graduate students aspire. They are building new media training programs; they are developing online performance support tools; and they are attempting to use the web as a location for managing knowledge and professional development." Stuart Grossman, a key manager at the Sandbox, played a critical role as liaison between the Department, students and the IRS. He also provided day-to-day coaching for the interns on these two projects. The internships provided each graduate student an opportunity to see a project carried from the initial concept to a completed prototype. Often class projects have a focus on one aspect of the ADDIE model, but they worked on the project from the analysis stage, through design, and then prototype development. All three students attest to the value of project management techniques in the successful completion of their efforts. Because their IRS partners were located in Kansas City and Washington, DC, while the three were primarily in San Diego, roles for each team member had to be clearly defined along with a schedule for completion of tasks. To communicate effectively with one another, teams clarified protocols and made extensive use of e-mail and conference calls. In reflecting on her experience Cathleen remarked, "I realize the value of task assignment and ownership in getting a project completed because the project was so large and people were working physically apart from each other." As an intern, each student functioned as an outside consultant and grasped first-hand the tremendous importance of clarifying expectations with their clients. As Sue pointed out, "I polished my meeting skills - setting and sticking to agendas, keeping accurate minutes, and group decision-making." Renee commented on the experience she gained working with clients, in particular, learning how to "push back a client's request and knowing when you can't push back any further." The projects culminated in a meeting in Washington D.C. in September. There Sue, Cathleen, and Renee presented their projects and websites to the Director of Human Resources Technologies in Washington D.C. and were very positively received by the attendees. During their time in D.C., Dr. Rossett coordinated a gathering with about a dozen EDTEC alumni living in the vicinity providing a chance to connect with alumni, hear about their experiences in the department, and discuss what kinds of things they find themselves involved with now.