Nataley Davis | staff writer

At the start of last school year, it was brought to computer science professor Jeffrey Jackson’s attention that the cost of the tutor-scheduling software used by the mathematics and computer science department was set to double in price.

Jackson chose to see this as an opportunity for his students, rather than a hardship for the university.

Working tirelessly, the students in Jackson’s spring software engineering class created DuqSchut, a new software for students to schedule appointments with tutors.

Jackson said that this course usually contains a semester-long project that is applicable to a career in software programming.

“It’s not often that a student project actually is put to use … I can’t remember another time where we got that far.”

DuqSchut not only saved the university thousands of dollars, but also gave students the opportunity to work on a real-world assignment.

The student-made software has completely replaced the old one this school year, and the physics department adopted the program as well.

Jackson said that the software previously bought by the department was set to cost almost $2,000 for this school year, while DuqSchut costs approximately $20 a month to operate.

During his time at the university, Jackson has never seen this level of success on a student programming project.

“We had a few little glitches over the first week or two that we had to clean up. But since the second week or so of classes, it’s just been running smoothly,” Jackson said.

Current senior Jessica Bowman took a special interest in the project, working through the summer with Jackson to get the initiative started before the fall semester.

Bowman said that she became passionate about the project and wanted to take the extra step for the software to be fully functional.

“The class worked so hard on it, and I wanted to make sure it actually did get out there and was usable,” she said. “It was great working with Dr. Jackson. We both communicated well together and he offered me a lot of feedback on my work … I think it will definitely help with my career and look great on a resume.”

Bowman said that the process of creating DuqSchut was largely collaborative. The class broke into groups, delegated tasks based on individual strengths and tried to learn as much as they could in their spare time.

Alex Lipecky, mathematics instructor and supervisor for math and computer science tutors, oversaw the project as the product owner. Lipecky worked alongside the students, telling them what he was looking for in the product.

He said that while the old program the department used had more “bells and whistles,” the student-made product is more user-friendly and suitable for their needs

“We needed something more streamlined…I actually think it has a pretty clean look, maybe not as graphically appealing,” Lipecky said. “I used to have to type in for every tutor what classes they were going to tutor in, and now it’s built so that I type it in once for the entire semester.”

The use of artificial intelligence was instrumental in getting the software up and running so quickly for the start of the school year.

Jackson said that while he prohibits the use of AI in most of his classes, the objective of this course allowed for it to be used as a tool as long as students specified where it was helpful to expedite the process.

Reflecting on the students’ hard work, Jackson said that his main takeaway from the experience was the dedication and teamwork exhibited throughout the semester and into the summer with Bowman.

“I was just very proud of the students. 
They stepped up, worked well together… it started a little slow, it always does, just getting used to it,” he said. “By the end of the semester, we had a really good working team. All of them did a great job.”

Nataley Davis can be reached at davisn5@duq.edu