Joan Schraith ColePaid WorkOctober 2006 - PresentLifelines Wellness Center - Champaign, IL Massage Therapist As an independent contractor, I design and perform customized massage therapy sessions for clients. Depending on the clients' needs, sessions can be oriented to pain reduction, preventive wellness, dynamic stretching, or relaxation. Detailed anatomical knowledge of the musculoskeletal system, fascia, and lymphatic system is employed in creating massage sessions. I also work part-time accounting for accounts receivable, and creating software tools for the business in VBA and Excel.
April 2000 - December 2000 After returning from maternity leave, I telecommuted doing debugging, maintenance and database documentation.
April 1999 - December 1999 Starting from a short concept document, I did market research and requirements analysis for the new StrataTrak product. I designed and implemented the database in Access, and led a team of programmers in the coding and implementation of the system in Visual Basic. Technically, this used a three tier client server design strategy, though the database is file server based. The data services layer and business tier were implemented as components written in VB, and called from the user interface executable. I managed this project up to test build 1, when I went part time due to the physical demands of late pregnancy. For the last six weeks before I went on maternity leave, I held the role of developer, and mentored my replacement in managing the project. I count the smooth transition in leadership as one of my achievements in this position.
1994 - 1999 I consulted with and advised executives and technical staff throughout the University concerning communications and computing requirements and opportunities. I assisted in the preparation of office system and end-user computing strategies, and assisted in integrating technology into the business processes of the University. I led several projects to identify, analyze and solve business problems, utilizing micro computing, access to University data and local and wide area communications networks. Specifically these projects included prototyping a Lotus Notes/Domino application for the Office of Capital Programs (which became PRZM) and a Visual Basic for Applications/Excel 97 based application for preparation of travel vouchers on the Chicago campus. Within AISS, I created a client contact tracking application within Lotus Notes and co-led the simultaneous migration of the Lotus Notes server and client environment from version 3.3 to 4.51, and recertification of our server as a hub for University Administration Lotus Notes servers. I originated and maintained the web page for my workgroup, and was involved in the planning for the initial AISS web presence. I was involved in deployment plans for enterprise wide client/server applications and information warehouse access. I wrote how-to documentation, developed training sessions, wrote newsletter articles and gave presentations at campus computing events. I served for more than three years on the CDBS Cross-Functional Team, and in conjunction with that received training in meeting and facilitation skills. Finally, I also served as second-line on-site and telephone support for any issues involving microcomputers that get called in to the AISS help desk.
1991 - 1994 I was responsible for systems analysis, design, development and implementation of Cultural Resources Management software products. This included setting deadlines, managing student programmers and monetary resources, developing milestone and budget plans, developing design specifications, hardware and software acquisition, programming code (FoxPro), producing user manual documentation, and giving presentations. Three of the software products I developed were the Legacy Manager, the Integrated Building Inventory System (IBIS), and the Cultural Resources Information System (CRIS). The Legacy Manager was used by all branches of the DoD, and had separate interfaces for users at the service headquarters level, the command division level, and installation level. The purpose of the Legacy Manager was to automate the proposal submission process and produce the required Congressional report. IBIS was developed to aid in the production of Level IV Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) reports. It managed the information needed for the production of the reports, printed individual reports for each building, and formatted the data for use in other cultural resource management systems. CRIS supported installation personnel in preservation planning tasks, and was in use at more than 100 sites. On July 7 1992, I received an official commendation from the Department of the Army for this work. I also served on the lab's Corps of Engineers Financial Management System (CEFMS) implementation team and on the Land Management Systems Integration committee.
1987 - 1994 With my husband, I founded and ran this business, and was able to keep it going on a full-time basis for a few years, and later on a part-time basis until technology changed to make the kind of programming I was doing obsolete. Our business consisted of custom programming and helping clients computerize. I did the "people work" and coding, and my husband did the hardware. Our computerization function included several services: researching available package software for a certain function, determining the best mail-order source, installing computers at the client's site, and providing one-on-one training. Our custom programming services included systems analysis, software design, and programming integrated office automation solutions in DBMS packages. Our clients included hospitals, associations and regional small businesses. Even today, I know of at least three installations where the DOS-based system I wrote for the client 5-10 years ago is still more compelling a solution to them than the off-the-shelf alternatives. Although I still support these continuing clients when they have needs, I ceased engaging new clients back in 1994.
1991 tax season As a tax preparer at H & R Block, I was responsible for preparing a legal and accurate tax return for a client which provided that client with the maximum legal refund to which they were entitled. In addition to knowledge of taxation, this position required a professional and courteous demeanor in order to make the client feel comfortable with what is perceived as a very unpleasant activity, compliance with H & R Block procedures for accuracy checking and return processing, and the ability to explain technical issues to clients unfamiliar with tax matters.
1988 - 1990 I performed a diverse set of tasks for this organization. I organized a manual filing system for subscription sales after the Pennsylvania and Urbana offices were consolidated. I developed software to maintain the Accounts Receivable for these sales, and performed the required clerical tasks to maintain the subscription function. These tasks included order entry, billing, claims research, originating correspondence, packaging journals for mailing, filing, and preparation of aging reports and other ad hoc reports. During my final year there, a full time secretary was added to the staff to take over the journal function, and I applied my hours to developing software to computerize the membership services function.
1986 - 1988 As a consultant for University of Illinois students, faculty and staff, the main focus of my employment revolved around utilizing my computer expertise to solve problems brought in by clients. These problems included difficulties setting up and customizing hardware and software, software recommendation, personal computer to mainframe communications troubleshooting, and client training in popular software packages. Additionally, I was a frequent contributor to the Computing Services Office's OFFLINE newsletter, developed documentation for software we distributed, and taught several group "short courses" in spreadsheets and word processors.
Summer 1986 In addition to performing data entry for the compilation of the operations budget, I also improved the Lotus 1-2-3 worksheet used for the budget with macros, aided other personnel in the use of Lotus, and worked with the Production Manager to create a data regression model to analyze the optimal usage of one of Humko's raw materials.
Spring 1986
I was employed by the College of Medical Science as a Research Assistant on a Meta-Expert System project. In light of my bibliographic and library skills, I was hired to check citations, compile bibliographies and do other library research. Education2005 - 2006 Parkland CollegeCertificate (Massage Therapy) 1987 - 1990 University of Illinois M.A.S. (Accounting / Information Systems)
1983 - 1987 University of Illinois Business and IT Certifications and Commercial TrainingC.P.A., May 1991MCSE, November 1998 (based on NT 3.51)
ITForum - focussed on Data Mining and Java topics (1998)
 Computer History (Things Mostly Self-Taught and For Pleasure)I learned the basics of using an IBM-PC in 1981I got my first exposure to collaborative software on the PLATO system in 1984 (PLATO was one of the inspirations for Lotus Notes) I taught myself dBase in 1986 I got my first exposure to Unix, the Internet, and USENET in 1987 At some point in the late 80's, I started spending a significant amount of hobby time on electronic BBSi (I had friends who were sysops, though I never was) and on CompuServe I got my first exposure to the World Wide Web when I saw Mosaic running under X-Windows in 1993 I put up my first home page in 1994 I discovered real-time virtual presence software (also known as Multi-User Dimension, Object Oriented, or MOO) in 1994 I first saw Lotus Notes used to serve pages on the web at LotuSphere in 1995 I organized about 20 people from all over the world to rebuild a virtual geography on a MOO in 1995, and thereby learned much about facilitating collaborations when the people will probably never meet face-to-face. I also taught myself object oriented programming on the MOO (MOO-code is a Lisp-like language) I became an administrator (also known as a "wizard" or "god") on one of the larger virtual worlds (RiverMOO) in 1996
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