Problem:
Students are often assigned work in class that would benefit from a collaborative experience, but groups are not always assigned an outside perspective is often beneficial. For instance, a student is assigned a research project and needs subjects to do interviews with. Finding the right people to interview is usually no simple task. It can be challenging for these connections to occur when there is no direct benefit for everyone undertaking the project besides an altruistic one. While altruism is a fantastic motivating factor for some, other people may be more willing to help if there are additional benefits or motivational factors for helping with another student’s assignment or project. University life is challenging, managing the constant deadlines, maintaining a social life and balancing the work of all the different projects assigned.

With all of the deadlines students face, having a resource that would help students to collaborate on assignments would be very beneficial. Projects are often time sensitive and finding the right people in a timely manner is just one of the challenges of project management. Furthermore, in the hustle and bustle of day to day life students free time is precious and finding the motivation to volunteer with not only student assignments, but school or community events and give up some of that precious free time can be a challenge. Finding people who are not only willing, but also able during a time where students are not only attending school, but working and, perhaps, volunteering can be a serious challenge.

Finally, People will often turn to those closest to them when asking for help, not only because they are the most likely to give up some free time, but also because they are the easiest to ask. However, those friends may not always be best suited for the job. Asking complete strangers for assistance can be a daunting task and, even then, finding the right people for the job can be difficult. Knowing where the best place to recruit those suitable for the job is often obscure and may not be a place where one knows how to navigate the social order. University is supposed to feel like a community, but often it can feel like a series of islands each occupied by a different faculty and bridging the gap between those islands is no simple task.

This is where the concept of a student help work exchange program comes in. To alleviate some of the difficulties students might encounter when assigned a class project.