University Housing
An Integrated Case Study with Microsoft® Office
© Robert Grauer and Maryann Barber
The University Housing case study is written from the viewpoint of the Housing Director
on a college campus. He or she reports directly to the provost on the revenue generated
through meal plans and dormitory rentals. The director also interacts directly with
students who live in the various dorms on campus.
This document provides a series of exercises in Microsoft Office that relate to the
university housing case study. Each exercise describes a specific task the director has to
accomplish and typically requires the use of multiple applications within Microsoft
Office for solution. Many of the exercises are cumulative in nature. For example, the
student is asked to create an Excel chart in one exercise, and then incorporate that chart
into a Word memo and a PowerPoint presentation in subsequent exercises. A summary of
the exercises is shown below:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
University Housing Workbook and Chart (Excel)
Report to the Provost: (Word and Excel)
Presentation to the Provost (PowerPoint and Excel)
Last Minute Change (Word, Excel, and PowerPoint)
Importing Data (Access and Excel)
A Relational Database (Access)
Access Objects: Forms, Queries, and Reports (Access)
An Access Switchboard (Access)
Mail Merge (Word and Access)
Worksheet References (Excel)
Presentation to Trustees (PowerPoint and Excel)
Letter to Trustees (Word and Excel)
Submission Check List (Word)
All exercises are based on material from Exploring Office XP Volume I by Robert
Grauer and Maryann Barber. Specific chapter references are deliberately not provided.
The exercises also utilize a series of practice files that are available on our Web site at
www.prenhall.com/grauer. This document may be freely duplicated in conjunction with
any text in the Exploring Office series by Robert Grauer and Maryann Barber.
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1) University Housing Workbook and Chart (Excel): You will find a partially
completed version of the spreadsheet in Figure 1 in the University Housing
workbook in the University Housing folder. (You can download the practice files for
this case study from our Web site at www.prenhall.com/grauer.) Open the workbook
and save it as University Housing Solution so that you can return to the original
workbook if necessary. Proceed as follows:
a) Click in cell D3 to enter the formula to compute the total room revenue for Ashe
Hall. (A double room has two students, both of whom pay cost of the room.)
Click in cell E3 and compute the meal revenue for Ashe Hall. Copy the formulas
in cell D3 and E3 to remaining cells in these columns.
b) Click in cell F3 and compute the total revenue for Ashe Hall. Copy this formula
to the remaining cells in this column.
c) Use the AutoFormat command as the basis for formatting your worksheet in an
attractive fashion. You can match our formatting or you can use your own
design.
d) Create a pie chart that shows the percentage of the meal revenue attributable to
each dorm. Store this chart in its own chart sheet. Create a column chart that
shows the total room revenue for each dorm. Store this chart in its own chart
sheet. Print both charts for your instructor.
e) Create a side-by-side column chart that shows the room revenue and meal
revenue for each dorm. Specify that the data series are in columns so that the
names of the dorms appear on the X-Axis. Use the data table option in the Chart
Options dialog box to display the numerical data beneath the chart. Save this
chart in its own sheet. (You do not have to print the side-by-side chart at this
time.)
f) Print the completed Housing Revenue worksheet twice, once to show displayed
values and once to show the cell formulas.
g) Save the completed workbook for use in subsequent exercises. You do not have
to print the chart at this time. Exit Excel.
Figure 1 – University Housing Workbook and Chart
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2) Report to the Provost: (Word and Excel): This exercise builds on the previous
exercise by creating a Word document that contains the Excel chart. The latter is to
be dynamically linked to the Word document, so that any changes in the Excel
workbook are automatically reflected in the memo.
a) You will find a partially completed version of the document in Figure 2 in the
Report to the Provost document in the University Housing folder. Open this
document, and then save it as Report to the Provost Solution.
b) Change the To and From lines in the memo to contain your instructor’s name
and your name, respectively.
c) Open the completed workbook from the previous exercise. Click the worksheet
tab containing the side-by-side column chart. Click the Zoom button and
change the magnification so that you can select the entire chart. Click the Copy
button.
d) Return to the Word document and click below the first paragraph to position the
insertion point for the chart. Pull down the Edit menu click Paste Special, select
Microsoft Excel Chart Object, click Paste Link, and click OK.
e) The Excel chart should appear in the document. The only tricky part (if any) is
to display the entire chart (it may be cropped initially). Select the chart then
click and drag a corner sizing handle to make the chart smaller. Right click the
chart and click the command to display the Picture toolbar. Select the Crop tool,
then click and drag the side handle at the right of the chart to show the portion of
the chart that may have been cropped initially.
f) Move and size the chart within the memo as necessary. You may find it
convenient to change the zoom specification to “Whole Page” so that you can
position the chart more easily.
g) Save the completed document. Print the completed document for your instructor.
Exit Word.
Figure 2 – Report to the Provost
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3) Presentation to the Provost (PowerPoint and Excel): A partially completed version of
the presentation in Figure 3 has been saved as the Presentation to the Provost in the
University Housing folder. Open this presentation and save it as Presentation to the
Provost Solution so that you can return to the original presentation if necessary.
a) Insert a new slide that contains a mission statement as the fifth slide in the
presentation. The mission statement should read as follows: The mission of the
University Housing Office is to provide a total environment that will enrich the
educational experience of its residents. It seeks to promote increased interaction
between faculty and students through resident masters, special programs, and
intramural activities. Run a spell check after you have added this slide.
b) Open the completed workbook from exercise one. Use the same technique as in
the previous problem to link the worksheet and the chart to the appropriate
slides in the presentation, as shown below. Move and/or size these objects after
they have added to the presentation.
c) Include animation effects as you see fit within a slide and add transition effects
from one slide to the next.
d) Add your name to the title slide. Print the audience handouts of the completed
presentation (six per page) for your instructor.
e) Save the completed presentation. Exit PowerPoint. Close the Excel workbook
and exit Excel.
Figure 3 – Presentation to the Provost
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4) Last Minute Change (Word, Excel, and PowerPoint): It was just discovered that the
single rooms in two of the dorms were not recorded in the year-end worksheet. Your
task is to correct all of the documents that reflect this information. Open the
completed University Housing Solution workbook from the exercise one.
a) Click in cells C3 and C4. Change the number of single rooms in Ashe Hall and
Memorial to 10 and 15, respectively. The revenues change in this worksheet as
do all of the associated charts. Save the workbook. Exit Excel.
b) Open the Report to the Provost Solution document from the second exercise.
The chart should be updated automatically to reflect the corrected revenue data.
(The room revenue for Ashe Hall after the update should be $2,206,010 and this
value should appear at the bottom of the chart.) If the chart is not updated, right
click the chart to display a context sensitive menu and click the Update Link
command. If the chart is still not updated, right click the chart, click the Linked
Chart Object command, then click the Links command to display the Links
dialog box where you can check the source (folder) of the linked objects.
c) Click at the beginning of the opening paragraph in the memo and enter the new
text, which is shown in bold italics in Figure 4. Save and print the completed
report. Exit Word.
d) Start PowerPoint. Open the Presentation to the Provost Solution that you created
earlier. PowerPoint detects that a change has been made in the underlying
workbook and prompts you to update. Click the button to update the links.
e) Change to the Slide Sorter view. Press and hold the Shift key as you select the
slides containing the Excel worksheet and chart. Pull down the File menu, click
the Print command, and print the selection (these two slides) as audience
handouts, two slides per page.
f) Save the presentation. Exit PowerPoint
Figure 4 – Last Minute Change
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5) Importing Data (Access and Excel): The University Housing database contains two
tables, one for students, and one for dorms (residence halls). The Students table
already exists within the Access database although data has not been entered for
every student. The dorm information, however, is in an Excel spreadsheet. Thus,
your first task is to import the Excel worksheet into the Access database.
a) Start Access. Open the University Housing database in the University Housing
folder. Click the Tables button if necessary. Pull down the File menu, click (or
point to) the Get External Data command, and then click the Import command to
display the import dialog box.
b) Click the down arrow on the Look in list box and change to the University
Housing folder (the same folder that contains the database). Change the file type
to Microsoft Excel. Select the Dorms workbook to start the Import Spreadsheet
Wizard.
c) Check the box that indicates the first row contains column headings as shown in
Figure 5. Click Next. Select the option button to store the data in a new table.
Click Next.
d) You do not need information about the individual fields. Click Next.
e) Select the option to choose your own primary key. Click the drop-down arrow
on the list box and select DormID. Click Next. Access indicates that it will
import the data into a Dorms table.
f) Click the Finish button, then click OK when the Wizard indicates that it has
imported the table. The Dorms table appears in the Database window.
g) Click the Forms button in the Database window and open the Dorms form. (This
form was previously created using the control names in the Dorms table that was
just imported.) Locate the record for Merrick Hall (record 3). Change the
Master’s name to your instructor’s name. Modify the e-mail and telephone
information as well. Print the completed form with your instructor’s data.
Figure 5 – Importing Data
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6) A Relational Database (Access): The University Housing database contains a one-tomany relationship between the Dorms table and the Students table as shown in
Figure 6. One dorm has many students, but a specific student is assigned to only one
dorm.
a) Pull down the Tools menu and create the relationships diagram that corresponds
to the report in Figure 6. Check the box to enforce referential integrity when you
create the relationship.
b) Pull down the File menu and click the Print Relationships command to create a
report containing the relationships diagram. Change to Design view, and then
modify the report to match Figure 6. Print the completed report for your
instructor. Close the report and return to the Database window.
c) Click the Query button in the Database window, and then create a new query in
Design view. The query is to contain fields from both tables as shown below:
i) Select the LastName, FirstName, Room, Address, City, State, and ZipCode
fields from the Students table.
ii) Select the DormName, Master, OfficePhone, and EmailAddress from the
Dorms table.
iii) Display the students in alphabetical order by last name.
iv) Save the query as Student Mailing List. You do not have to print the query
at this time.
d) Create a report that groups students by the dorm to which they are assigned, and
displays the students alphabetically within each dorm. The report is to be based
on the Student Mailing List query that you just created. Print this report for your
instructor.
Figure 6 – A Relational Database
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7) Access Objects (Forms, Queries, and Reports): Open the University Housing
database in the University Housing folder and create the additional objects as
described below.
a) Create the Student form in Figure 7. You need not follow our design exactly, but
you are required to include all of the functionality. This includes a combo box
for the student’s class and a second combo box for the student’s dorm.
b) Use the Combo Box wizard to create the control for the student’s class. Check
the option to type in the values that you want. Specify that the combo box will
contain two columns, one for the numeric class and one for the displayed value.
Use 1, 2, 3, and 4 for freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior, respectively.
(You will hide the first column so that the user is able to select the text value.)
c) Use the Combo Box wizard to create a second control for the student’s dorm.
Check the option that indicates these values will come from a table or query, and
then specify the Dorms table that was imported earlier. Be sure to set the tab
order correctly, so that you can tab from one field to the next during data entry.
d) Use the completed form to enter data for yourself. Use S11223344 as your
StudentID. Specify that you will be living in Memorial. Your room is MM8888.
Print the completed form containing your data. Do not print the forms for the
other students.
e) Create a report that lists every student in alphabetical order. The report should
be based on the Students table and should contain the following fields:
StudentID, Last name, First name, Address, and Room. The address should print
on two lines; i.e., the street address is on the first line, and the city, state, and zip
code is on the second line. The actual report runs 13 pages. You are to print just
the page that contains your data.
f) Create a query that will display the students living in Memorial. The query is to
be based on the Students table and should contain the students’ first and last
name, their complete address, and their room assignment. Print the dynaset of
the query in landscape orientation.
Figure 7 – Access Objects (Student Form)
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8) An Access Switchboard (Access): Create the switchboard in Figure 8 for the
University Housing database. You do not have to match our design exactly, but you
are required to have all five buttons. Note, too, that the switchboard contains a
Report Menu, which displays a subsidiary switchboard.
a) The first button on the main switchboard opens the University Housing form as
shown in Figure 8. This form has been created for you and can be found in the
University Housing database. You are asked, however, to modify the existing
form to include your name in the indicated position.
b) The second and third buttons display the Student and Dorm forms, respectively.
c) The report menu button provides access to a subsidiary switchboard that
contains the various reports you created in the previous exercise. There should
be four buttons on this switchboard, one for each report, and one button to return
to the main switchboard.
d) The exit button on the main switchboard closes the database.
e) Add the clip art image to the left of the switchboard. Insert a hyperlink under the
clip art that opens the Web page of your school or university.
f) Be sure to test both switchboards completely to be sure that they work correctly.
Print the Switchboard Items table, the main switchboard, and the report
switchboard for your instructor as proof that you completed the exercise.
g) Modify the startup property of the database so that the switchboard form opens
automatically when you open the database. (You can also create an AutoExec
macro to maximize the database window. Display the Database window, click
the Macros button, then click the New button to create a macro. Click the dropdown arrow to display the available actions and scroll until you can select
Maximize. Save the macro as AutoExec.)
h) Close the database then reopen it. The switchboard should appear automatically
and all subsequent objects should appear in a maximized window.
Figure 8 – An Access Switchboard
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9) Mail Merge (Word and Access): This exercise uses the Mail Merge facility in
Microsoft Word in conjunction with an Access database. You will be asked to create
two different form letters. Each letter is sent to a different set of recipients. You can
start the merge from either application. Proceed as follows:
a) Open the partially completed Introductory Letter document in the University
Housing folder and save it as Introductory Letter Solution so that you can return
to the original document if necessary.
b) Pull down the Tools menu, click Letters and Mailings, then click Mail Merge
Wizard to open the task pane. Select the Letters option. Click Next. Select the
option to use the Current Document. Click Next.
c) Select the recipients from an existing list. Choose the University Housing folder,
select the University Housing database and select the Student Mailing List
query (that was created earlier) to display the Mail Merge Recipients dialog box.
d) Add the address block and greeting line as shown in Figure 9. Move to the
second paragraph and insert the indicated fields. Click the View Merged Data
button to toggle between the field names and the actual data.
e) Click the Merge to New Document button and specify the first three records, as
shown in Figure 9. (There are more than 150 records in the database.) Print the
three letters for your instructor. Save the completed form letter. You do not have
to save the merged document. Close Word.
f) Start Access and open the University Housing database. Close the switchboard.
Click the Queries button in the Database window and open the Memorial
Students query from the earlier exercise. Pull down the Tools menu, click Office
Links, then click the Merge It with Microsoft Word command. Select the option
to link to an existing document and choose the End of Year document in the
University Housing folder.
g) Add the address block after the phrase, “To the Parents of”. Complete the merge
and print only the first three letters for your instructor. Save the completed form
letter as End of Year Solution. Exit Word. Exit Access.
Figure 9 – Mail Merge
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10) Worksheet References (Excel): The Trustees have asked for a comparison of the
housing revenue for this year to last year. A second workbook has been created with
this information, but it is your task to complete that workbook. Proceed as follows:
a) Open the Historical Housing workbook in the University Housing folder and
save it as Historical Housing Solution. (The values in this worksheet reflect the
last minute change that was made in problem four to the number of single rooms
in Ashe Hall and Memorial.)
b) Click the worksheet tab labeled Year to Year Comparison, then click in cell B3
of this worksheet as shown in Figure 9. Type an equal sign, click the worksheet
tab labeled Last Year, click in cell F3 of this worksheet and press enter. The
formula for this cell appears in the formula bar as =’Last Year’!F3, indicating
that the value for this cell is obtained from another worksheet in the same
workbook. Enter similar formulas to display the total revenues for all of the
dorms for both this year and last year.
c) Complete the entries in column D of the Year to Year Comparison worksheet
that show the dollar increase from last year to this year. The cell formulas in this
column should reference only the Year to Year worksheet. Add another set of
formulas in column E (not shown in Figure 10) to compute the percent increase
from last year to this year.
d) Format the completed worksheet, then print the Year to Year worksheet for your
instructor. Print the worksheet two ways, once to show the displayed values, and
once to show the cell formulas.
e) Create a combination chart that plots both the dollar amount of the increase as
well as the percent of the increase for each dorm as shown in Figure 10. Display
a data table at the bottom of the chart sheet. Note that the percent increases for
Ashe Hall and Memorial are 3.3% and 16.5%, respectively, and reflect the
earlier correction to the number of single rooms in these dorms. You do not have
to print the combination chart at this time.
f) Save the completed workbook. Exit Excel.
Figure 10 – Worksheet References
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11) Presentation to Trustees (PowerPoint and Excel): A partially completed version of
the presentation in Figure 10 has been saved as Presentation to the Trustees in the
University Housing folder. Open this presentation and save it as Presentation to the
Trustees Solution. Your next task is to link the worksheets and chart from the
previous exercise to various slides in this presentation.
a) Open the Historical Housing Solution workbook from the previous exercise.
Select the worksheet that contains revenue data for last year, and link that data
to the slide containing the year-to-year comparison (slide 4).
b) Select the worksheet with the revenue for the current year and link this data to
the same slide as in part (a). Move and/or size the worksheets after they have
been added to the presentation.
c) Return to Excel. Select the chart sheet containing the combination chart, then
link that chart to slide five as shown in Figure 11.
d) Add the mission statement as slide number two by importing this slide from the
Report to the Provost presentation. (Pull down the Insert menu, click the Slides
from File command to display the Slide Finder dialog box, and then click the
Browse button to locate the earlier presentation.)
e) Add transition and custom animation effects as you see fit.
f) Add your name to the title slide in the indicated position. Print the audience
handouts of the completed presentation (six per page) for your instructor.
g) Save the completed presentation. Exit PowerPoint. Close the Excel workbook.
Exit Excel.
Figure 11 – Presentation to Trustees
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12) Letter to Trustees (Word and Excel): This exercise provides additional practice in
linking Excel objects to a Word document. Open the partially completed Letter to
Trustees document in the University Housing folder. Insert your name as the director
of University Housing. Save the document as Letter to Trustees Solution so that you
can return to the original document if necessary. Proceed as follows to create the
completed document in Figure 12.
a) Open the Historical Housing Solution workbook from exercise 10 if it is not
already open. Select the worksheet containing the revenue for the current year
and link it to the Word document, immediately after the first paragraph. Place
(link) the worksheet containing the revenue for the previous year below the first
worksheet.
b) Insert a section break at the end of the first page, then change the orientation of
the second page (section) to landscape as shown in Figure 12. Return to the
Excel workbook. Select the combination chart and link this chart to the Word
document. The Excel chart should appear in the document. The chart may be
cropped initially. If so, select the entire chart then click and drag a corner sizing
handle to make the chart smaller. Right click the chart and click the command to
display the Picture toolbar. Select the Crop tool, then click and drag the side
handle at the right of the chart to show the portion of the chart that may have
been cropped initially.
c) Save the completed document, and then print the completed letter for your
instructor. Exit Word. Exit Excel.
Figure 12 – Letter to Trustees
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13) Submission Checklist (Word): You have successfully completed multiple exercises
with the University Housing case study. Each exercise described a specific task(s),
required the use of one or more applications in Microsoft Office, and asked you to
print one or more documents to show that you completed the exercise. The
submissions checklist in Figure 13 will ensure that you have printed all of the
required documents.
a) Open the University Housing Submission Checklist that is found in the
University Housing folder. Read the document carefully and check each box
after you verify that you have printed the indicated document.
b) Add your name to the check list as indicated, then use the check list as a cover
sheet when you submit the material to your instructor.
c) Think for a minute about all that you have accomplished. You have completed a
series of 12 exercises, which required the use of all four major applications
within Microsoft Office. Congratulations on a job well done!
Figure 13 – Submission Checklist
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