58 the students have an opportunity to use their theoretical education to resolve real issues before they graduate. The Azalea Consulting Services team gathered compensation data of similarly sized Georgia city governments and compared it to the City of Warner Robins. The team members administered online questionnaires to City of Warner Robins employees in order to clearly define selected position descriptions and responsibilities; they conducted virtual and face-to-face meetings with city officials to understand their needs and budget. The months of work culminated in a new pay scale proposal that was presented to the City of Warner Robins in Summer 2017. The city accepted and implemented the plan in July. Bryan Fobbus, human resources manager for the City of Warner Robins, said the increased compensation improved employee morale “right off the bat.” “It’s great to finally get your hands dirty, to use the skills you’ve learned and learn new skills as well,” said Jacob Highsmith of Waycross, Georgia, who joined Azalea Consulting Services at the end of 2016 as an undergraduate student. He expects to graduate with a Master of Science in industrial/organizational psychology in Spring 2019. “Azalea Consulting Services is a great way to gain real-world and sometimes paid experience in the field of consulting. We’re not playing consultants anymore. We’re getting to be actual consultants.” For Azalea Consulting Services, which is sponsored by Â鶹Éç’s Center for Applied Social Sciences, consulting means offering a wide range of services, from assisting with employee recruitment and training to planning future advancement through data-driven analysis. “Azalea Consulting Services perfectly fits the mission of a regional comprehensive university like Valdosta State, where our faculty and graduate students collaborate on these applied research projects as part of our teaching, scholarship, and service to our region,” said Dr. James LaPlant, dean of the Graduate School and vice president for research. “These projects provide excellent professional development opportunities for the graduate students and benefit local governments and nonprofit organizations throughout our service region.” Azalea Consulting Services is constantly evolving as students come and go and team members identify the types of projects they want to undertake. Dr. Jeremy Bauer and Dr. Natalie Wright, assistant professors of psychology, offer advice to team members when needed and help to coordinate projects, but the majority of the work and leadership lies with the students. “Azalea Consulting Services is divided into specific teams that work on different projects, and every team has the autonomy to focus on whatever they want, which is really great,” said Katelynn Belliveau of Columbia, South Carolina, who joined Azalea Consulting Services in Fall 2016 and expects to graduate with a Master of Science in industrial/organizational psychology in Spring 2018. “They can take on as much or as little as they have the capacity to do.” The freedom to choose the work they want has led team members to partner with several Â鶹Éç departments to create manuals for job positions, develop strategic plans for recruiting new employees, and more. “I could not be more proud of the work Dr. Bauer, the industrial/organizational faculty, and our students are doing with Azalea Consulting Services,” said Dr. Kate Warner, head of the Department of Psychology, Counseling, and