Graduate students at the University of Kansas School of Business are wrapping of the first year of a new program to help solve management problems for nonprofit groups.

The Lawrence Journal-World reports the business school launched the Kansas Impact Project last fall. First-year students in the MBA program formed five teams, each studying the business problems of a nonprofit group and coming up with possible solutions.

One group worked with a long-term care facility in the southwest Kansas town of Ashland on how to recruit and keep qualified nursing assistants. Another tackled the problem of clients who miss appointments at the Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center in Lawrence.

Cathy Shenoy, the business school’s MBA program director, says the Kansas Impact Project will expand to eight nonprofits next year.