Message from the Chair

As a way to connect with our many alumni, we will be sending an annual newsletter sharing information about the CMIS department. The newsletter will give us an opportunity to highlight some of the recent events that have taken place within the department.

Both our undergraduate and graduate degree programs are growing! We now have over 25 graduate students pursuing their MS in CMIS and more than 150 undergraduate majors. With the growth, we are adding courses to both programs. The graduate program now includes specializations in both project management and business analytics. Our undergraduate program has added several electives, including courses on mobile application development, big data analytics, and project management fundamentals. In addition, several of our undergraduate courses have added curriculum to prepare students for certification exams.

There continue to be budget woes. We rely on alumni donations to fund scholarships for students and to fund the databases needed by students for coursework. Perhaps you remember downloading free Microsoft software and VMWARE software? Donations from alumni allow us to continue being a member of the Microsoft Academic Alliance so undergraduates and graduate students can download Project, Visio, asp.net, and any number of software products at no cost to the student. Costs to access Oracle databases and SAP databases are the same – only available because of donations by alumni. For this, we thank you, and our current students also thank you for your continued support.

Please visit the department, still on the second floor of Founders Hall, if you are in the area. Best wishes to all of you for a successful year.

Anne Powell
Professor and Chair

High-Impact Campaign

Business Transitions Program Lays Foundation for SIUE Student Success

From the beginning of their collegiate studies in business, to their first steps into the professional world, School of Business students are benefiting from the Business Transitions Program. The goal of the program is to give SIUE students a competitive edge in the professional workforce by helping mold them into successful business leaders during their college career.

“Our primary objective is to enhance their professionalism,” said Dr. Tim Schoenecker, associate professor of management in the SIUE School of Business. “Anything we can do to better prepare them for their transition to business professionals is beneficial.”

The Business Transitions Program is the School of Business’ current High Impact Campaign. The School is working to raise $250,000 in the next 18 months for the program. Contribute today!

Department News

CMIS is taking two very exciting steps to enhance the opportunities for our graduate students:

Creating a new specialization in business analytics
Establishing project management as a formal specialization

We have heard the message from our corporate partners in the St. Louis metropolitan area about the importance of business analytics and project management in corporate decision-making and strategic implementations. By establishing business analytics and project management as formal specializations, our students will have their efforts in these areas officially recognized on their transcripts and diplomas. This is extremely valuable to our students and a real competitive differentiator!

So what is the business analytics specialization? Learn more

Undergraduate Curriculum News

Industry certifications are an important way our students can demonstrate their IS/IT knowledge and differentiate themselves from other applicants in the job market. While earning a certification is not the main focus of any of these courses, adding content to the courses we offer can help position students who wish to take certification exams for success!

As you may remember, the senior capstone course (CMIS 470) includes an assessment that can lead to the Information Systems Analyst (ISA) certification. The ISA assessment covers the most common skills employers seek from new graduates, including information technology skills, organizational and professional skills, and strategic systems development skills. This exam has provided evidence of student learning in the BS in CMIS program for several years.

Advanced Topics in Project Management is a new elective course being offered at SIUE. Students are introduced to PMI’s Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) that forms the foundation for the Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM) certification. PMI designed the CAPM certification specifically for undergraduates, and it does not require work experience. The course is designed to prepare students to take the CAPM exam and potentially achieve CAPM certification.

In addition, some of our more technical classes are also adding content to help students prepare for certification exams, if they choose to do so. We will continue to focus on the business aspects of IT and its theoretical foundations, but now we can offer more in-depth technical training as well. The certification material in the below classes includes online virtual labs where students can get hands-on experience with different platforms and technologies.

Many large companies are requiring their network administrators to have Network+ certification. Additional content to encourage students to sit for the Network+ certification has been added to our network class. Since those wishing to earn a Network+ certificate are encouraged to have the A+ certificate, new content is also being added to our technology hardware course so that those students wishing to take the A+ certificate will have access to resources to study for (and hopefully pass) the exam.
Three electives (information security, end user systems support, and Unix & server systems) have added content to include material for the Security+ certification, Enterprise Desktop Support Technician Certification, and Linux+ certification, respectively.

CMIS students with a degree, an internship and a few certifications on their resume, should make the next generation of CMIS Cougars the most successful ever!

Spotlight on Students

Our CMIS student organization, AITP, continues to bring added value to our members through guest speakers and technical workshops. Guest speakers have included visits from our faithful partners Edward Jones and Datotel, as well as new connections from Centric and Monsanto. Our technical workshops are more popular than ever with sessions covering a variety of topics, including mobile app development, network security and certifications. We are honored to continue to be recognized as having outstanding leaders recognized by the Enterprise Student Leader of the Semester Award. Last fall, AITP Vice President Joshua House was our most recent recipient of the award. Joshua joins past award winners Adam Arras (Spring 2014), James Boudeman (Spring 2013) and Joe Randazzo (Fall 2012).

Alumni in the News

Joe Randazzo ('13 BS CMIS) expresses gratitude for the valuable opportunities made available to him during his academic career at SIUE. A recent CMIS graduate, Randazzo has since accepted a position as a software developer at Coolfire Solutions; a small company created in 2010 which specializes in mobile, software, and hardware developments for the defense and health industries. In addition to his career, Randazzo is studying part-time in the SIUE School of Engineering. Read more

Focus on Faculty

Welcome New Faculty

Connie Barber comes to us from the University of North Carolina Greensboro, where she completed her PhD in 2014. Her interests include the unintended consequences of social media in society, critical community building in online classes, and IT and cultural competence. Additionally, she is intrigued by the implications of online video games for businesses and managers. Her industry background focused on the design, development and maintenance of databases using a variety of software. As such, she will be teaching undergraduate database courses. 2014-2015 is Dr. Barber’s first year at SIUE.

Tim Jacks also comes to us from the University of North Carolina Greensboro, where he completed his PhD in 2012. His interests include IT occupational culture, strategic IT/business alignment, and healthcare informatics. Dr. Jacks began at SIUE in the 2012-2013 school year. He has taken over teaching the telecommunications/networking classes, as well as the information security class.

Recent Retirements

Douglas Bock, after 25 years as a professor at SIUE, retired in May 2012. Dr. Bock served as chair of the CMIS department for 11 years. He served on numerous University, School and departmental committees. His research included 27 journal articles, three books, a half dozen book chapters and numerous conference presentations. Teaching at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, he was a well-liked and favorite professor of many. He served as a mentor to not only students, but to the junior faculty he hired. He demonstrated his commitment to excellence in all that he accomplished. Now he spends his days, you guessed it, golfing!

Terri Keister, after 19 years as an instructor at SIUE, retired in May 2013. Ms. Keister taught a wide variety of courses at SIUE, from programming classes to senior design classes. She was instrumental in developing the Introduction to CMIS class taken by all School of Business majors, adding ERP components to the course. Students and CMIS faculty alike miss her sense of humor.

Mary Sumner, after 32 years as a professor at SIUE, retired in May 2014. Dr. Sumner was instrumental in developing several executive education programs, including Construction Leadership Institute, the Project Management Professional Program, the Project Management Symposium, the Technology and Commerce Roundtable, the Hannover Financial Institute, and the Certificate Program in Health Informatics for BJC Healthcare. Teaching both undergraduate and graduate level courses at SIUE, she consistently used innovative methods to facilitate student learning. With her strong industry ties, she facilitated learning opportunities within corporations for our seniors in the undergraduate capstone course.

Recent Faculty Research