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Attention Fox School of Business: Time to Nominate a Leader!

Yes, it’s that time of year again, time to nominate a Fox IT Awards leadership award winner!

Is there an administrator, faculty member, or student who you feel made a significant contribution to the students and extended community of the MIS department during the calendar year 2011?

Complete the nomination form for a deserving recipient TODAY!
These three awards await your nominations:

Student Leadership – Awarded annually to a student who has made a significant contribution to the students and extended community of the MIS department.
Eligibility: All full time undergraduate MIS students, all full and part-time MIS graduate students.

Faculty Leadership – This award is given annually to a faculty member who has made a significant contribution to the students and extended community of the MIS department.
Eligibility: Full and part-time faculty who have been employed at Temple for at least two semesters including the current term.

Administrative Leadership – This award is given annually to an administrator who has made a significant contribution to the students and extended community of the MIS department.
Eligibility: Full time administrators of the Fox School of Business and Management (or other Temple U. administrators  who have been employed at Temple for at least two semesters including the current term.

Thank you for your attention to this important matter!

Portfolio points

portfolio
port•fo•li•o (pôrt-fo¹lê-o´, port-) noun – The collection of materials which are representative of a person’s work: a photographer’s portfolio; an artist’s portfolio of drawings.

portfolio leaderboardAs an entry-level IT professional, what is in your portfolio? Besides your transcript and your diploma, what do you have to show to employers that you are going to be a successful IT professional? At Fox MIS, students show their academic and professional development success by:

  • creating and maintaining a digital identity (e-portfolio)
  • (new) compiling a required portfolio of professional development activities that is based on acquiring points for each activity
  • (new) gaining recognition for their achievements through the e-portfolio wire and portfolio point leader board.

MIS students start to develop a portfolio in their first MIS class and continue to receive opportunities to add to their portfolio as they progress through the curriculum.  Checkpoints throughout the curriculum make sure that students stay on course to graduate with the required number of minimum points. Students  receive points for participation in professional development activities and for applying academic learning to practice (e.g., internships, student organization leadership). Students showcase their achievements on e-portfolios.

The portfolio points program was started in spring 2012 by Professor Mart Doyle.

Professional Achievement Program

FOXMIS Professional Achievement - Grand Master FOXMIS Professional Achievement - Master FOXMIS Professional Achievement - Candidate FOXMIS Professional Achievement - Apprentice

Professional achievement is professional development, career knowledge, leadership, networking, and readiness for the workplace. Professional achievement is different from academic achievement, both are important. Employers expect that new hires will have the skills and knowledge to perform their job and the street savvy, communication skills, and relevant experiences to hit the ground running. A high level of professional achievement shows employers that you can apply learning to practice, and that you can work with your peers and accomplish goals. Academic achievement is measured by GPA, professional achievement is measured by professional achievement points.

Fox MIS majors benefit from an innovative one-of-a-kind three part professional achievement program:

  1. Earn 1000 points (minimum) for professional development activities and for applying learning to practice (e.g., internships, student leadership)
  2. Receive recognition for professional achievement on leaderboards, badges, professional achievement wire, and e-portfolios
  3. ‘Cash-in’ reward points at the exclusive MIS Points Store and receive professional achievement cash awards.

All about points

For each approved professional development activity, students will receive Professional Achievement points and an equivalent number of Reward points. Professional achievement points count toward point levels, the 1000 point graduation requirement, and the leaderboard. Professional Achievement points never expire and typically always increase while Reward points decrease when used in the FOX MIS store. Students submit point requests through their e-portfolios on which they receive professional achievement badges. Professional achievement leaders are featured on the front page of the MIS Community platform. MIS students receive professional achievement awards and ‘cash’ in Reward points for branded merchandise and experiences in the FOX MIS Store. 

BBA in MIS graduation requirement

All BBA in MIS students are required to earn a minimum of 1,000 points before graduation. Students who fail to earn 1,000 points will not graduate!  Checkpoints have been established in specific courses to ensure success in meeting the point requirement.

Point guidelines

  • Points must be claimed within 3 months of the end of the activity/event.
  • New MIS majors have a one-time exception to the 3 month limit. Please collect evidence of all relevant activity and submit as one package within 3 months of becoming a major to misdept@temple.edu.
  • Points are deducted if you sign up for an activity and are a ‘no show.’

FAQ

What is an e-portfolio?

Just as an artist compiles a collection of representative projects, MIS professionals compile a collection of professional achievements.  The e-portfolio showcases academic and professional achievement. Earn points for creating a basic e-portfolio and then later in your academic career, earn more points for creating an advanced e-portfolio! Click here to learn more. All MIS majors will create an e-portfolio that includes the professional achievement widget. Students will request work experience related points by submitting a new point request on the e-portfolio and that process will automatically add a post to their site. 

What are professional achievement points?

Earn professional achievement points for each approved professional development activity (e.g., internships).  Professional achievement points never expire, they count toward the 1000 point graduation requirement. The only exception is if you are a no-show for a formal pre-registered activity. 

How do I add the Professional Achievement widget?

  • Login to your E-portfolio dashboard
  • Select Appearance and then Widgets on the left
  • Drag the Widget titled “Professional Achievement” to the primary sidebar of your site.
  • You are done! The widget will automatically display the appropriate badge and summary of points earned. As you gain more points and move up a level, the widget will automatically display the new badge.

What are reward points?

For each approved professional development activity, you will also earn reward points. Reward points are deducted each time you make a purchase in the MIS points store.

What can I earn points for?

See the Professional Achievement Points page for a complete list of point earning opportunities

  • Internships and IT related work: Earn points for IT related internships, part-time work, and project work. May not receive multiple internship points for work done at the same company
  • AIS: Active participation in AIS earns points. A leadership role earns more points. 
  • Professional development and networking: Earn points for participating in a competition, attending a career fair, or creating an advanced e-portfolio.

How are points awarded?

Professional achievement and reward points are awarded automatically for department sponsored (e.g., attending the IT awards, participating in the IT Career fair) or AIS sponsored activities (e.g., serving as an active AIS member). New for fall 2015, to receive points for IT related work experience such as an internship, please submit a point request on your e-portfolio (see below). 

How do I get points for IT related work experience?

  • Create one PDF that includes the offer letter (must be on company letterhead) and contact information including name, title, email, and phone number of the HR professional or hiring manager who can verify the work experience. You can only submit one attachment so include all pertinent information in one PDF (click here for help). If the above information is missing, the submission will be rejected.
  • Login to your e-portfolio and access the Dashboard.
  • Select Points on the left and click Add New (this will add a special type of post to the e-portfolio).
  • Type in a descriptive title (e.g., project management at XYX Corp.) and a short description of what you learned from the experience, also include background on the firm, and a review of your role.
  • Select the relevant point category type on the right and the above PDF.
  • Click Publish to immediately display the post on the e-portfolio.
  • The system will inform you when the point request has been approved.

Why are points deducted?

Professional achievement points are deducted if you sign up for an activity and are a ‘no show.’ For example, if the activity is worth 25 points, then the exact same number of points will be deducted if you are a ‘no show’ for the activity. The department and AIS work hard to provide professional development opportunities. If you are a ‘no show’ and do not make prior arrangements then that shows a lack of professional development which is reflected in the point deduction. 

How do I check points?

  • Login to your e-portfolio and look at the Dashboard.
  • In the Dashboard, you will see current points, badge earned (see below), points needed to get to the next level, and a list of prior points.

What if points are missing?

It may take up to two weeks for the points to be posted. If you still do not see the points, please send an email to misdept@temple.edu.

What are the levels of professional achievement?

  • Grand Master: The pinnacle of professional readiness. Grand Master’s have extensive experience in engaging with industry, have demonstrated extensive leadership and communication skills, and are likely to take on leadership roles in the future.
  • Master: The master of professional achievement. Master’s have gone above and beyond all the basic requirements and excelled in every category of professional development, career knowledge, networking and are expected to be stars in their careers.
  • Candidate: The complete well rounded student. Candidates have excelled in meeting all the department’s requirements for professional development. They are ready for the workplace!
  • Apprentice: Apprentices have started investing in their professional development early and are well on track to meet the department’s requirements for professional achievement.

What is the FOX MIS Points store?

The FOX MIS Points Store was created to recognize the professional achievements and contributions of the students and alumni of the Fox School’s Department of Management Information Systems. Click here for more information.

3 Key Lessons I Learned in 5 semesters of College Course Gamification

Back in Spring, 2011 I decided to implement gamification for my Social Media Innovation course at Temple University Fox School of Business. Each semester I’ve add more components or tweaked the implementation of our Social Media Innovation Quest.

Students can instantly earn points and badges for creating a blog, creating blog posts, commenting, and a handful of surprise WordPress-related activities. There’s also several dozen more complex activities they can submit for review, with those achievements being granted every 24-48 hours.

Badges used in Fall 2012

Badges used in Fall 2012

The class website displays a leaderboard with the twelve highest scoring students. Finally, at the end of each weekly class meeting students an even larger list of students are recognized for “leveling-up.”

Here are three key lessons I have learned through student feedback.

1) Students report that the experience is fun and motivates them to do more work:

It adds an extra element of fun, which I think engages class more so than not. Definitely not time wasted.

I think this approach works well. I know for me personally it pushes me to do more activities and comment on posts more. I am not sure why that it but it does make things a little more competitive.

There is a lot of information and tasks to be done in this course. With that said I enjoy the gamification aspect of it because it gives these tasks we need to complete a sense of urgency and fun.

I loved this course and I enjoyed everything about it. … After learning how to get the information it was definitely motivational to see your name on the leader board even if it was for just a week or two.

I really enjoyed the gamifying of this course. It motivated me to be more up-to-date with the course materials. I just think it’s a nice little morale boost to have this kind of approach to a class. Although I’m not at the top of the leaderboard, it’s still fun to see how far I’ve come along. Gamifying also helped me become more proactive in my work.

The gamifying approach this course took made it so much more enjoyable for me to learn as a student. Not only was I learning, but I was earning points while learning the content.

Don’t change anything. This has been my favorite course at Temple. It was so enjoyable that the class came to be a hobby of mine.

2) The biggest boosts to motivation come from competing with other students, a sense of accomplishment, and recognition.

I wish more professors would gameify their courses. Gamification enables students to be academically competitive without accessing each other’s grades, and it’s my belief that it encourages students to participate more.

I think it adds a little more fun to the class. Although it isn’t something that I feel like I need to check every day it is a cool feeling to get points for assignments. I always get a little excited when I get an email that I unlocked an achievement.

I really like it. I like classes where I am able to turn things in on my own time. I am good at setting my own pace, so I was extremely successful at completing all of the projects in a timely manner without having to cram. I think gamifying the course is a great idea because it lets you know how you are doing compared to the rest of the class as well as who’s blog to check out as an example of an activity.

I personally like the gamifying approach because this particular course involves a great deal of outside the classroom work. Virtually all of our assignments are digital, so providing an interactive feedback system that keeps the students attention is helpful.

The badges helped me track what I had done and also provided reassurance that what I had submitted was received.

I very much enjoyed the freedom and flexibility that was offered with this class with the incentive that came from the Quest. It encouraged me to be a bit more aggressive, and who doesn’t like getting class recognition for your hard work?? :)

3) There is a small percentage of students who do not find gamification motivational. (My best estimate is this is up to 5-10% of the students who have taken my course.) Even then, their view tends to be more neutral than negative.

I don’t like it because I am not into gaming but; I do appreciate your attempt to explore new options in order to keep up with technological trends. However, I don’t think you should do away with it in the future if it helps to engage students who otherwise wouldn’t be.

Honestly I didn’t pay much attention to it. I had so much else to worry about that being on a leader board didn’t seem to be the top priority for the class. My main goal was to complete the assignments I had to complete.

In summary, it has been a rewarding experience to gamify a college course. I think there is great potential for adding gamification to classes, particularly when coupled with self-directed learning.

 

Notes:

  • This post is an update to an earlier description of the Gamification of MIS3538.
  • The quotes are from students who took the class in Fall, 2012 and represent a full cross-section of performance (e.g., low-, medium-, and high-achievers). Average class size has been roughly 50 students per semester
  • Press coverage of the gamfication of this course is available here.

MIS Community v3.0

FOX MIS Connect InnovateThe third major revision of the MIS Community site has been finalized and deployed. The theme of this version is an intense focus on realizing the ‘community’ people-centric vision:

  • The home page layout is logically organized around News (on the left), In-depth content (middle), and Community (the sidebar on the right). This design metaphor is applied everywhere. For example, the BBA in MIS program page includes content on the left and (relevant) community on the right. If you are a top student, you might see yourself on there!
  • Every single page on the main site has been updated and is now focused on the community vision. Related to that, the new totals widget (top right of the home page) shows the full breadth of our community and all the items are clickable – click the “activity today…” to see what is going on today!
  • The new E-portfolio wire showcases the professional interests and accomplishments of students. If a student adds a skill, job interest, updates their job status, changes their major, or submits their e-portfolio. You will see it first on the e-portfolio wire!
  • The site has been re-architected from the ground up to increase performance. You have likely seen performance improvements in the last few weeks. They include (a) a mobile responsive theme that will adjust to different devices, screen sizes, and connection speeds (try the site on your mobile device), (b) custom developed plugins by the MIS department that add community relevant features, (c) feed aggregation that allows us to continue integrating multiple sources of content through RSS but without the performance hit. This was a massive behind the scene effort and critical toward allowing us scale the site and concept.
  • Social integration, so that you can leave comments on the site or push pages to the main social platforms (e.g., Facebook). The department also has related sites on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Flickr.
  • We will be rolling out more updates in the next few weeks as well as new student e-portfolio themes. We are also starting to help other academic units at Temple catch the community wave, but the MIS community site was the first and will remain the gold standard! Stay tuned.

The MIS community site is a unique learning, collaboration, and social platform; there is no other like it. And now it is better and even closer to the community vision.

Youngjin Yoo receives $635,000 grant from Knight Foundation to expand Urban Apps and Maps

Youngjin YooProfessor Youngjin Yoo is the principal investigator on a grant from the Knight Foundation to expand Urban Apps and Maps Studio. Over the next three summers, 300 high school and college-age students will take part in a six-week program at Temple’s Urban Apps and Maps Studios, learning the basics of digital design and business skills. About a dozen will then become year-round community fellows working with the university and developers to create apps that solve the challenges of urban communities. 

By integrating design, technology and entrepreneurship together with world class research at Temple in the area of humanity, social science, engineering, computer science and business, we are trying to build next generation urban leaders who can build their own solutions for the challenges that their communities are facing in our cities.

Urban Apps and Maps Studios is a university-wide program initiated last year through a grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration.

For more information, click here.

MIS Minor

A minor in MIS provides undergraduate students the ability to identify, select, use, and apply information technology (IT) to their major field of study. The minor provides the skills and terminology needed to become a knowledgable user of IT in the business world and interact successfully with technology professionals in an organization.

Rossetti

I chose MIS as minor because we live in such a data-driven world, and in the accounting profession it is so important to know how obtain, analyze, and present data to deliver value to clients. A minor in MIS helped me differentiate myself and helped me improve my communication skills.
Louis Rosetti, Accounting major, MIS minor

WHO SHOULD MINOR IN MIS?

Business students will benefit from a minor in MIS. The minor in MIS will position you for jobs in business application areas, consulting positions, technical liaisons, and selling and acquisition of business software.

NikipielovA minor in MIS has complemented my actuarial skills with the knowledge of beneficial technologies and applications like Tableau, RStudio, and SQL. Being familiar with these tools helped me stand out during interviews.
Oleksandr Nikipielov, Actuarial Science major, MIS minor

WHAT IS IN IT FOR ME?

  • Understand the key information technologies used by organizations.
  • Learn how to specify technology solutions and engage with IT professionals.
  • Understand the importance of business processes
  • Identify how specific IT solutions are designed and implemented to increase efficiency and effectiveness.
  • Apply data analytics to collect, store, analyze, and disseminate organizational information.

MurphyThe MIS community is incredibly supportive. Whether you’re a major or minor in this program you will receive the same encouragement. I knew I wanted to become an MIS minor when introduced to cloud computing through Salesforce. This topic ignited a world of opportunities through a new passion!
Cassandra Murphy, Marketing major, MIS minor

CURRICULUM

More information, including course numbers, full course descriptions, and prerequisites, is available through the Temple Bulletin.

Required

  • Digital Systems (prerequisite to start minor)
  • Data and Analytics (also required for majors)
  • Digital Design and Innovation

Electives (select one)

  • Data Science (also fulfills GenEd Science and Technology (GS) requirement)
  • Cloud Architecture
  • Scripting for Data Science/Analytics
  • Defending Against Cyber Crime
  • Electronic Commerce Site Design
  • Strategic Management of Information Technology
  • Information Systems Innovation
  • Internet-Enabled Supply Chains
  • Social Media Innovation
  • Special Topics in MIS
  • Co-Operative Experience in MIS

Note: Some electives may have special pre-requisites, check the pre-requisites before registering.

HOW TO SIGN UP FOR THE MINOR

To take courses for the MIS minor, you must first declare your intent to minor in MIS. Non-Fox students do not need to take the Business Minor to pursue an MIS Minor.

Please refer to the MIS Minor in the Undergraduate Bulletin for more information.

Fox hosts 2nd annual MIS Academic Leadership Conference (MALC 2012)

MALC 2012The Fox School’s Department of Management Information Systems hosted the second annual Management Information Systems (MIS) Academic Leadership Conference (MALC 2012) from Nov. 1-3 at Alter Hall.

Academic leaders of MIS departments across the world were invited to network and learn from others facing similar responsibilities and challenges. The format was small and highly interactive, with 70 professionals with leadership responsibility for MIS at their respective college or university in attendance. Attendees represented 53 universities, including some of the top schools in the nation.

The conference featured a keynote presentation by Joseph C. Spagnoletti, senior vice president and chief information officer at Campbell Soup Company, as well as a keynote deans’ panel led by Fox School of Business Dean M. Moshe Porat.

Temple Provost Hai-Lung Dai introduced Porat by saying:

the business school under the leadership of Dean Porat is recognized as a powerhouse of Temple University, and our MIS program is a gem of the Fox School.

University President Richard M. Englert praised the accomplishments of Fox MIS faculty and students and called MIS:

“one of the most dynamic academic disciplines,” adding that it “is an essential and powerful tool in business development and economic growth.”

The deans’ panel was titled “The Digitalization of Business Schools” and included Leonard Jessup, dean of the University of Arizona’s Eller College of Business, and Peter A. Todd, dean of the Desautels Faculty of Management at McGill University in Quebec. Opportunities and threats posed by the digitalization of business schools were debated, and discussion focused heavily on online learning. “I think it’s inevitable we will have to provide all of these things online,” Porat said, stressing that online classes cannot lose quality. The panelists shared varying views. Jessup noted the importance of online classes at Arizona while Todd shared that McGill does not see much of a need for them yet. “I think it depends on the culture of the institution and the strength of the brand,” Porat added.

In the general sessions, conference presenters represented schools from Boston College to Aalto University in Finland. Each shared insight as to what their schools are doing on topics such as information systems advisory councils and best practices for MIS graduate programs. Associate professor and founding chair of Fox’s MIS Department, Munir Mandviwalla, served on the conference committee and presented at the session titled, “Where will MIS go in 2015? 2020?” Another MIS faculty member, Professor Paul A. Pavlou, chaired the session. Assistant Professor Richard Flanagan presented in the “Recruiting Strategies” session. Flanagan is the director of Fox’s new Master of Science in IT Auditing and Cyber-Security program in the MIS Department. Assistant Professor Mart Doyle and Fox IT Advisory Board Chair Bruce Fadem also moderated sessions.

The MIS Academic Leadership Conference is the only conference specifically designed for individuals responsible for leading MIS in higher education to network and learn. The conference was co-sponsored by Temple, the University of Arizona, University of Minnesota, Indiana University and University of Texas at Dallas.

For more information click on: http://ibit.temple.edu/malc2012/

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