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Temple Chapter wins first place (yet again!) at international AIS competition

WSM_6134Temple’s AIS Student Chapter dominated the Fifth Annual AIS Student Leadership Conference and Competition as it swept with first place wins in both of its competition categories. These victories mark three straight years of Temple’s clinching first-place at the AIS conference – further affirming a remarkable year for the chapter, which was recently named Chapter of the Year by the Association for Information Systems (AIS).
 
Held over March 20-22, 2014, in Phoenix, AZ, the AIS conference hosted 200 participants from schools around the globe, whose student teams had the opportunity to enter into various competition tracks. Fox MIS students competed in the IT Service Management and Social Innovation pools, going head-to-head with other student teams before securing decisive first-place wins.
 
Supervised by professor Carey O’Donnell, Temple’s first place IT Service Management team members were Brittany Hafer, Gabrielle Lopez, Thomas Patterson, and Veer Patel. 
 
Gabrielle Lopez reflected on the experience: “We approached the case with the idea of aligning IT with business needs, something we’ve learned since MIS 2101,” she said.
 
The members of the first place Social Innovation team were Ryan Boyce, Tatsuya Emoto, Stephen Lauver, and Horatio Thomas.
 
“Each one of our members brought a significant contribution to our final solution,” said Horatio Thomas. “We developed a low cost web application that uses crowd-sourcing and modern web technologies. This application cuts cost, increases productivity and develops mentorship, tutoring and advising programs in underfunded schools.”
 
The AIS conference’s goal is to connect students, faculty, and corporate representatives, share best practices on operating and funding the chapter, and foster valuable (and competitive) information-system based activities. This year, as with previous years, Temple was more than up to the challenge.
 
Congratulations to professor O’Donnell and the Temple champions!
 
WSM_6075

Data Science: Data Is Everywhere, Harness It!

 

Data pours in from social media, weather stations, government agencies, mobile phones, credit card purchases, and other new devices continuously. How do you make sense of it all?

Learn how to harness the power of data to understand the world around you and make better decisions. 

Create impactful and persuasive presentations by learning the key principles of presenting data visually.

 

I took this class because I was interested in the inner workings of data and how it becomes a useful tool. This interested me because I’m so invested in sports analytics and wanted to get a deeper understanding of how to analyze and gather data. The most important takeaway for me has been the process getting raw data all the way through presenting it cleanly for easy interpretation. I would highly recommend this class because of how relevant it is to the future of business in the world. There is so much that data can do and even to have a basic understanding really can help people better make decisions.

Raymond Dunne, Media Studies and Production, Klein ’22

 

 

I think the most important takeaway from this course is the relevancy of big data in today’s society and how it has, and will continue, to impact people in their everyday lives. Before this course I didn’t even know what big data was or how much data we generate ourselves on a daily basis without even being conscious of it. Further than that, I didn’t realize the extent to which firms are capitalizing off data and all the insight they can receive from various forms of data analysis. If I were to describe this course to someone I would say it’s about the life cycle of data and it’s significance in today’s society.

Picture of a student

Madison Cole, Business Management, Fox ’22

 

 

For me personally the most useful thing I took away from this course was an understanding of how to use tableau. It really is a useful piece of software if you want to display data graphically. In fact, just two weeks after we started to learn it I ended up using it for a paper in another one of my classes. However, I also think that the knowledge of how data is stored and how you are able to present it to people is one of the main conceptual takeaways from this course. If I had to explain this course to a prospective student, I would say that in general it teaches us how to take a large amount of potentially complicated data and put it into a form that is useful and easy to understand.

Jackson Potash, Computer Science, CST ’19

 

Course details

  • Course name and number: Data Science | MIS0855
  • Fall 2025 Sections
    • MIS 0855 | Section 002 | T/TH 2:00 pm – 3:20 pm | CRN 55278| Austin Culmer-Smith
    • MIS 0855 | Section 003 | T/TH 11:00 am – 12:20 pm | CRN 55279 | Xiduo Liu
    • MIS 0855 | Section 004 | MWF 1:00 pm – 1:50 pm | CRN 58730| Keith Gutierrez
    • MIS 0855 | Section 750 | M 5:30 pm – 8:00 pm | CRN 31116 | Larry Dignan
  • Pre-requisites: None. No technical background is required; you will get hands-on experience with easily available software.  
  • Fulfills: GenEd Science and Technology Requirement (GS)
  • Fulfills: An elective in the MIS Minor

Course goals

  • Apply data to make better decisions
  • Locate data relevant to you
  • Make predictions about the future
  • Combine data sets to discover new insights
  • Differentiate good data from bad data
  • Master data visualization
  • Work with common, powerful tools like Tableau and Microsoft Excel

New Data Science course helps all students harness the power of data

Data Science CourseTemple’s Fox School of Business is offering a new, University-wide GenEd course that’s geared toward any student—tech-savvy or not—who hopes to hone his or her data skills. This first-of-its-kind course, titled “Data Science,” will be taught by MIS Associate Professor David Schuff. It offers an accessible look at data use and interpretation, teaching students how to read, organize, analyze, and wield data in order to solve real problems in their future careers and day-to-day life. 

As students are poised to enter the work force, noted Professor Schuff, the vast majority will need a working knowledge of data in order to succeed. “Almost every organization uses data, and the ability to work with it is an essential skill,” he said.

And it’s not just for those working in technology. Today, data is directly consumable by the average employee, from Google web traffic statistics to civic-oriented public information published by the government. Furthermore, emerging disciplines such as data journalism, digital humanities, digital epidemiology, and personalized medicine (to name a few) are predicated on the idea that large, widely available data sets can help transform an industry.

Learning to critically evaluate information in the twenty-first century is a crucial skill in any career.  Like information literacy, I see data literacy as an important component of an undergraduate education.  Professor Schuff’s GenEd Data Science course fills this critical gap in the undergraduate curriculum.  

Istvan L. Varkonyi, GenEd Program Director

Professor David Schuff
David Schuff

The course itself will comprise hands-on, experiential problem solving through the use of computer-based data tools employed by virtually every organization. Students will try out these tools using a diverse collection of data sets, ranging from NBA player statistics to high school dropout rates to corporate sales data. Students will also learn to make impactful and persuasive arguments through visual data presentation.

When asked about the course’s goals, Schuff commented: “We want students to complete the course with a new set of tools and skills they can immediately apply, whether it is in their current coursework, their summer internships, or their jobs.”

As data skills extend to nearly all spheres—from the workplace to smartphones to credit card bills—those enrolled in the Data Science course will gain valuable technical know-how, and learn to harness the power of data for the benefit of their personal and professional lives.

Redeem points at the newly launched FOX MIS store!

store revised

FOX MIS students have been accruing professional achievement points and badges all year long for IT-related work, participation in AIS, and e-portfolio contributions. Sure, these points ultimately enhance an individual’s career, development, and future — but do you know what is even better? Now students can redeem said points at FOX MIS’ online store! 

That’s right! Trade in your virtual moolah for one-of-a-kind, FOX-branded merchandise, like this really cool lanyard or this zipper wallet. Because nothing says “I’m going places” like an owl keychain. Once you’ve channeled your love of FOX MIS into the purchase of extensive branded merchandise, you can also use points to schedule one-on-one lunches with esteemed Fox IT Advisory Board members Niraj Patel and Bruce Fadem. (Just be sure to bring  your high-quality stylus for note-taking.)

In summary, it’s basically like Chuck E. Cheese, except with learning, and no ball pit. (Yet.)

Keep up the great work!

STEM Scholarships and Awards

The BBA in MIS is a STEM (Science, Technology, Math, Engineering) certified program and MIS students are eligible for special STEM scholarships and loans. To make it easy for you to find STEM specific opportunities, the department has created the following list of STEM specific grants and scholarships.

Note: Fox BBA in MIS majors are encouraged to contact Joseph Allegra at jallegra@temple.edu and ask for a document that provides additional details on each of the scholarships listed below.

STEM SCHOLARSHIPS
Name Value
ASCEND/ING Scholarships $1,000
Betty Stevens Frecknall Scholarships $2,000
CORE Scholarship Up to $4,000
Cummins. Inc $2,500
HENAAC Student Leadership Awards $500
Hispanic Scholarship Fund $500 to $5,000
Information Assurance Scholarship Program (IASP)  
Joseph James Morelli Scholarship $500 to $2,500
McAfee  
NSF Scholarships in STEM  
Ray and Carmella Mellado $1,000
Robert Yourzak Scholarship Up to $2,000
Scholarship America Dream Award $15,000
SciTech Scholarship $3,000
STEM Major Scholarships for Undergraduate Students AFCEA Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) $2,500
STEM Major Scholarships for Undergraduate Students AFCEA Science, Technology Engineering, and Math (STEM) CYBERSECURITY $5,000
Technology Scholarship $1,000
VIP Women in Technology Scholarship $2,500
Wayne V. Black Scholarship $5,000

 

Temple AIS wins 2013 Student Chapter of the Year

aissliderThe Association for Information Systems (AIS) has named Temple AIS Chapter of the Year, the highest honor any student chapter can receive. And it’s not just for the glory, either: with this distinction comes $1,000 in grant money, allocated for 2013 student initiatives.

Temple’s first place win follows three years of having been named runner-up as Outstanding Chapter, and reflects incredible dedication from its student members. A committee of faculty and students oversaw this year’s rigorous selection process, poring over annual reports to find the chapter with the most “exceptional, well-rounded, and organized program,” notes AIS.

We have continued our legacy of offering our members the best in professional development and networking opportunities. Each one of my twenty officers has been working like crazy to make sure we pull all of this off seamlessly. It is a pretty awesome group of students. We have the most intelligent and creative students in the Fox School.

Josh Wise, Chapter President

Founded in 1994, AIS is the world’s premier organization for academics specializing in Information Systems. The Chapter of the Year recipient must “lead the research, teaching, practice, and study of information systems worldwide,” says the organization.

Chapter of year

As its 2013 title indicates, Temple AIS set benchmarks for other chapters, fostering an environment in which its members could thrive in the field of IS and as a cohesive community. Chapter President Joshua Wise attributes much of his chapter’s success to the group’s unique personality and culture of “entrepreneurial spirit” — comprising a buoyant blend of teamwork, fun, and (friendly) competition. “We like to challenge each other and find new ways of doing things,” notes Wise.

Among the chapter’s banner accomplishments and offerings in 2012-2013:

  • Top placement in every category entered at last year’s 2013 AIS Competition, hosted by Walmart in Bentonville, Arizona (Two 1st place finishes; one 2nd and one 3rd place ranking)
  • $5,000 in prize money invested in the Patriot Fund
  • Over 175 members, and a spike in meeting attendance (tracked via an attendance program coded by AIS officers)
  • Professional development and networking events with speakers from Comcast, NBC Universal, Cigna, Ernst and Young, AstraZeneca, and J.P. Morgan
  • Workshops every Friday and Saturday featuring technical training intensives
  • Well attended social events and community service initiatives, including $800 raised for CHOP and computer repair for non-profits

Current officers of AIS include:

Cyberwar: New course for spring 2014!

“Good Bye DARPA” “Hello Google” [1]

This unique first ever course is being co-taught by Chris Kearns, a program director at Lockheed Martin currently working on a project for the DoD, and Marty Kearns, president of NetCentric Campaigns, an expert in online activism.

The course is offered in a hybrid online format and includes participation in a cyber-war conference featuring practitioners.

What are the lessons from the front lines of the cyber war and how do you apply the lessons to business strategy? The ongoing cyber battles which are only expected to increase impact business and consumers of all shapes and sizes and in multiple dimensions including security, innovation, defense, law, intellectual property, branding, brand value, infrastructure, social activism, and consumer protections. The cyber battles represent an obvious threat but they also represent sources of innovation and new business opportunity. The course will discuss methodologies and approaches of cyber war and how they can shape business models. The class will explore frameworks for finding powerful new ways to apply emerging lessons for organizing and marketing new business startups.

The real power of military history is not just for the recall of the who, when, and what of prior campaigns but the opportunity to glimpse into the mind of strategists, their rationale, and their successes and failures.  The most important lessons of history are discovered and learned at enormous cost.  The same dynamic is true in today’s cyber war.  Legitimate cutting edge innovation and strategy is emerging from the front lines of the cyber-attacks and defense.

The course includes real-world case studies taken from news headlines. Students will apply unique frameworks to extract and identify the value of each strategy.  Cases cover business, crime, activist organizing, politics, medicine, banking, communications, and consumers.

The hybrid online class includes 6 face to face sessions and 7 online sessions. The course is also the first to integrate with and feature a cyber-war conference. The conference will provide students with a unique opportunity to interact with cyber war strategists and practitioners. 

To learn more and register for the course, please contact Joseph Allegra at jallegra@temple.edu.

Martin KearnsMartin Kearns

President/CEO
Netcentric Campaigns

Chris KearnsChris Kearns

Program Director
Lockheed Martin

Martin Kearns is an innovator in the field of online networking.  He pioneered integration of network-centric principals for civic organizing and advocacy work. He is President of Netcentric Campaigns, a nonprofit dedicated to transforming the advocacy efforts of foundations and nonprofits by building networks of people to move change forward.  He started the organization in 2000, to provide a professional suite of communication tools, trainings and services to help the environmental movement communicate more effectively.  He is also the co-founder of a global network of activists who use cell phones for civic action and engagement.

He is a consultant on online networking strategy in advocacy campaigns.  Clients include the Ford Foundation, Packard Foundation, Barr Foundation, Open Society Institute, Hewett Foundation, Andy Warhol Foundation, Brainerd Foundation, American Heart Association, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Greenpeace, and the Moore Foundation.

He speaks frequently at major conferences including the Personal Democracy Forum, Environment Grant Makers Association, Momentum, the Media Consortium, NTEN, River Rally, State Environmental Leadership Program, Harvard’s Berkman Center, Conservation Leadership Institute, Organizers Forum-West, True Spin Conference, Media Reform Conference, Rootscamp and the New Organizing Institute. He developed an extensive curriculum to train community organizers in online networking strategies in the US and internationally.  He has written chapters in Rebooting America and Mobilize2.0, and his essays have been published in Huffington Post.

Previously, Kearns founded the Georgia River Network, a group dedicated to preserving Georgia’s rivers.  He also spent three years working at the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, and served for two years as a Jesuit International Volunteer in Kingston, Jamaica teaching computers at St. George’s College and working with inner city youth. Kearns has a Bachelor of the Arts from LeMoyne College and a Masters in Environmental Science from Yale University.

As the Program Director for the Global Information Grid (GIG) Services Management – Operations (GSM-O) Program at Lockheed Martin, Mr. Kearns is responsible for managing activities related to Defense Information Systems Agency’s (DISA) networks. The program provides various DoD branches and agencies with reliable and secure communications. Lockheed Martin’s IS&GS-Defense team provides programmatic, operational and engineering services as well as offer material support the network’s management. This global operation led by Mr. Kearns employs over 700 engineers and technicians across several partner companies and small businesses in Maryland, Illinois, Hawaii, Germany and Bahrain.

Previously, Mr. Kearns was the Program Director of Desktop Services for Lockheed Martin Corporation. In that role he managed the desktop portfolio including the strategy; the service desk; projects and services; operations and maintenance of collaboration and end user systems; and development activities related to Enterprise collaboration solutions.

Mr. Kearns also has held the role as the Operations Director for the Center for Leadership Excellence (CLE), where he was responsible for the operations, optimization and strategic development of the center’s activities. The CLE represents the Corporation’s commitment to life-long learning, to building the best professional workforce in the industry, and to assure that Lockheed Martin maintains a leadership role, across the globe, in the 21st century.

Mr. Kearns was also the Program Manager for the IS&GS Unity Development Program and led various other IT development projects. Mr. Kearns holds a master’s degree in Information Science from Pennsylvania State University and a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Scranton. He serves on the Industrial Advisory Board to the Engineering Department at the University of Scranton.

[1] Peiter “Mudge” Zatko, a renowned member of the pioneering hacker collective Cult of the Dead Cow who was working at the DOD’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, split for Silicon Valley to join his former DARPA boss, Regina Dugan. “Goodbye DARPA,” he tweeted. “Hello Google!” http://www.rollingstone.com/feature/the-geeks-on-the-frontlines#i.1y35frbnv3dqtq

Fox IT Advisory Board chooses winning BBA in MIS capstone project

ProjectShowcaseFox BBA in MIS students produced nine capstone projects in fall 2013. Under the guidance of industry mentors, the students designed and presented their creations for review to the Fox IT Advisory Board, an illustrious committee comprised of entrepreneurs and business leaders.

The roster of projects was particularly impressive this year, said professor and facilitator Munir Mandviwalla — a true testament to the quality of the BBA in MIS curriculum as well as the efficacy of each mentorship. After difficult deliberations, the board chose the project titled Groupstir as winner and recipient of an IBIT sponsored $500 prize.

“Groupstir,” the brainchild of students Brian Schwitters, Jonathan Abraham, Brandon Roberts, and Scott Pawlowski and mentored by Joseph Spagnoletti of Campbell’s Soup, is a direct-to-consumer promotion platform designed specifically for restaurants, which enables businesses to increase volume during off-peak hours and create a social, engaged experience for its customers.

Members of our group have worked in the restaurant industry, and we discussed various ways to increase customer volume during off-peak hours…We really enjoyed getting to work with our mentor Joe Spagnoletti, and it was most rewarding to witness his excitement of our vision.
Groupstir member: Jonathan Abraham.

For the 2013 Spring semester members of the Fox School of Business IT Advisory Board volunteered as ‘mentors’ to student project teams in the MIS 4596 Information Systems Integration class. The mentors’ experience with the student project teams was so successful and enjoyable that there were many volunteers for [this] semester.
Fox IT advisory board Chairman Bruce Fadem

After such a fruitful project collaboration this year, Fox MIS looks forward to what students can cook up in 2014! Below is a recap of the rest of the group projects, followed by a complete list of the mentors. 

Stor.me 3D Printing Services

Danielle Heller, Damon Isaac, Jennifer O’Malley, Caitlin Carr; Mentored by Ben Hasan, SVP, Walmart
A 3D Printing Service site that allows consumers to make personalized objects via a user-friendly interface.

TUFTs (Temple University Food Trucks)

Sam Lee, Su Tan, Igor LEONOV; Mentored by Niraj Patel
A time-saving app that displays the menus and availability of every food truck on campus.

P3: Perfect Project Planner

Richard Somerville, Xiao Liu, Kenneth Ho, Sam Berkowitz; Mentored by Harold Hambrose, CEO, Electronic Ink
A flexible application tool that allows professors and students to manage tasks, optimize schedules, and submit documents.

Clear Construct

Dan Van Norton, Jeff Garvey, Joe Musumeci; Mentored by Michael Bradshaw, VP and CIO, Lockheed Martin
A smartphone-compatible project management application for architects that consolidates costs and manages their businesses.

PreZen

Caleb Harris, James Gitto, Eugene Kim, Andrew Nguyen, Christian Markel; Mentored by Craig Conway, Conway Technology Consulting Inc.
A computer program that analyzes body language, hand gestures, voice projection and more to evaluate, and improve the presentation abilities a company’s employees.

Quest

Nicholas Nendel, Jason Pan, Timmy Tran, Peter Yum, Joanna Zuo; Mentored by Andrea Anania
A peer-to-peer commerce network that allows students to offer various activities (or “quests”) that are securely reimbursed upon completion.

USecure

Maria Collette, Souraya Esreb, Adnette Kamugisha, Yevgeniy Kravets, Magen Sheeran; Mentored by Tim O’Rourke, Temple University 
A mobile security application for student and faculty that’s integrated with campus police and Blue Light systems.

Fresh Choices

Derek Hamner, Zep Shemuale, Brett Bedevian, Eboni Strawder, Iyana Lester; Mentored by Jeff Hamilton, Pfizer
An application that works with Fresh Grocer to find students the best food deals that support healthy eating.

Fox IT Advisory Board

Mentors

  • Bruce Fadem – Chair; Retired CIO and VP of Wyeth
  • Andrea Anania – Retired VP and CIO of Cigna
  • Tim O’Rourke – VP and CIO, Temple University
  • Craig Conway – CTO
  • Jeff Hamilton – SVP, Pfizer
  • Michael Bradshaw – VP and CIO of Lockheed
  • Harold Hambrose – CEO, Electronic Ink
  • Ben Hasan – SVP, Walmart
  • Niraj Patel – Chief Strategy Officer, Elsag North America
  • Joseph Spagnoletti – VP and CIO, Campbell Soup Company

Additional Feedback

  • Mart Doyle – Professor, Temple University
  • David Schuff – Professor, Temple University
  • Joe Allegra – Senior Program Coordinator

Instructors

  • Munir Mandviwalla
  • Bruce Hohne

See all the pictures of the event on Flickr, click here!

Credits: Pictures, Joe Allegra

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