Students

Outstanding Graduating Senior: Brady Emerson is off to his next challenge

Department Chairman Michael Goul says this about Brady Emerson: "You give him a challenge and he meets it head-on, but at the same time, he'll be on the lookout for an additional opportunity. Pretty quickly he's excelled beyond your expectations, and then he's off on his next challenge." Brady, who has been named the department's Outstanding Graduating Senior, has accepted a job as a technology analyst with DeLoitte Technology Consulting. After that? "I think anytime you can see the effects of what you do, it drives you to do more," he commented recently. "Not to say everything has to have results, tangible or intangible, but I think everything has a positive effect if you do it right."

2011-05-01

For college seniors facing graduation, the thought of the "real world" can be daunting, but senior Brady Emerson is ready. For him, it's a matter of the world of work "blossoming a little more." Emerson, recently named the Spring 2011 Outstanding Graduating Senior by the Department of Information Systems, will receive a degree in Computer Information Systems and a certificate in Small Business and Entrepreneurship. He will head to Sacramento, where he has accepted a job as a technology analyst with DeLoitte Technology Consulting. The transition will be eased by the work experience gained while still a student. Going mobile with MyASU "I feel like I'm in a unique position. I've worked at the University Technology Office for more than two years," says Emerson. "It feels like that was a first job. I faced the same thing you'd face at a normal job as far as reviews, needing to produce results and being expected to perform." By all accounts, he certainly did perform during that first job. In fact, you could argue that that he changed the life of almost every ASU student by way of the part he played in the creation and development of a framework used in the mobile version of MyASU. The application allows students to access everything on MyASU ? maps, directory, Blackboard, financial services, the bookstore, courses and class information ? on iPhones, Androids and other web-enabled mobile devices. The mobile version of MyASU logs about 10,000 page views and 4-5,000 visits per day. At the beginning of the semester when students are looking up their classes, visits have climbed to about 13,000. "Anytime you're a part of something and you can see the change it's having on peoples' lives and how it's hopefully making things easier for them, it's very gratifying," he said. "It's something I'm very proud of, and it's a contribution made to ASU that I think will be around for a while." The project was one and a half years in the making and ultimately became the subject of his Business Honors thesis. He began working on it in 2009, after being promoted from student worker to management intern at the University Technology Office. Involved from the start Emerson has been making similar positive changes at the university since choosing to attend ASU four years ago. He describes the decision to become a Sun Devil as "nontraditional" — he chose his major first, then selected ASU based on the annual U.S. News and World Report college rankings. ASU's affordability and urban campus environment didn't hurt either. During his freshman year, he joined the Department of Information Systems Club and the Business School Council. During his sophomore year he was elected vice president of activities for BSC, a role that had him working to promote involvement with other student organizations. In that position, he changed Rush Week to Involvement Week, which eventually became known as "iWeek." "[Rush Week] really confused people because when you think Rush, you think Greek, and it really had nothing to do with Greek at all," he explains. He also created Game Day, where student organizations can reach out to the student body as a whole, and helped with the annual awards banquet. As a junior, he was asked to be a part of the W. P. Carey School's first ever Dean's Advisory Council. Three students from each of the four class years comprise the council, whose job is to advise Associate Dean Kay Faris on how best to spend the $400-per-semester fee paid by every junior and senior in the business school. As the only CIS major on the council, he used his skills to create an online survey of students. He analyzed the 600 responses, resulting in 11 action items that were presented to Dean Faris and distributed throughout the W. P. Carey administration. One important recommendation — a tutoring center exclusive to business students — will open next fall. The business tutoring center will focus specifically on business classes, especially those that are taken by all business students, such as Marketing 300. "The other tutoring centers on campus are more focused on 100 and 200 level classes," Brady says, "so this will fill a gap in the resources available for students completing the business core." The Dean's Advisory Council encourages turnover as a way to get fresh ideas and new students involved, but Emerson was one of three students asked to return for a second year — a huge honor, he says. Under his direction as chairman, the Dean's Advisory Council has focused on integrating the Polytechnic and West campus business schools under the W. P. Carey School and creating an honor code for business students. The code is based on similar policies at other top universities around the country as well as the W. P. Carey MBA code. "Obviously ethics are very important at the business school and something that is stressed as soon as you walk in the door," he says. Agent of positive change Being able to see those tangible, measureable results is what continues to drive this only child from Irving, Texas. "I think anytime you can see the effects of what you do, it drives you to do more — I think that is what truly drives me," says Emerson. "Not to say everything has to have results, tangible or intangible, but I think everything has a positive effect if you do it right." IS Department Chair Michael Goul adds, "The fact that Brady's driven has been a given from day one, when I enjoyed teaching him in a sophomore-level undergraduate class ? he's one of those rare overachievers who can see the forest from the trees. You give him a challenge and he meets it head-on, but at the same time, he'll be on the lookout for an additional opportunity. Pretty quickly he's excelled beyond your expectations, and then he's off on his next challenge." A tennis player for more than a decade, Emerson also enjoys reading the news and staying up to date with current events. In fact, he spent last summer working at National Public Radio, in their technology division. "News has been a kind of hobby of mine for a long time. It's probably not a traditional hobby, but I do like to be informed, both in world affairs and also in the technology industry." One of his most memorable moments during his undergraduate experience was the day he learned he had the grades to graduate with summa cum laude status. "When I finally got that last semester grade and it was solidified, that was a great moment," he says. Still, though, he says there were so many great experiences it's hard to pinpoint the best or most memorable during his four years. "There's a lot of just-across-the-board (memories) in different categories, a lot of great events that happened," he says. "I met a lot of great people I've been able to share them with."

KnowIT