Help wanted: IS discipline needs more scholarships

With employers eager to hire new information systems graduates, the need for scholarships in the discipline is growing. But only five out of the 400 CIS undergraduates received them for the 2013-14 year. Department Chairman Michael Goul says that the department highly values these scholarships because the financial assistance is significant to the students. And he’s hoping that other individuals and groups will fund scholarships in the future.

With employers eager to hire new information systems graduates, the need for scholarships in the discipline is growing. But only five out of the 400 CIS undergraduates received them for the 2013-14 year. The Arizona chapter of the Society for Information Management (SIM) awards a $1,000 scholarship to a senior majoring in IS, and has raised that amount to $2,000 for the 2014-15 year. MicroAge Information Systems offers one $1,000 scholarship a year to an undergraduate IS student. The oldest scholarship, anchored by an endowment of $100,000, is the Richard Malone CIS Scholarship from Edward D. Jones & Co. This year three students each received the $1,000 scholarship, which honors Malone, a longtime CIO at the firm.

Department Chairman Michael Goul says that the department highly values these scholarships because the financial assistance is significant to the students. And he’s hoping that other individuals and groups will fund scholarships in the future. “These scholarships reward some of our best and brightest with industry recognition, and there’s really no comparison for that when they go out and look for jobs,” Goul said. “Donors will find their scholarships are listed on these students’ resumes for much of their career.”

In addition to the prestige and financial help, scholarships offer an emotional boost, said Goul, who received an Elks Lodge Scholarship when he was beginning school in the late 1980s. “It’s the kind of thing you remember. It makes a big difference,” he said.

Making an impact

Malone Scholarship recipients Deirdre Whitehead and Jeff Orris are very grateful for the support and said every little bit helps. As older students, neither can depend on parents. Whitehead, in fact, is a mother of two college-aged sons. Orris, 31, is putting himself through school with the help of grants and loans. The current semester has been unusually expensive because his books and supplies cost about $7,500. After working mostly in music production, he chose to double major in CIS and supply chain management to tap his interests in technology and business. He’s earning what he hopes will be a high value degree.

Scholarship money enabled Orris to pay for some work on his car so he could travel 80 miles a day, four days a week, to a paid internship at L-3 Communications in Deer Valley. He expects to graduate in December and continue working there. “Not having to worry about the money so much — it gives you time to improve upon something or innovate. It’s a little less stress as you’re rolling along through this whole process of college,” he said. Whitehead is a returning student who plans to reenter the job market after taking several decades to raise and home school two sons.

The family moved around a lot, as her husband was in the Army for 24 years. “I was more than grateful for the scholarship, especially with two kids in college,” she said. Whitehead’s son Christian graduated from ASU in December with a degree in design management. He’s been accepted into the Masters in Geographic Information Systems program for the fall. Gabriel is studying film at a community college and plans to attend ASU in order to major in graphic arts. Deirdre chose CIS because technology is “relevant across the board.

I wanted to make myself as marketable as possible.” And she chose ASU because she learned from her sons that ASU helps students land jobs. “ASU does very well with giving exposure to its CIS students and engineering students and I would imagine all the other schools as well. One reason I decided to go to ASU was because they are so proactive in making certain that their students are exposed to industries and careers.” The CIS program has stretched her thinking, she said. “The challenge has been learning how to think incrementally and logically instead of just logically, because the things you do are so automatic. But you really do them in little bitty steps that you don’t think about,” she said. After graduating in December, she has a job as advisor in a unit at EY (formerly Ernst & Young) that audits information systems.

Building a wider foundation

Scholarships are in part a reflection of the donor’s knowledge of the institution, and confidence that it will continue to perform at a high level. Goul understands this; he and the faculty are constantly at work building relationships in the industry. “Building philanthropic connections and having alumni far enough in their careers to be ready to give back takes time, and we are a relatively young department,” said Goul. “In terms of building connections, it’s important to get embedded in the community and evangelize what your students are learning and accomplishing — and to show evidence of how fast and how high your alumni are advancing.”

Department faculty members have done just that. Several are members of SIM, a high profile group of business executives, including a number of alumni. For organizations and companies, donating money for scholarships can be viewed as a way to help ensure a continued supply of top quality job candidates as well as a source of good will. Organizations build a great deal of brand awareness with potential job applicants through the process. The information technology industry was startled in 2005 when SIM nationally reported that enrollment in computing programs at colleges and universities was falling “at alarming rates,” by as much as 75 percent.

Some programs had ended. Deborah DeCorrevont, president of the Arizona SIM chapter, said that because there had been so many computing jobs outsourced, students concluded it was no longer a good major. Fast forward to 2013 and an SIM study showed that executives believe talent shortages are their third highest concern behind: 1) making sure technology and business interests were aligned and 2) that there are sufficient security measures in place at their organizations. As a result, SIM chapters around the country became more involved in promoting science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education at the elementary through college levels.

And that is why the local chapter increased its ASU scholarship to $2,000 for next year and would like to raise it even more, DeCorrevont said. “We’re trying to get more sponsorships, vendors and local companies so we can increase that to an even higher amount going forward,” she said. “It is important for the future of our country to be a leader in STEM education. We don’t want to fall behind other countries.” DeCorrevont, who manages IT strategic planning at the Salt River Project, has worked in IT for almost 30 years.

“The technology field is always growing and changing. New skills and old skills keep dropping off. It’s hard to keep up,” she said. Goul said scholarships can help a school attract better talent and ultimately increase the pool of job candidates. “There is an IS work shortage in the Phoenix area. So for the best talent, a lot of these companies vie for the same people. So if we draw more talent to the IS programs through donor sponsored scholarships, it’s a win-win.”

The two IS seniors who received Malone scholarships for the current year said they each received three job offers and already have jobs lined up after they graduate. Whitehead said companies seeking employees should consider supporting scholarships earmarked for information systems. “There is absolutely a demand for people in this field. I would say (to companies) that if they are planning to hire students to work in these fields, it would definitely be an incredible return on their investment,” she said. “I would tell employers that you’ll have an excellent pool of applicants. The (ASU) instructors are good. The curriculum is extremely relevant, and they will be able to get top-notch employees coming out of these programs … I have found that everything I have done in my upper-division classes has been directly relevant to these new jobs of which these companies are sourcing.”

Applications

In addition to the department scholarships, the W.P. Carey School of Business also offers general scholarships. Students apply for both at the W.P. Carey School of Business Undergraduate Scholarship Office.