Awards top the news from the Department of Information Systems

Good news arrived in waves recently as the Department learned that its student organization won national honors, and that former Chairman Michael Goul had received a major award from an engineering association. Read further to meet a new staff member who plays a key role for students and recruiters

Good news arrived in waves recently as the Department learned that its student organization won national honors, and that former Chairman Michael Goul had received a major award from an engineering association. Read further to meet a new staff member who plays a key role for students and recruiters.

Distinguished: DISC wins award

DISC (Department of Information Systems Club) has been honored by the Association for Information Systems with its Distinguished Chapter Award, an annual award recognizing the accomplishments of the best student chapters worldwide. The award will be presented at the International Conference on Information Systems, in Ireland on Dec. 11, 2016. The Distinguished Chapter Award recognizes chapters that have excelled in professional development, membership, careers in IS, community service, fundraising and communications. Leading the club to this honor in 2015-16 were (from left in photo) David Russell, Vice President of Community Service; Aaron Ortega, President; Vi Tranle, Vice President of Corporate Relations, Christine Abrazaldo, Vice President of Membership; Cristian Curiel, Vice President of IT and Jeremy Knorr, Vice President of Finance. “A few years back we put together a set of 10 business culture ideals to live by. The intent was to infuse those values in our students in every aspect of their academic life here at ASU,” said Raghu Santanam, department chairman. “This group of DISC members reflect the successful assimilation of the ‘championship IT’ ideals.” “We have great confidence that our students will be respected and recognized in society and workplace,” he added. “We appreciate the hard work they have put into earn this recognition. Kudos!”

Leadership in computing

Professor Michael Goul was awarded the 2016 IEEE Computer Society Technical Committee on Services Computing Outstanding Leadership Award at the 12th IEEE World Congress on Services in San Francisco this month. Goul is the second person to win the award; the inaugural award honored the founding editor of the IEEE Transactions on Services Computing journal. “I am really honored to be the second winner. We have nurtured that journal, and it now has significant impact in the computing field,” said Goul, who has been working a special issue bridging business and computer science. Goul, now associate dean for research at W. P. Carey, was one of the first to see that computing was becoming a services-based industry in the early 2000s. “The service computing approach has come to pass in a big way with manifestations ranging from cloud computing to mobile services, Goul said.

A new face in career services

Career Development Specialist Terri Erb, who has been a guiding light to CIS and BDA students, retired this spring. Though our students lost a fantastic ally when Terri left, we are happy to announce that Elizabeth Panopoulos is taking her place.

Panopoulos comes to the position with more than four years’ experience serving students in the W. P. Carey School of Business as an academic advisor. In her new role, she will be career-coaching accountancy, computer information systems and business data analytics students, and working closely with recruiters. “My students would say that they know I’m genuinely interested in their experiences, and that I work hard to foster positive relationships, while providing them with excellent information and that I’m fast in getting back to their questions,” Panopoulos said. “I’m excited to get to know the CIS and BDA students better, while continuing to work with my accountancy students.” Panopoulos advises students to utilize as many of the resources ASU provides while they are here. “I ask that students begin their career preparation almost immediately” she said. “This is everything from connecting with faculty, staff, peers and organizations, and thinking about how to articulate their experiences in writing and verbally to an employer.” Summer is a good time to get your head in the game, she indicated, by doing a little reading. “As part of the WPC 301 course, students read the book ‘So Good They Can’t Ignore You: Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work You Love.’ I just recently began to read it; as someone with a huge passion for the work I do with students and higher education, I appreciate the unique insight this book provides on a better way of discovering why people end up loving what they do and the path to their success.”