Students

For many students, college is the place where they can prepare for the real world. For information systems major Robert Mckay, the real world couldn’t wait for him to graduate. Mckay, 26, is the information systems Outstanding Graduating Senior for the fall 2011 semester.

Computer Information Systems major Josh Valdez Elizetxe first explored a computer at the branch library where his dad dropped him every day after school. Now just 19, Josh is an entrepreneur with a track record of success.

Senior Joshua McCoy can remember getting his first computer when he was seven or eight years old. Just logging on and browsing websites for cartoons fascinated him. Now, McCoy is graduating from the W. P. Carey School of Business with an undergraduate degree in Computer Information Systems.

Marketers are starting to harness location-based mobile technology to send text messages to customers who are nearby their clients’ businesses. These promos are usually designed to spur impulse buys, but businesses that use the one-day coupon could be missing out.

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.

Business analytics has come a long way in a short time, evolving into a vital part of company strategy.

Just when we thought we were getting a handle on BYOD, along comes another acronym - BYOS. There’s some confusion on what the newer acronym stands for, however.

It’s an exciting time to be going into IT, said Avnet CIO Steve Phillips. “The stakes have changed. IT is now at the heart of the business.” Information systems leaders are part of the senior management team at Avnet and many other companies, helping to develop strategy as well as implement it.

The AIS Student Chapter Leadership Conference and Competition took place from March 20-22.