Finding your footing immediately after graduation can be a daunting task, but Katie Golen moved gracefully from classroom to career. Golen (BS Computer Information Systems ’10) has lived and worked in New York City since she graduated.

This spring Microsoft Technical Evangelist Randy Guthrie and a colleague helped the 900-odd students in Matthew McCarthy’s Computer Information Systems 105 class build apps and load them into the Windows 8 store.

Graduation season opens up opportunities to spotlight some of the accomplishments of Department of Information Systems faculty and students. Our feature photo, right, is a group of students, with faculty advisor Daniel Mazzola, at the Spring Avnet Tech Games.

Among the many differences between college and career is the simple matter of neatness. In class the questions and answers are usually straight forward, but on the job it’s a different situation.

The department welcomed 467 computer information systems undergraduates when classes started just a couple weeks ago — 120 are seniors. The CIS curriculum challenges these students, but they also find time for our professional organizations.

Companies are increasingly looking for the depth of expertise that students acquire in specialty masters programs like the Master of Science in Information Management (MSIM). In Part 2 of KnowIT’s tour of the MSIM curriculum we interviewed professors Robert St.

Part 1: MSIM students come from a variety of backgrounds, but what they have in common is a desire to learn how to harness IT to create competitive advantages for their companies.

When students think of American Express, finance normally comes to mind, but that is not true for Computer Information Systems majors involved with the Department of Information Systems Club (DISC).

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.

About 120 professionally-dressed students gathered in a classroom at the W. P. Carey School one evening last week, waiting to hear alumna Stephanie Gonzales speak about her company, Protiviti — a global business consulting and internal audit firm with an office in Phoenix.