IBIT News

Information Systems Job Index 2022

The Institute for Business and Information Technology (IBIT), in partnership with the Association for Information Systems, and sponsored by Meta, is pleased to announce the release of 2022 Information Systems Job Index, by Munir Mandviwalla, Michael Dinger, and Brianna Anderson.

Vince Ford, SVP at Curtis Institute of Music

Vince Ford is a trained musician, but these days he focuses less on his French horn and more on using innovation and technology to engage and excite audiences.

At the Curtis Institute of Music, a private conservatory for gifted young musicians in Philadelphia, Ford produces digital content, capturing hundreds of student recitals and orchestra concerts each year. He also oversees the classroom and administration technology. Previously, he worked at the New York Philharmonic and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.

Ford brought an MBA and decades of experience in software, dotcom startups, digital marketing, and data analytics into arts administration with a specific goal in mind:

I understand what it means for people to have access to great music and to experience live performance, and the role that institutions like Curtis play in their communities. I want to use the technology and media available to us today to expand our reach and make us more successful and sustainable.

According to Ford, the pandemic accelerated the performing arts sector’s integration of digital media. In Spring 2022, Curtis’s Performance Innovation Lab (Ford serves as Executive Director) premiered an ambitious multimedia production called “Immersive Scheherazade,” in which projections of a recorded orchestra were paired with live musicians.

Ford first heard about IBIT while pursuing his Doctorate in Business at Temple University. Since joining the IT Advisory Board in 2021, Ford says:

discussions with fellow Board members have expanded my thinking and my range of reference for technology.

His eclectic career path serves him well when mentoring Temple students.

“I didn’t start with the idea of a specific technology. My career has been about finding a field I want to work in, and then bringing technology into that space. Having those types of conversations with them and watching some light up has been amazing,” he says. The students are ambitious, and they’re committed to doing the work and preparing themselves.

Mentoring Program 2021 – 2022

The goal of the IBIT mentoring program is to match experienced executives with students.

The senior executives are usually members of the IBIT Advisory Board, employees of IBIT sponsor firms or alumni. The role of the mentor is to provide guidance and coaching to students augmenting the existing professional development resources, which includes providing ideas/feedback and serving as a sounding board for challenges and problems. The benefit for mentors is the opportunity to engage with students, and the benefit for students is to leverage the experience of senior executives. The IBIT mentoring program is chaired by Sondra Barbour, member of the IBIT Advisory Board.

IBIT matched 51 students to 20 industry executives.

Twentieth Annual IT Awards

The 20th annual IT awards celebrated 20 years of excellence and successes of the Management Information Systems Department (MIS) and the Institute for Business and Information Technology (IBIT) on April 14, 2022. A photobook commemorated the anniversary featuring pictures of the last 20 years.

The event featured the IBIT Lifetime Achievement Award for Bruce Fadem, founding Chair, IT advisory board, Retired VP and CIO, Wyeth. Bruce was recognized for founding the IT advisory board, playing a major role in keeping the MIS curriculum up-to-date, student scholarships, and for working with IBIT to develop a worldwide reputation in industry-academic engagement. A committee of IBIT and MIS personnel selected Bruce for the award.

Michael Luckenbill, Technology Manager, Capgemini, Fox MIS alum ’08 was recognized with the MIS 20th Anniversary Alumni Award. Michael founded the MIS student organization, which became the template for Association for Information Systems (AIS) student chapters worldwide, speaks regularly in classes, mentors’ students, reviews curriculum, and provides advice on current industry trends. A committee of IBIT and MIS personnel selected Michael for the award.

Laurel Miller, Assistant Professor and IBIT Director, received the IBIT Lifetime Achievement Award for playing a major role in creating the National Cyber Analyst Challenge, Temple and National Analytics Challenges, mentoring program, career fair, sustaining and growing the IBIT relationship with industry, and the IT awards. The entire IBIT IT advisory board selected Laurel for the award.

David Schuff, Professor and Chair of MIS, received the IBIT Lifetime Achievement Award for creating the Temple and National Analytics Challenges, serving as editor-in-chief of the IBIT Report and as Research Director for industry projects, and leading programs that generate industry relevant talent. The entire IBIT IT advisory board selected David for the award.

The carnival themed event was attended by students, alums, faculty, staff, deans, and the IBIT advisory board.

See more pictures here.

The event also featured awards for students, faculty, and staff:

STUDENT LEADERSHIP AWARD Connor McShane	IBIT ALEXION SCHOLARSHIP Lucas Winslow
RESEARCHER OF THE YEAR AWARD Jason Thatcher	IBIT EMTEC SCHOLARSHIP Austin Yun
FACULTY LEADERSHIP AWARD Jason Thatcher	IBIT PFIZER SCHOLARSHIP Beth Whitehead
TEACHER OF THE YEAR AWARD Amy Lavin	IBIT SCHOLASTIC SCHOLARSHIP Sevgi Sivri
ADJUNCT OF THE YEAR AWARD Brian Green	ASSOCIATION FOR INFORMATION SYSTEMS Outstanding Officer: Abbey Helterbran Outstanding Member: Nicholas Bortz
ADMINISTRATIVE LEADERSHIP AWARD Lori Roseman	IT ADVISORY BOARD SCHOLARSHIP Luke Swiatek
JAMES AND ANDREA STEWART SCHOLARSHIP Omar Elamin Jingwen Lin Kelly Liu	RON AND RONDA RIDDELL SCHOLARSHIP Kumar Varathakumar Josia Phillip
YUSUF G. MANDVIWALLA SCHOLARSHIP Connor D’Arcy Dylan Lloyd	BILL AND JEAN DEVANEY SCHOLARSHIP Jacob Guo
RICHARD AND MAUREEN BRENNEN SCHOLARSHIP Hunter Shoenfelt
IT LEADERS SCHOLARSHIP Mia Myers Kayla Barone Nosa Iyamu	IT LEADERS SCHOLARSHIP Alexander McShane Allyson Yu Rahman Mohammed