September 2024 School Spotlight: School of Information Technology

Welcome back to the Fall semester! 

The School of Information Technology (SoIT) has had several personnel changes in the past year. 

We welcome Dr. Steve Carver as a new department chair, Henry Davis, and Nakia Finley, who was promoted from adjunct instructor to full-time faculty!

SoIT also had quite the 2023-24 academic year! Below are just a few of the highlights from the past year. Plus, there is a new coding club opportunity for all female-identifying students. Enrollment for Fall 2024 is up nearly 15% from last year, and the school continues to add more evening classes!

Middle School Cyber Camp 

The SoIT hosted a week-long Cyber Camp for students in sixth grade through eighth grade in June. Women in Hi-Tech co-sponsored the event, helping us pay for materials and t-shirts for the participants. During the camp, students energetically learned basic and more advanced methods to secure their data. Professor Anthony Ford was the instructor, and he stated that he had such a good time that he could not wait until next summer’s camp!

Mock Interview Day Leads to Actual Job Offers

SoIT and Career Link sponsored a one-day Mock Interview Day on February 16. We had a freak snowstorm that day, but it was not enough to deter our interviewers or candidates from participating in 63 interviews! Interviewing agencies included Eli Lilly, Bell Techlogix, Junior Achievement, Indianapolis Public Schools, the Indiana State Police, and Ivy Tech OIT. Even though the day's focus was to hone interview skills in a practice setting, several of our students received job offers because of the event.

4DX and More Evening Classes Leads to an Increase in Enrollment

Due to increasing demand, SoIT has begun offering many more classes during the evening to accommodate working students. This is part of our 4DX strategy to improve student recruitment, retention, and completion. The goal is for students to be able to complete their degree entirely through evening classes. We are already seeing a payoff, as the enrollment for Fall 2024 is up nearly 15% from last year!

Two Successful Hendricks County Events

The School of IT participated in two separate events at the Hendricks County Fairgrounds this year. In the spring, we had a booth at the College and Employer Fair that area students and their families highly attended. In the summer, we had a booth at the Hendricks County Fair, where students had the opportunity to “play” with programmable spheres to spark interest in pursuing an education in information technology.

JA JobSpark

In September 2023, the School participated in the statewide JA JobSpark event sponsored by Junior Achievement of Central Indiana. The event, which took place over two days at the Indiana State Fairgrounds, was attended by over 13,000 Indiana middle school students. Students had the opportunity to play with a Raspberry Pi microcomputer and learn about data storage. We will be participating in the event again this September and will include the programmable spheres that students can drive on a track!

Don’t Miss the “Girls Who Code Club”

Did you know that in 1995, 37% of computer scientists were women, whereas today, that number has declined to 24%? To help combat this decline, the School of IT is starting a local chapter of the Girls Who Code program to encourage more female students in information technology. There will be a virtual call-out on September 5 at 7 p.m., and participation is open to any student who identifies as female, regardless of their degree program in the College. The club is co-sponsored by Nakia Finley and Penny Miguel.