Information Systems Department

What's New?

 

Business Executive Named UMSL Dean: Charles Hoffman believes what made him successful as a business leader are the same attributes that will propel him in his new position as the dean of the College of Business Administration at the University of Missouri–St. Louis.

Hoffman, who mostly recently served as president and chief executive officer of Covad Communications, the national broadband carrier, will begin his new position as dean Sept. 1. He will fill the role left by Keith Womer, who has now returned to the classroom. Michael Elliott, associate dean and director of undergraduate students for the college, has served as interim dean since July 1.

"Business is an honorable profession,” Hoffman said. “When I look back on my business career I don't think about stock price increases or net income improvements, but I do think about, and often hear from, people I was able to influence and mentor. The exciting thing about business is people and organizational development that leads to great results.  One of my goals at UMSL is to help students realize that's what business is all about." 

Hoffman, a resident of Clayton, MO, feels this new role will aid UMSL because he understands business challenges and has a great deal of practical business experience.  And, as an alumnus of UMSL who earned a bachelor's degree in 1974 and the MBA in 1976, he can connect with both alumni and students.  

“I’m a champion for UMSL. I’m a product of UMSL,” he said. “No one cares about the college more than me, so I feel it’s really a perfect fit.”

Glen Cope, provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs at UMSL, said Hoffman’s connection to both UMSL and the business community made him the ideal choice for the position.

“Charles Hoffman is a business innovator who understands and appreciates what our business college does well now and can do better in the future to educate the next generation of business leaders and support our regional economy,” Cope said. “I’m confident in his ability to grow and expand the college to meet the ever-changing field and the needs of our students.”

UMSL’s business college has more than 100 full- and part-time faculty members and 2,700 undergraduate and graduate students. The college has nearly 27,000 alumni – 19,000 of whom live and work in the St. Louis region. The college is accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business.

With the college's outstanding faculty, Hoffman's plans for the college include:
Engaging business executives and alumni to increase student internships, practical experience and job opportunities;
Preparing students to meet the evolving needs of business, with well-developed leadership and technical skills;
Ensuring that the curriculum thoroughly covers the ever-increasing globalization of business;
Bringing together faculty and staff to provide efficient, high quality delivery of a broad liberal education and;
Overseeing the construction, completion, and efficient use of a new building for the college.

Hoffman began his business career with IBM, later joining Southwestern Bell to build its first wireless business in St. Louis. Subsequently, he built and ran networks in Boston, Washington D.C. and the country of Mexico.

He then joined Sprint PCS as president of its Northeast region. That position led to his first public company CEO position with Rogers Wireless, the national carrier in Canada formerly known as Cantel. From that position he joined Covad Communications as CEO.

Since the sale of Covad in 2008, Hoffman has served on national and international corporate boards and on several UMSL committees, including the Chancellor's Council, the College of Business Administration Leadership Council, and the Capital Campaign Steering Committee.

Outstanding!: The University of Missouri Board of Curators and UM System President Timothy M. Wolfe honored five University of Missouri–St. Louis faculty members on June 13. They joined 11 faculty members and one student from the other three UM System campuses in receiving the President’s Awards – the highest honor bestowed by the University of Missouri System for excellence in the university’s four mission areas of teaching, research, service and economic development. Among those honored was Information Systems Professor Vicki Sauter, who received the President's Award for University Citizenship. To learn more about Professor Sauter and what she did to earn the award, see the UMSL News story.

Presidential Award Winners

UMSL Chancellor Tom George congratulates the five UMSL faculty members to receive President’s Awards, including (from left) Vicki Sauter, Carl Hoagland, Rita Csapó-Sweet, Susann Farberman and Dawn Garzón.

Xtreme IT!: This week we hosted 30 high school students from around the metropolitan area who were interested in careers in Information Systems. The students visted (or were visited by) large established IT companies like IBM and Microsoft, companies that rely on technology, such as Express Scripts, Edward Jones, Mercy Hospital, and the St. Louis Police Department, and start up companies, such as Pixel Press. They also learned about recycling computer components, making art from computer parts and mixing music using computers. It was a very full week. The students are pictured below in what has become a traditional photo with the campus statue of former state senator, and current University Curator, Wayne Goode (who is also "wearing" an Xtreme IT! tee shirt.

Xtreme IT Class of 2013

We Salute You!: Professor Joseph Rottman was honored at the Alumni Association's annual Salute to Business event on April 16. This event honors UMSL Alumni for achievement. Professor Rottman was honored as an "Outstanding Leader." He and his family is shown below with his award.

Joe Rottman and family with his award

Xtreme IT!: More high school students will now have an opportunity to learn about careers in information technology thanks to a generous grant from the SIM giveback program. Members of the SIM Board are shown below presenting a check to the IS Department at University of Missouri - St. Louis. Representing UMSL were Vicki Sauter, Professor of Information Systems and Director of Xtreme IT!, Keith Womer, Dean of the College of Business Administration, and Wendy Cornett-Marquitz, Director of Development for Colleges and Units.

This grant of $2,500 will be used to support pre-collegiate summer academy at the University of Missouri–St. Louis. Xtreme IT! introduces the field of information systems to the younger generation and exposes them to the wide range of possible career choices available. It highlights the fact that IS/IT is no longer “heads down programming in a cubicle.” The goal of the program is to introduce the range of opportunities across all kinds of industries and to encourage the students to pursue careers in IS/IT. This grant will be used to attract women and minorities to the camp, especially those with financial need, in an effort to increase their interest in, and pursuit of a career in information systems.

SIM presenting check for Xtreme IT!

Women in IT:  Did you miss the IS Mentoring Program on Women in IT? That is not a problem, you can watch it online: part 1 and part 2.

IT in Rural America:  When many Americans hear the word outsourcing, thoughts of shipping jobs overseas enter their heads. But a new trend in outsourcing is gaining momentum. Rural outsourcing is the idea of bringing jobs to rural areas throughout the United States. Learn about Professors Lacity and Rottman's research from UMSL News.

Congratulations!:  Congratulations to the IS students who graduated yesterday! Dr. Sauter is shown in this photo with Zach Franklin, Denis Klinac, Laura Bretsnyder, Katie Reece, Marshall Howell, and Ashley Hardges. Others who graduated with a BS in IS include Ahmad Al Juryyed, Abdullah Albahrani, Shelhong Choi, Malcolm Connor, Mallory Davis, Johnathan Feng. Jason Givens, James Halbert, Elain Holtz, Rhiianon Johnson, Greg Lico, Joshua Morales, Christina Peer, Chantal Rivadeneyra, Brandon Shelton, Brian Smith and Daniel Zickel. Two students also earned an MS in IS, Matthew House and Robert Talbott. Congratulations to all of the graduates! We are proud of you!

 

Students graduating in December 2012

 

Congratulations!:  Professor Sauter received the 2012 WORMS Award for the Advancement of Women in OR/MS from the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences. The WORMS Award, created in 1995, celebrates and recognizes a person who has contributed significantly to the advancement and recognition of women in the field of Operations Research and the Management Sciences. More information is available from the UMSL Daily.

Congratulations!: Congratulations to all of the Information Students who were recognized at today's 42nd Annual College of Business Administration Honors Program. I believe the list of IS students who won scholarships are: Nikolay Filpets (College of Business Administration Alumni Association), Stacy Bueneman (Boeing Company Scholars), Brenden McKamey (Jay H. Nilson Memorial Scholarship), Denis Klinac (Accenture Alumni Scholarship), Robert John Perez (ASM Gateway Scholarship), Johnathan Feng, Katie Reece, and Tam Tran (IS Alumni Partners Scholarship), Stacy Bueneman, Chyna Gilmore and Jahene Nicks (Society for Information Management Scholarship). Katie Reece and Tam Tran are shown in the photo with Dr. Dinesh Mirchandani. Dr. Mirchandani was recognized for having won the Anheuser-Busch Excellence in Teaching Award.

Katie Reece, Dinesh Mirchandani and Tam Tran