For the last 8 years a consensus has begun forming around IT Education. Where CS focuses on theory and mathematics and IS on the big picture, IT Education sits somewhere between the two at an implementation level of integration, security, and management. UC’s IT department has a long history of influence in shaping what an IT focused education should require. To that end, the international ACM SIGITE conference (Association for Computing Machinery Special Interest Group IT Education) will be hosted by UC’s IT program and held at the Millenium Hotel in downtown Cincinnati this Thursday, October 16th through Saturday, October 18th.

I bring this to your attention because if you’ve followed my work, you know how much respect I have for both UC’s IT program, hosted in the College of Applied Science (CAS), and their students. Each year I’m amazed at the quality of the senior design projects and the collaboration between faculty, staff, and the community to make a real difference with the projects they choose. The outcome of senior design and the quality of student is no coincidence. The program design as well as its alignment with the real world set the graduating seniors up for great opportunities and well-paying, interesting jobs at graduation.

Browse through the conference link above and take a look at what our education community is doing to create a strong technology foundation in the research-development-application triangle. For UC to host this international conference is a great honor, and I have no doubt that other university programs will walk away with a high level of respect for what UC has compiled. Out of the ACM SIGITE Accrediting Board for Engineering and Technology, the UC IT program is one of the first 10 programs in the nation to receive accreditation.

Great job! Kudos to department head, Hazem Said, for putting together a great team!

- Andy