Dr. Darrell Burrell recently spoke with students at Illinois Tech on how to navigate and apply using USAJobs, the United States Government’s website for listing civil service job opportunities with federal agencies. Other highlights were navigating the Presidential Management Fellow (PMF) program. Dr. Burrell is the Director, Fort Lee Education Center and Associate Professor of Business, Bisk College of Business at Florida Institute of Technology. You can view Dr. Burrell’s discussion at https://youtu.be/kc4VuwtY-O8.

Good post by DataCamp on quora.com in answer to the question: “What are the major differences between Python and R for data science?” https://www.quora.com/What-are-the-major-differences-between-Python-and-R-for-data-science/answer/DataCamp-5

In Information Technology and Management we believe they are both important—that’s why we teach both, and teach them together.

The U.S. Department of Defense is offering Cyber Scholarships to U.S. citizens who will be Juniors, Seniors, or graduate students in the fall of 2021. Because we are a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Education, you may be eligible to apply. This is a one-year scholarship covering full books, tuition, and a $25,000 stipend for undergraduates or a $30,000 stipend for graduate students. The scholarships are renewable but require a new application each year. After graduation, scholarship recipients will work one year of federal service in a cyber security or digital forensics role for each year of scholarship support, or four years of military service. Applicants must be eligible for a security clearance. Applicants are not limited to students in the Department of Information Technology and Management but may also be students in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, and Business—but because of the nature of the application, knowledge of and a clear understanding of cyber security is a necessity. Please read the scholarship details document carefully and completely before filling out the application. An official transcript must accompany your application but digital official versions are acceptable. A complete application with all documents included in a zip file must be uploaded by 8:00am Monday January 25 so we can evaluate and include your scholarship in our funding request. All files must be PDF files.

The application and full details of the scholarship are included below.

• • Illinois Tech DoD Cyber Scholarship 2021 Announcement
  • Illinois Tech Information about the DoD Cyber Scholarship 2021
  • Scholarship Details: ATTACHMENT C Scholarship and Vacancy Announcement 2021
  • Scholarship Application: ATTACHMENT D NEW Student Application 2021
  • Resume Template: DoD CySP Resume Template (Microsoft Word File)

If you have read all of the materials and you still have questions, please contact Professor Ray Trygstad at trygstad@iit.edu. Please include “DOD Cyber Scholarship” as the first thing in the subject line of your email.

I’ve shared some wisdom I try to impart to Information Technology and Management students here at Illinois Tech in an article on LinkedIn: Communicating Technology to a Non-Technical Audience.
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/communicating-technology-non-technical-audience-ray-trygstad

Upcoming Co-Terminal Degree information sessions:

• Co-Terminal Information Session: November 4, 2020 at 12 noon C.S.T. (Online) Register
• Co-Terminal Information Session: November 5, 2020 at 7:00 p.m. C.S.T. (Online) Register

The Spring 2021 WiCyS @ Illinois Tech Mentorship Program aims to connect cybersecurity newbies with more experienced cybersecurity students (all within Illinois Tech)!

The Spring 2021 ITM Undergraduate Advising Notes are now available at https://blogs.iit.edu/itm_loopback/files/2020/10/Spring2021ITMUndergraduateAdvisingNotes.pdf and at https://itm.iit.edu/data/Spring2021ITMUndergraduateAdvisingNotes.pdf

Illinois Tech ACM-W members at the Anita Borg Conference.

The Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) is the oldest and broadest professional society for those of us in the computing professions. We just concluded the Annual Conference of the ACM Special Interest Group for Information Technology Education (ACM SIGITE 2020) where ITM faculty and students presented nine papers and posters. Participation in ACM “offers critical benefits that empower computing students who are committed to self-improvement and success in their chosen fields” as well as opportunities to network, learn, and grow. For a limited time, ACM is offering FREE one-year student memberships! (Student membership is usually $19.) Benefits of membership include:

• Communications of the ACM – the trusted source for computing professionals, features emerging technologies, IT trends, news, opinion, research and practical applications
• XRDS – published by and for students – featuring research highlights, opinions, upcoming events, and grant/funding opportunities
• Custom collection of online books, videos and courses by SkillSoft covering the most in-demand skills, software, and technologies for computing professionals
• ACM TechTalks – webinars featuring the most sought-after speakers on today’s hottest computing topics
• ACM ByteCast – podcast conversations with researchers, practitioners, and innovators who are at the intersection of computing research and practice
• And many more

So do it! Join today at https://www.acm.org/studentjoin. It’s free for a year. And while you’re at it, interact with your fellow Illinois Tech ACM members through one of our ACM student chapters: Illinois Tech ACM and Illinois Tech Association for Computing Machinery-Women (ACM-W). For more information on ACM student membership, see their brochure at https://itm.iit.edu/data/ACM-brochure-student.pdf.

Image: Black Man Working at his Desk Cartoon Vector.svg from Wikimedia Commons by Videoplasty.com, CC-BY-SA 4.0

What job will studies in information technology and/or cybersecurity equip you for? The Department of Information Technology and Management has posted a fairly comprehensive list of possible job titles for graduates of degrees from our department. It’s also available in PDF form. We hope to link brief pop-up job descriptions to each of these job titles, and if any students would like to help with that we would welcome their assistance. Some of those are already enabled. (Contact Professor Trygstad, trygstad@iit.edu if you want to help.) https://www.itm.iit.edu/data/itjobroles.html.

Academic Audit Request Form: An academic audit provides a summary of a student’s academic status to date and lists the courses to be completed in order to receive a degree. Students can request an official academic audit from the Office of Undergraduate Academic Affairs after they have earned a minimum of 60 semester hours including transfer credit (90 semester hours for Architecture students), and completed at least one semester at Illinois Tech. Audits typically take 7-10 business days to process, but may take longer depending on the time of the semester. https://iit.secure.force.com/form?formid=217960

Change of Major Request Form: A student who wishes to change or declare a major must complete a Change of Major form. The form will be sent to the department of the intended major for approval. Any change of major that is approved after the Add/Drop deadline will be processed for the following semester. https://iit.secure.force.com/form?formid=217961

Change of Status Request Form: Students changing from non-degree status to full-time or part-time degree-seeking status must submit this Change of Status form. Students must have completed at least one semester (12 hours) of relevant coursework at Illinois Tech and must be in good academic standing in order to be eligible for changing their status. https://iit.secure.force.com/form?formid=217962

Dual Degree/Double Major Request Form: Students who wish to earn two undergraduate degrees can declare a Dual Degree. Students working towards a Dual Degree must complete 15 hours above and beyond those required for their first degree. Upon graduating, the student will receive two diplomas.

Students who wish to earn two undergraduate degrees can declare a Double Major. This is different from the Dual Degree listed above. Only students majoring in Applied Analytics, Applied Mathematics, Computer Information Systems, Global Studies, Humanities, and Psychological Science are eligible to declare a Double Major, so this does not apply to students in our department. Upon graduating, the student will receive one diploma with both degrees posted.

The form will be sent to the department of the intended 2nd major for approval. Any Dual Degree or Double Major that is approved after the Add/Drop deadline will be processed for the following semester. https://iit.secure.force.com/form?formid=217963

Letter of Intent Request Form: Students in their last semester can request a Letter of Intent for prospective employers or graduate schools. The Letter of Intent will state that a student will graduate that semester upon successful completion of that semester’s coursework. https://iit.secure.force.com/form?formid=217966

Minor Request Form: A minor consists of at least five courses (minimum of 15 credit hours) not required for a degree program. Students who take the standard core curriculum’s distribution of courses may apply them toward the requirements of any approved minor. Note that not all minors are applicable to all majors. https://iit.secure.force.com/form?formid=217964

Reinstatement Application: All undergraduate students who were not in attendance for at least one semester must submit this application to return to the university. The deadlines for the application are June 15 for the Fall semester, November 15 for the Spring semester or April 15 for the Summer term. https://iit.secure.force.com/form?formid=217965

Transfer Credit Petition Form: An undergraduate student registered at Illinois Tech who wishes to enroll at another institution must submit a Transfer Credit Petition Form to the Office of Undergraduate Academic Affairs for approval prior to registration at the other institution. This includes registration at another institution for the summer term. Upon completion of the course, please have your official transcripts sent to Illinois Tech. https://iit.secure.force.com/form?formid=217932

Links to all of these forms can always be found on the Undergraduate Academic Affairs UGAA Services page at https://web.iit.edu/ugaa/services