|
Student receives national CIS award |
|
|
|
Thursday, 10 April 2008 |
by JILLIAN SWORDS
News Reporter
An Appalachian State University senior placed second in a national undergraduate papers competition at the Association of Information Technology Professionals Collegiate Conference in Memphis, Tenn.
“I wrote it on the influence of guidance counselors on students in choosing computer-related careers,” computer information systems major Matthew L. Saunders said of his research paper.
Saunders is also the vice president of Appalachian’s AITP chapter.
 Dr. Scott Husinger (l) and computer information systems major Matthew L. Saunders display their second place trophy. Special to The Appalachian
|
Twelve other Appalachian students and faculty advisor D. Scott Hunsinger attended the two-day conference the weekend of March 29, which was largely comprised of hands-on competitions. All students that went entered at least one of the competitions, Hunsinger said.
The tests and competitions “deal with some things they may not have covered in college classes,”
Hunsinger said. “There were a number of technical schools at the conference... I think it’s impressive
that one of our students was able to win second place this year going against some of these schools
where [hands-on troubleshooting] is their entire drive.”
Other competition divisions included PC Troubleshooting, Network Design and Business Intelligence.
Junior CIS majors John P. Keels and Paul M. Visentin were also two of only 17 students from 74
different schools to earn their Associate Computing Professional Certification at the conference.
“It’s an optional thing, but some companies out there…require their technicians to have this
certification anyway,” Keels said. “It’s a good thing to have on your resume.”
Saunders and Keels said the conference provided ample opportunity to network.
Major companies, such as Microsoft and major accounting firms, had representatives and information
sessions available, Saunders said.
Keels said the experience gained through professionally-recognized organizations like AITP helps push
students ahead of the curve in the post-graduation job search.
“It’s like being a member of any club,” Keels said. “Nowadays a lot of employers not only want to see
what classes you took and your GPA, they like to see extracurricular activities too... It’s another
feather in the cap, I guess you could say.”
Hunsinger said Appalachian was the only school in the region to win any competition this year, and
emphasized how beneficial qualifications gained from conferences like this one can be.
“Last year the students who competed and won said it was really helpful for them, topped out on their
resume and helped them get jobs,” Hunsinger said.
AITP fundraised earlier in the semester and each student that competed received $300 travel grants
from the Office of Student Research to offset the $11,000 total cost of attending the conference.
Hunsinger said approximately 700 people from across the nation attended the conference.
AITP is open to anyone interested in technology. More information can be found at
http://aitp.appstate.edu or by e-mailing Hunsinger at
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
 |
News 
Show/Hide comments
