Update – May, 2018
Computer Information Systems – CIS
The department welcomes new full-time faculty Jacob Kier. We look forward to the value he brings to our department and students.
Professor Suzanne Smith and assistant dean Deb Elder attended the Two-Year College Data Science Summit hosted by American Statistical Association and funded by the National Science Foundation in Arlington, VA, May 9-11. JCCC is one of only 14 colleges in the US providing Data Science/Analytics education programs. The Summit convened a cross-section of community college, four-year colleges, industry, and non-profits in an effort to address the high demand for educating and training the workforce. JCCC was validated as a successful model, based on the design to engage employers from the initial planning stages. JCCC appreciates the partnership with Normandale Community College and Bunker Hill Community College through the Educational Development Center in Boston, MA with funding from the National Science Foundation. National partnerships provide opportunity to put JCCC students at the forefront of educational initiatives to be responsive to our students and our community with cutting edge and relevant offerings. We look forward to continued relationships with our local stakeholders and peer institutions.
As part of the Data Science program grant, Professor Suzanne Smith attended a Stackable Credentials for Data Science Workshop. This area is developing fast in the industry and there are great opportunities for JCCC to integrate these options with our new certificate.
CSIS students in the capstone software development course, CIS 264 – Application Development and Programming, under the guidance of Professor Suzanne Smith, presented their end of the year projects. A joint presentation with other departments at JCCC and KU showcased the back-end system to support an online outdoor art catalogue for the Johnson County Arts Council. The second CSIS-hosted gathering welcomed industry partners, staff and board members. Students projects were very well received, and follow-up actions are developing.
Professor Perla Weaver attended the NCWIT Summit at Grapevine, Texas on May 15-17. The NCWIT Summit is the world’s largest annual convening of change leaders focused on significantly improving diversity and inclusion in computing. Educators, entrepreneurs, corporate executives, and social scientists from across industries and disciplines participate in this one-of-a-kind opportunity. The summit focus is to provide the venue to convene, learn from experts, take action and celebrate accomplishments. Professor Weaver accepted the official award for the NCWIT Seed Fund Grant for the CSIS department.
Professor Weaver took the Computer Club to participate at the Hack-KU (coding hackathon) event in Lawrence, KS from April 20-22. At the event, students are given the challenge to develop an application from scratch in 24 hours. Students are judged on their learning, the design of their application, the completion level and the technology used for their project. The experience of a hackathon is packed with short deadlines, big goals, and little sleep, but most importantly it gives the opportunity for students to maximize their collaborative work. Both of the JCCC participating teams were able to submit projects for final evaluation, and received recognitions and awards!
The ACM Kansas City chapter Meetup welcome its members and some JCCC students to their bi-monthly gathering on May 10th. We look forward to continued collaboration with its members.
The Girls Who Code club welcomed parents, and family members to its end of the year graduation. Students showcased the projects they have been working on during the semester. Girls Who Code is a nonprofit organization which aims to support and increase the number of women in computer science. The organization is working to close the gender gap in technology and change the image of what a programmer looks like and does. This year, the JCCC hosted club had a record 41 students enrolled. The club meets weekly for 2 hours from September to May thanks to the support of JCCC staff and faculty Sandra Warner, Rachel Morris Singh and Perla Weaver, along with Computer Science professionals who work with work with students every week: Annissa Freeman, Anna Scheuler, Asha Chandrappa, Amanda Halek, Ariadne Spes, Abbey Trotta and Lindsay Brechler.
The Computer Club hosted its last special session with Tom Pagano, JCCC CIO, who discussed with students the value of informal leadership in career development. Students had a great question and answer session on this valuable soft skills topic.
Medical Information and Revenue Management – MIRM
MIRM and Learning Strategies have completed a joint-effort Carl Perkins Grant, developing an Online Student Success video. This video, detailing learning strategies and other tips/tricks for online student success, will be published as part of the MIRM curriculum beginning in Summer 2018.
MIRM students have completed Spring internships with a variety of employers – Freedom PTTC, KU Medical Center, in2itive Business Solutions, Lakeview Village, Pathfinder Health Innovations, and Physician Office Partners.
Ekta Priyakant, MIRM graduate (Spring 2018), passed the Certified Coding Specialist (CCS) credentialing exam in May. These credentials are nationally-recognized, awarded by the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA). With these credentials, Ms. Priyakant was offered a job at Pulse Systems, as part of the Revenue Cycle Management (RCM) team.
MIRM graduated 14 students with the Medical Coding Specialist Certificate, Fall 2017 – Spring 2018. These students include: Lindsey Bowlin, Valerie Kennedy, Paige Mansfield, Bonnie Offerman, Lovely Singh, Kilee Watson, Mary Brady, Denice Griffin, Hannah Mauk, Caila McPherson, Cynthia Pickard, Ekta Priyakant, Jessica Ramirez, Kayla Smith.
Web Development and Digital Media (WDDM)
• 5 out of the 10 students in the WDDM Capstone course graduated with jobs:
o Tatiana Trofimova and Carson Rapp – City of Shawnee ( 2 students)
o Melanie Garvey – Mylo a Lockton Company
o Talia Degisi – RealLeads, Inc.
o Jason Soltys – Computer Impressions
• WDDM, Marketing program and Small Business Development Center @JCCC are working on building the JC3 Innovations Student Agency.
• Kansas Workforce Partnership approved 6000$ for three summer interns from WDDM program.