Deadlines, Ramping Up, and Independence

It's been a couple of months, so I think it's time for another update! I've been busy with admissions, preparatory courses, and other summer teaching and administrative duties. When I was working in industry, the thought of having "summers off" as an academic was very appealing. After 4 years in academics, I can say (at least in my case), that myth has been debunked.

Now that our final official deadlines for fall applications are behind us, we're busy getting ready for classes in the fall. I just finished teaching my first completely "online" course, to help some of our incoming MIS students better understand fundamental information systems concepts. Now we're in the middle of the second "IT Toolkit" preparatory course, which met on Saturday June, 26, and will meet again on Saturday, July 10. This course is focused on ramping up on Visual Basic and SQL, to help students gain proficiency with a couple of fundamental skills that will prove useful in the coming semesters as they begin graduate coursework.

We just received our last few BI Certificate applications, and will be working on finalizing admissions in the coming weeks for incoming Professional MIS and BI Certificate students. A few more applications may trickle in over the next couple of weeks, and we will continue to look at them as long as we have space available in the classroom -- we are down to just a couple of remaining seats, with quite a few applications left to consider.

Going into this holiday weekend, celebrating the independence of the United States of America, I am thankful to live and work in a nation that gives us the freedom and encouragement to pursue our dreams and to make the most of what we have.