JEAN COPPOLA, PHD, NAMED JEFFERSON AWARD RECIPIENT FOR EXEMPLARY COMMUNITY SERVICE

Jean Coppola, PhD

Jean Coppola, PhD, is one of the first members of the Pace Community to receive the Jefferson Bronze Medal Award for sustained commitment to community service. The Jefferson Awards for Public Service, first conferred in 1972, were created "to recognize and honor individuals whose community volunteer efforts best exemplify dedication to enhancing the quality of life in their community."

The University became a participant in The Jefferson Awards program in fall 2008. Nominations are solicited from across the Pace community. Students, faculty and staff are all eligible. Winners are selected each month by the Center for Community Outreach of Dyson College and Project Pericles under the direction of Mary Ann Murphy, PhD. Of the nine outstanding individuals recognized since the program was initiated at Pace, one will be selected to represent the University at the Jefferson Awards National Ceremonies to be held in Washington, DC in June and will compete for the Gold Medal and the National Jefferson Award. The Jefferson Awards for Public Service program recognizes high profile individuals at the national level as well as those who make significant contributions locally.

Dr. Coppola has become a recognized leader in the emerging field of gerontechnology research, defined as the study of technology to promote the cognitive health of older adults and has won numerous awards, received significant press coverage, and granted modest research monies for her work. In mid-March, she, along with representatives from the other organizations that comprise the Consortium for Multi-faceted Gerontechnology Research located in Westchester County, will receive the 2009 Mind Alert Award for General Mental Fitness. Specifically, the award recognizes the research program in intergenerational computing that was conceived and implemented by Dr. Coppola. Begun in 2005, the program was designed to bridge the "digital divide" between older adults by enabling them to access and use computer technology. To learn more, go to Research Team Recognized for Work in Gerontechnology.

Dr. Coppola also teaches CIS 102T Intergenerational Computing, an offering open to all Pace undergraduates that satisfies the civic engagement requirement of the Core Curriculum. After receiving instruction in social gerontechnology and in how to instruct older adults, students go out into the community and teach seniors on a one-on-one basis how to access the Internet, send e-mail, and search the Web for medical and financial information and more. Sparked by Dr. Coppola's contagious enthusiasm for teaching seniors new skills that broaden their horizons and keep them "connected," both the undergraduates and the seniors thrive. Students gain real satisfaction from helping others and often extend their involvement beyond their initial CIS 102T experience. Recently, two undergraduate students who had completed the course, placed first in a competition to develop a prototype of livable and affordable housing for senior citizens sponsored by Westchester County (see below). Two others, graduate students in one of Dr. Coppola's Educational Technology courses, received the CASE Award for their work in assistive technology to aid people with physical handicaps as well as the elderly (see below).

PACE TEAM WINS BUILDING LIVABLE COMMUNITIES COMPETITION

Luisa Morales (BBA/Mar '13) and Lloyd Duberry, Jr. (BBA/Fin '09) placed first in the Building Livable Communities in Second Life competition sponsored by the Westchester County Department of Senior Programs and Services. The competition was held on the Pleasantville campus on January 23. Teams from Manhattanville and Monroe Colleges also participated.

Pace students, Luisa Morales and Lloyd Duberry, Jr., are flanked by Mae Carpenter (l), Commissioner, Westchester County Department of Senior Programs and Services, and Dr. Jean Coppola, Assistant Professor of Technology Systems.

The idea for the competition originated with Mae Carpenter, Westchester County's Commissioner of Senior Programs and Services, who is working to provide livable and affordable housing for seniors living in Westchester. Currently, Westchester is officially considered an "aging" county with more than 20 percent of its population 60 years of age or older. Its housing stock is also older and costly and not "user-friendly" to an aging population. Wanting young adults to be more aware of this issue and possibly extract innovative ideas and fresh thinking as to how to address it from them, she decided to sponsor this competition as a pilot program with the expectation that the program will expand over time.

Jean Coppola, PhD, known to many Westchester County employees for her work in intergenerational computing, suggested that projects be developed and presented using Second Life 3D Virtual World technology. She encouraged Luisa and Lloyd, former students in her intergenerational computing service learning course, to participate. Since Luisa was from New York City and Lloyd from Pleasantville, the students learned to collaborate on this project online. The result was a model of an attractive, spacious and thoughtfully designed home that would be easy for seniors to move about in.

The students received $750 in prize money and were given the opportunity to present their ideas before the county's Livable Communities Advisory Board at the Westchester County Center on January 31.

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STUDENTS RECEIVE CASE AWARD TO DEVELOP "ASSISTAMOUSE"

Christopher Keogh and Lorelei Reynolds, CASE Awardees

Christopher Keogh (MSE/TEU '09) and Lorelei Reynolds (MSE/TMU '09), students in the School of Education's MS in Education Technology Specialist program, have been declared Round Two award winners in the New York State Carter Academic Service Entrepreneur (CASE) Competition. The competition is sponsored by the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Partnership Foundation with funding from the W. K. Kellogg Foundation. The purpose of the CASE award is to recognize excellence in academic service learning and to provide financial support to outstanding examples of campus-community collaboration and innovative ideas to serve the community.

AssistaMouse Prototype

The students will receive a grant of $1,000 to further the development of their project "Designing and Implementing the AssistaMouse " to support students with disabilities in partnership with Cerebral Palsy of Westchester. The project was launched when Mr. Keogh and Ms. Reynolds were students in TS 642 Introduction to Computer Software, Hardware and Networking Technologies, a course taught by Dr. Jean Coppola, assistant professor of technology systems in the Seidenberg School. While working with individuals with multiple disabilities, the students came to realize that a modified version of a computer mouse would make it considerably easier for them as well as for the elderly to learn to use a computer. Thus, the idea for AssistaMouse was born. To learn more, read The AssistaMouse. The students, currently enrolled in Dr. Coppola's networking technologies course, are continuing to work on the AssistaMouse under her direction.

In addition to the CASE grant, Christopher and Lorelei will receive a certificate of recognition signed by former President Jimmy Carter. The students' project summaries will also appear on the Carter Partnership Foundation and New York Campus Compact Web sites.

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JOE SIMON, CIO OF VIACOM INTERNATIONAL, TO BE HONORED

Joe Simon , senior vice president and CIO of Viacom International, will be the honoree at the Seidenberg School's 14th Annual Leadership and Service in Technology (LST) Award Reception to be held at The Bank of New York Mellon on Tuesday, June 9. Details will be forthcoming shortly and can be found at www.seidenberg.pace.edu/lst . In the meantime, be sure to save the date!

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SEIDENBERG ALUM CONTINUES TO BE CIVICALLY ENGAGED

Aaron Grogg with Dawn Bovasso, founders of UX Test Kitchen

In spring 2007, Aaron Grogg (BS/PCS '07), a Professional Computing Studies major, enrolled in CIS 102W Web Design for Non-Profit Organizations, a Seidenberg School service learning course taught by Darren Hayes, DPS. Aaron was an exemplary student, excelling in every area of the course. Aaron has since graduated but continues to offer professional advice as an unofficial consultant to numerous service learning partners including the U.N., Orphaned Starfish, and others working on projects with Pace University.

At the end of the fall 2008 semester, Aaron was invited to be the keynote speaker at the first Service Learning Day Brunch sponsored by Seidenberg. Attendees included both students and service learning partners. During his talk, Aaron presented and discussed his new enterprise called UX Test Kitchen along with co-founder Dawn Bovasso. Aaron and Dawn have full-time jobs, he as a senior front-end developer with Time, Inc., and she as a content strategist with Razorfish, but devote their free time to this remarkable project. Their Web site, www.uxtestkitchen.com describes their venture as follows:

"The UX Test Kitchen is a nonprofit interactive agency providing free websites and media to other nonprofits. Our staff comes from various agencies and companies in a collaborative effort to bring an agency-level presence to nonprofits. The nonprofit community gets the service they need and deserve (without budgetary constraints), and the UX community gets to push the limits of user experience."

In their presentation, they described how overwhelming the response to their offer of free Web design, development and maintenance advice has been. Specifically, their talk also detailed how they re-designed a Web site for a charitable organization and added many features to attract more donations for the charity's worthy cause. The presentation enthralled those present and prompted numerous questions.

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UNDERGRADUATES FORM PACE GAMER ASSOCIATION Organization Hosts Monthly Game Tournaments

Knowing that there is intense interest in video gaming among undergraduates, Daniel Fiasconaro (BS/CS) and Taylor Vogt (BA/Pol) believed that a campus organization dedicated to the gaming culture would be an excellent addition to campus life in Pleasantville and took the initiative to establish the Pace Gamer Association ( PGA ).

The Pace Gamer Association, in collaboration with the Mortola Library, worked on giving Pace students an opportunity to enjoy some friendly competition on Game Night, an event held monthly at the Mortola Library where, in the past, students would play traditional games such as Monopoly and Scrabble. The PGA organized a Street Fighter IV Tournament with cash prizes going to the winners. Other video games that were available for free for student enjoyment included Halo 3, Super Smash Bros: Brawl, and Counter Strike. More than 35 students turned out for this event held on the evening of March 6th.

Dan, who is serving as the first president of PGA, said that his motivation for establishing the organization was partially personal but primarily community-oriented. He is very interested in gaming and is considering a career in game design and believed that Pace University needed a way to address the large gaming interest and provide a way for developers and gamers to get together and develop their skills. He also believes that gaming would serve as a catalyst for enhanced social interaction among the Pleasantville students, especially on weekends.

In addition to recreational gaming, the founders hope to field a team of gamers capable of competing in professional tournaments such as those sponsored by Major League Gaming and to eventually host industry expos and conventions at Pace. They also envision providing support for those interested in pursuing a career in game design by offering workshops covering the game design process and by identifying internship and job opportunities.

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PAUL DUMOULIN CITED IN CRA COMPETITION

Paul Dumoulin (BS/CS '09)

Paul Dumoulin (BS/CS '09), a graduating senior, was recently notified that he has been selected for Honorable Mention in the 2009 Computing Research Association's (CRA) Outstanding Undergraduate Award competition. The competition, which is held annually and supported alternatively by Microsoft Research and Mitsubishi Electric Research Labs (MERL), recognizes students in North American universities who show outstanding potential in computing research. Competing students come from many prestigious institutions including Carnegie Mellon, MIT and McGill.

Paul is being cited for the work he did for the Security Industry Automation Corporation (SIAC) last summer. His project, which he worked on independently, involved a complex redesign of Connectivity State Monitor (CSM) networking software that is used by those responsible for the proper functioning of the New York Stock Exchange's technology systems. The redesigned software was very well received. A more detailed story of this project appeared in the Fall 2008 edition of eCommunique .

Although the primary criterion for selection is a significant research contribution, outstanding academic performance and service to the community are also taken into consideration. Paul, a Pforzheimer Honors College student, has a stellar academic record. He has also contributed numerous hours to instructing New York City junior high school students in LEGO robotics as well as assisting with the Seidenberg Scholars Summer Experience. Paul plans to continue his studies in computer science at the graduate level and was recently accepted by Columbia.

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THEY MUST LIKE IT HERE! Two Alums Build on their Undergraduate Degrees and Stay on to Teach

Thomas Murphy (PCS '04, MS/CS '10)	Robert Volpe (MS/IS '05)

Two Seidenberg alums, Thomas Murphy (PCS '04, MS/CS '10) and Robert Volpe (MS/IS '05), are continuing their enduring relationship with Pace as instructors for the Pace Computer Learning Center (PCLC), the division of the Seidenberg School that focuses on continuing education and professional development. Both Tom and Rob teach in the Red Hat Academy program offered through PCLC that prepares people to become Red Hat Certified Technicians (RHCT) or Red Hat Certified Engineers (RHCE), credentials that are highly sought after in the growing open systems Linux operating system community. The Red Hat Academy requires all instructors to be Red Hat certified, a standard that both have met by pursuing certification themselves through PCLC.

Tom initially joined Pace as a student in the UNIX/C++ program in the late 90's. While attending the program, he befriended Dr. Jean Coppola with whom he stayed in contact after the program ended. As life progressed, Tom accepted a position at The American Institute of Physics as a UNIX/C systems programmer, and later at the Waksman Institute of Microbiology at Rutgers University as a bio-applications developer. Dr. Coppola then convinced him that completing his baccalaureate would be invaluable for his career and Pace would be the perfect place to pursue it.

After being out of school for many years but having accumulated considerable professional experience, Tom enrolled in Pace's BS in Professional Computer Studies, a degree completion program designed for adults. The program was a perfect fit. He was able to finish his degree in a few short years at night while working for AIG as an Advanced Technology Specialist on Wall Street. He then went on to obtain his Red Hat certification. Today, Tom is still furthering his education at Pace where he is nearing completion of his MS in Computer Science. Professionally, he specializes in financial systems engineering and software development and currently holds the title of Vice President of IT Infrastructure at Millennium Management LLC, a top rated hedge fund in Manhattan.

Rob Volpe worked on Wall Street for the New York Stock Exchange as a Systems Administration Engineer overseeing close to 1000 Linux workstations for traders. Having earned an MS in Information Systems from Seidenberg, Robert looked to Pace for a program to sharpen his Linux skills and enrolled in PCLC's program to obtain his RHCT certification. One of his Red Hat Academy Systems Administration instructors happened to be Tom Murphy who prepared Rob well. Rob passed his RHCT exam in 2006. He went on to earn his RHCE credential, and came back to teach in the Red Hat Academy program in 2008. Currently, he is a Linux System Administrator with Market North America.

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FACULTY MEMBER RESEARCHES EFFECTIVENESS OF INNOV8 AS A TEACHING TOOL

In a digital Second Life environment, games are already becoming a means of educating students. Operational processing problems and scenarios encountered by information systems professionals in business process management (BPM) may be demonstrated in gaming of Second Life simulations. Students in information systems might learn more about BPM if gaming is integrated into the curricula of information systems, as they are already of the gaming generation and are knowledgeable about it. The challenge is for gaming to be fun yet focused primarily on learning.

James Lawler, DPS, has been researching the benefits of Second Life games for graduate students in his IS 617 Information Systems Principles course, in which he has integrated a customized 3D game called BPM Simulator: INNOV8 . The game consist of interactions with different virtual personalities of technical and business professionals, and played by students pretending to be consultants to a business firm in virtual reality. Students progress from a current business process to a new business process and to management of the new process and the relevant technology - scenes and quests in virtual offices with the virtual personalities – with cues, hints and tutorials. The students have been surveyed by Dr. Lawler as to the effectiveness of the game in learning BPM, and the findings have been positive. They have also indicated that gaming has improved problem-solving and critical-thinking skills . INNOV8 appears to be a successful complement to Dr. Lawler's lecturing on BPM.

Sowmya Srinivasan (MBA/IS), a student in the IS Principles course, said that BPM Simulator: INNOV8 is an "engaging and enlightening" approach in learning BPM and "an interesting way to learn" in contrast to "studying from the text. With [further] modification INNOV8 will be a great resource tool."

Dr. Lawler's findings may be helpful for other professors at Pace considering integrating gaming in Second Life as a learning methodology. Design of gaming for learning is a complex project for professors, even in computer science and information systems, and further iterative prototyping of INNOV8 and other gaming software is planned in Seidenberg during AY 2009-10. Given the hype of technology firms positing gaming as "the next big thing," BPM Simulator: INNOV8 is initiating needed research into gaming technology as a pedagogical tool, potentially benefiting professors in schools of information systems in developing improved skills in Net Generation gamer students.

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SUCCESSFUL ADOBE WEB DESIGN I CERTIFICATE PROGRAM PROMPTS ADVANCED OFFERING

The Pace Computer Learning Center (PCLC) started a pilot Web Design program - Certificate in Adobe Web Design I – in the fall of 2008. According to Sylvia Russakoff, PCLC director, "We wanted to keep class size small initially to make sure the curriculum worked and we were able to complete the learning objectives we set out for our students." The class not only met expectations, but far exceeded them as indicated by overwhelmingly positive student feedback.

"The course was designed with a few key learning objectives" said Jim Irvine, program manager. "First, we wanted to put together a program that taught students not only how to use specific tools, but also how to build a robust Web site using multiple tools. In addition, we wanted to include the soft skills necessary for success in understanding customer requirements and critical in the planning, designing and building phases of Web design."

The Adobe Web Design I certificate program has been so successful that PCLC will begin its fourth section on April 7 th at the Midtown Center. As of March 9, only two spots remain open for that section. The class is 50 hours in length and meets twice weekly in the evenings for 10 weeks.

PCLC has set a target date for launching an advanced certificate, Adobe Web Design II, in late April that will build on the skills acquired in Web Design I. The advanced class project will involve creating an artist's portfolio Web application featuring interactive photo galleries, video, and a database-driven product catalog. Topics to be covered include advanced features of Photoshop, Dreamweaver, Flash, Illustrator, PHP, MySQL, and the inclusion of a shopping cart to facilitate e-commerce.

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SALARIES FOR IT PROFESSIONALS IN NY METRO AREA SURGED IN 2008

Despite the softening of the IT job market in the second half of 2008, salaries in the New York metropolitan area increased substantially last year according to a recent article in Crain's New York Business . Drawing on the 2008-2009 Annual Salary Survey conducted by Dice.com, the Manhattan-based technology job site, Crain's reported that salaries surged 5.8 percent to an impressive average of $85,452.

However, "It is important to recognize these are annual numbers," said Tom Silver, senior vice president and chief marketing officer at Dice.com. "In the last couple of months the market has deteriorated and salaries will follow things downward over this calendar year." This trend has been corroborated by the findings of the Pace/SkillPROOF IT Index (PSII) Report for the 4th quarter of 2008. To learn more, read PSII.

While corporations are expected to cut down on hiring and salaries will inevitably flatten in 2009, the decline will be less than in most other sectors as corporations have come to view IT workers as core assets of their businesses and worthy of retention. Opportunities for qualified IT professionals are expected to increase in the governmental and healthcare sectors. In particular demand are security specialists, software developers, and systems analysts. Independent consultants will also benefit in this economy as they will be hired to take on limited projects that companies want but are too understaffed to handle in-house. Projected areas of growth include medical informatics, digital gaming, data mining, and simulation development/virtualization.

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TOP STUDENTS INDUCTED INTO UPSILON PI EPSILON (UPE)

On February 23rd, 28 outstanding Seidenberg Students were inducted into the New York Delta Chapter of Upsilon Pi Epsilon (UPE) at Pace University. Dr. Ronald Frank, associate professor of information systems, gave a talk on “A Feasibility Study of Automatic Document Transformation Using Semantic Technology” following the induction ceremony.

Newly Inducted UPE Members

Every third semester, Seidenberg juniors, seniors, master's and doctoral students meeting the eligibility requirements and receiving the recommendation of the faculty, are invited to join UPE. The inductees receive a one-year student membership in the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), a certificate, and a key pin with the UPE insignia. The next induction ceremony will take place in fall 2010.

This year's inductees include: Vasant Avhad, Amy R. Billig, Teresa Brooks, Anastasia Burke, Mariel Castro, Christine L. Coleman, Aaron Dancygier, Nakia Downer, Perry Estes, Wanda E. Gueits-Saunders, Nancy Hale, Jennifer Lynn Hoffman, Kwatei Jones-Quartey, Yee Lam, Cynthia Maddox, Marie Nora Mazzone, Dorothy Monteleone, Jasper Moy, Richard Ofosu Aglionby, Martin Pons, John Rudy, Stephanie Savarese, Ravi Shrestha, Quam Kuessi Sodji, Evelin Urbaez, Ismael Vargas, Federico Younes, and Michele Zanky.

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INTERESTED IN BECOMING A CERTIFIED INFORMATION SYSTEMS SECURITY PROFESSIONAL?

The Seidenberg School is hosting a 5-day training session from March 16-20 for those interested in becoming a Certified Information Systems Security Professional. Special pricing is available for Pace students and staff. For details, please click on CISSP Certification.

For additional information, contact Dr. Darren Hayes at dhayes@pace.edu or (212) 346-1005.

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LEARNING CENTER TO HOST CFUnited EXPRESS

The Pace Computer Learning Center will host CFUnited Express, a one-day conference featuring the latest in Adobe Web application development products including ColdFusion, Flex and AIR content. The focus will be on technologies and skills used by Web professionals looking to deliver cutting-edge experiences to their customers quickly and efficiently. CFUnited Express is the ideal conference for developers to learn the latest in CF/ FX/ AIR technology, share ideas and experiences, discover potential clients, and initiate collaboration.

The event has been tentatively scheduled for Wednesday, April 22. For more information, contact the Pace Computer Learning Center at 914-422-4054.

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NEW FACEBOOK APPLICATION AVAILABLE TO ALUMS

The Office of Alumni Relations would like to remind you that you can now easily access the features of the Pace Alumni Online Community directly from your Facebook account by just adding its new Facebook Application. In addition to directly accessing the online alumni directory, you will be able to obtain a Pace alumni email address, post a class note, and more. Simply follow the directions on Alumni on Facebook.

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