Home Page of Stuart A. Varden

Professor of Information Systems - Emeritus
Pace University
Timonium, Maryland
(937)-554-5648
email: svarden@pace.edu

EDUCATION

Columbia University - New York, N. Y.

Graduated: 1968 (B.S.)
Major....: Mathematics

Stevens Institute of Technology - Hoboken, N. J.

Graduated: 1971 (M.S.)
Major....: Computer Sciences

Teachers College, Columbia University - New York, N. Y.

Graduated: 1974 (Ed.D.)
Major....: Educational Administration

EMPLOYMENT

Professor of Information Systems (now Emeritus)

School of Computer Science and Information Systems
Information Systems Department
Pace University, Pleasantville, N. Y. 10570
From 1982 to 2000
Highlights at Pace

IBM IFPA/Pace Visiting Professor

IBM International Finance, Planning and Administration School
IBM Corporation, Briarcliff Manor, New York 10510
From 1988 to 1989
Highlights at IBM-IFPA

IBM ISEF/Pace Visiting Professor

IBM Information Systems Education Facility
IBM Corporation, Irving, Texas 75038
From 1984 to 1985
Highlights at IBM-ISEF

Manager for User Services (CCIMS)

Center for Computing and Information Management Services
Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, N. Y. 10027
From 1973 to 1982
Highlights at CCIMS

Programmer/Analyst and Educational Researcher

Institute of Administrative Research
Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, N. Y. 10027
From 1966 to 1973
Highlights at IAR

PROFESSIONAL ACTIVTIES

 

RESEARCH ACTIVITIES (selected)

  • National Teacher Poll -- 1979 & 1980

Provided research design and statistical advisement, and performed all computer based data analyses for the 1979 and 1980 National Teacher Polls. These surveys of teacher opinions and attitudes regarding educational issues is conducted annually by Instructor magazine. (See January, 1980 issue of Instructor for summary of 1979 findings).

  • EXXON Foundation Research Grant -- 1982

Designed and conducted research of the cost and financing practices of adult and continuing education in the U.S. This research was funded by the EXXON Foundation, and led to an award winning book.

  • Database Curriculum Research -- 1987

Conducted research on database instructional approaches and curricula, leading to the development of instructional visual materials.

  • Conducted End-User Strategy Study -- 1987

Conducted three-month study of IBM's Information Systems end-user strategy for serving its internal customers. The study involved the review of policy and guidelines documents, and the conducting of twenty-two interviews, and the writing of a report of study findings and recommendations. This study is part of the Information Systems Faculty-In-Residence Program of the School of Computer Science and Informations Systems.

  • Conducted National Survey -- 1989

Conducted national survey of corporate network issues and practices. Study involved the design and distribution of 8,000 questionnaires.

  • Developed Prepaid Tuition Finance Model -- 1989

Developed a computer model to evaluate the possible financial implications to colleges and universities of selling educational services at current tuition rates for use in the future. This research was conducted under the auspices of the National Center for Postsecondary Governance and Finance at the University of Maryland, College Park, MD. The model has been distributed to the chief financial officers of about thirty leading colleges and universities for evaluation.

  • Conduced Research on Ethical Perspectives Among Computer Professionals -- 1996

Research involved the administration and analysis of survey data on the perceptions of ethical practices of computer professionals regarding the privacy and responsibilities of email and data access management.

  • Investigated Ethical Issues in Computing Curriculum -- 1998

Participated in Working Group on Ethical Issues in Computing Curriculum at Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education Conference � ITiCSE 1998 (Dublin). Outcome of work group was published in the Work Groups Reports, Ethical Issues Related to Internet Development and Research, ACM SIGCSE Bulletin Inroads, 30(4), December 1998, pages 61b-76b.

  • Investigated Issues in Distance Education -- 2000

Co-led working group at Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education Conference � ITiCSE 2000 (Helsinki). Outcome of work group was published in the Work Groups Reports, Dimensions of Distance Learning for Computing Education. ACM SIGCSE Bulletin, ed. J. Impagliazzo. Vol. 33. 2001, ACM: New York. p. 101-110.

CONSULTING (selected)

  • Cofounded Consulting Firm

Cofounded (1977) and Sr. Partner, Varvak Computing Associates, a consulting firm serving the test publishing and research communities.

  • Cofounded (1996) Web Development Firm, Web Info Pro.

Provided Web hosting and development services.

  • Houghton Mifflin Publishing Company

Performed major data analysis in connection with norming and equating of the Gates-MacGinitie Reading Test.

  • Children's Television Workshop (CTW)

Conducted national survey of children's television viewing patterns. Provided all coding and data analysis services and served as statistical consultant to CTW. This research contributed to the program format of CTW's science program 3-2-1 Contact.

  • Professional Examination Service

Designed and implemented a system for test item banking and retrieval to support the automatic generation of tests. The system has been applied to the construction of the Veterinary Medicine Licensing Examination which is administered to over 2000 candidates in twenty states annually.

  • IBM Corporation

Developed and offered mini-course in Teleprocessing Concepts at the Technical Symposium on TP/TC offered by IBM's Systems Research Institute at CTI in Thornwood, NY (March, 1986). The mini-course consisted of eight hours of instruction offered over two days. The instructional materials developed for the course are still in use at the Corporate Technical Education Center.

Managed the development of computer-based training (CBT) courseware entitled Time Value of Money Concepts in 1988-89. This was one in a series of IBM Business Education courseware products.

SERVICE TO THE PROFESSION (selected)

  • Serve as faculty member of Excelsior College (formerly Regents College) Degree program of State University of New York from 1983 to present. Activities have included the development of bachelor's degree program in Computer Software (now Information Technology).� I currently serve as the Chairperson for Information Technology Programs.
  • Served as evaluator for Program on Non-collegiate Sponsored Instruction (PONSI) of the New York Board of Regents. This involved the on-site evaluation of computer related course offerings, teaching methods and facilities of non-collegiate institutions seeking PONSI credit recommendations.
  • Active in several computer-related professional organizations, including the Association of Computing Machinery (ACM) and the Association of Information Technology Professionals (AITP).
  • Contributing Editor of LOGO and Educational Computing Journal, sponsored by the Interactive Education Foundation and KRELL Software.
  • Office and Board Member of EDSIG, the Special Interest Group on Education of the Education Foundation of AITP (1998-99).
  • Served on several occasions as National Science Foundation grant proposal reviewer (late 1990s).
  • Conference Chair of ISECON 2000 held in Philadelphia, PA from Nov. 9-12, 2000.
  • Conference Chair of ISECON 2001 held in Cincinnati, OH from Nov. 1-4, 2001.
  • Served as President of AITP/EDSIG in 2004.
  • Service as Chief Judge of the IT Showcase student competition at the Black Data Processing Association (BDPA) in Detroit (August 2005).

SPEAKER (selected)

  • National Association of Secondary School Principals, San Antonio, TX. Spoke on "Software Site Licensing." (1987)
  • National Education Computer Conference, Philadelphia, PA. Spoke on "Software Licensing: A Positive Response to Real World Problems." (1987)
  • Information Systems Education Conference, Dallas, TX. Appeared on panel regarding "University-Corporate Faculty Internship Programs." (1988)
  • Association of Computing Machinery Symposium on Computer Science Education, Louisville, KY. Presented case study entitled "An Anatomy of an End-User Strategy." (1989)
  • Toured India with Frank J. LoSacco co-presenting four lectures on "World Trends in Information Technology." Lectures took place in Bombay, New Delhi, Bangalore and Madras during August, 1993.
  • Toured India presenting four lectures on "Trends in the Internet and Information Superhighway." Lectures took place in Bombay, Madras, Bangalore and Hyderabad during July, 1995.
  • Presented workshop entitled "HTML for Educators" at the Information Systems Educators Conference (ISECON'95). The conference was held in Charlotte, NC from Nov. 3-5, 1995.
  • Eastern Small College Computing Conference, Marywood College, Scranton, PA, October 25-26, 1996. Gave presentation on "data warehouse concepts" on panel "Advanced Information Technologies Across the Curriculum."
  • Keynote speaker at the Annual Meeting of the Hudson Valley Council of Technology Societies" on the topic of "Electronic Commerce in the 21st Century", January, 1998.
  • Presented talk entitled "Critical Success Factors in Online IS Education: One Professor's Experience" at the National Collegiate Conference in Omaha, NE on April 2, 2004.
  • Presented talk entitles �Connecting Students over Distance: Integrating Group Projects in Online Information Technology Courses� at the Sloan-C International Conference on Asynchronous Learning Networks in Orlando, FL on November 10, 2006.
  • Presented talk entitled �Rethinking Doctoral Education in Computing: A New Approach� at the Information Systems Educators Conference (ISECON'07). The conference was held in Pittsburgh, PA from November 1-4, 2007.

VISITING PROFESSORSHIP

  • IBM Corporation at Information Systems Education Facility (ISEF); Dallas, TX, August, 1984-August, 1985.

Served as educational consultant and database instructor. Developed articulation agreement whereby IBM employees could receive academic credit for selected courses.

  • IBM Corporation at International Finance, Planning and Administration School (IFPA); Briarcliff Manor, NY, 1988.

Coordinated the development and implementation of the Graduate Telecommunications Program (GTP). The 18 credit education program led to Pace's Masters degree in Telecommunications.

  • Scholar in Residence, Westchester Education Coalition (1996)

Served as program evaluator for funding research projects involving the emergence of information technology in public school settings.

AWARDS

  • Received "Distinguished Achievement Award" for excellence in educational journalism by EDUPRESS Association of America (1981).
  • Received "Imogene Okes Award for Outstanding Research in Adult Education" conferred by the Adult Education Association (1982).
  • Received CSIS Service Award (1998).
  • Received University Award for Distinguished Service (2001).

The University Award for Distinguished Service is presented to faculty members who have shown unusual initiative or creativity in giving outstanding service to students, meeting special needs, or in contributing to the attainment of the Pace University�s mission and goals.

  • Selected Information Systems Educator of the Year by EDSIG/Association of Information Technology Professionals (2007).
  • Inducted as Fellow of AITP-EDSIG for lifetime achievement in Information Systems Education (2009).
  • Appointed as member of the ICCP Certification Council (2019).

PUBLICATIONS: SOLE AND CO-AUTHORED (listed chronologically)

  • "Financing Central Schools", CSS Central Ideas, Vol. XIX, No. 10, June, 1969.
  • "What is Computer-Assisted Instruction? A Specialist Explains", MSSC Exchange, Vol. XXIX, No. 1, September, 1970.
  • "Results of a Poll on Student Unrest; A Quiet Spring", APSS Know How, Vol. XXII, No. 10, June, 1971.
  • Quality Inventory: A Schedule of School Practices Related to Educational Quality, Institute of Administrative Research, 1971. "Optimum Sample Size in Indicators of Quality Applications", IAR Research Bulletin, Vol. 11, No. 4, October, 1971.
  • A Longitudinal Study of the Relationship Between Selected Fiscal Factors, Past Voting Behavior, and the Outcomes of School Budget Elections in New York State, unpublished Doctor's dissertation, Teachers College, Columbia University, 1973.
  • "Outcomes of School Budget Elections: What Are the Determinants?", APSS Know How, Vol. XXIV, No. 9 & 10, May-June, 1973.
  • "Convincing Teachers That They Can Compute", Proceedings of AEDS Conference, Phoenix, AZ, 1976.
  • "Teaching Program Design Through Program Structure Maps", Proceedings of ACM/SIGCSE Conference, Dayton, OH (1979).
  • "Classrooms Make Friends with Computers", Instructor, March, 1980.
  • The Cost and Financing of Adult Education and Training, Lexington Books: Lexington, MA, 1982. "Computing Literacy for Working Class Adults", Interface: The Computer Education Quarterly, Vol. 5, No. 4, 1984.
  • "What Are We Going to Teach the Teachers?", LOGO and Educational Computing Journal, Vol. 2, No. 1, 1984.
  • "What Are We Going to Teach the Teachers? -- Part II", LOGO and Educational Computing Journal, Vol. 3, No. 1, 1985.
  • "Development of Field-Based Management Information Systems Simulations", Proceedings of ISECON'86, Atlanta, GA, 1986.
  • "An Anatomy of an End-User Strategy" (Abstract), Proceedings of ACM/SIGCSE Conference, Louisville, KY, 1989.
  • "A New Graduate Telecommunications Program: The University and Corporate Worlds Join Hands", Proceedings of NECC Conference, Boston, MA, 1989.
  • "An Integrative Telecommunications Case Study: Pulling the Pieces Together", Proceedings of IBSCUG Conference, Hershey, PA, 1989.
  • "Facilitating Intracorporate Cooperation: A University Creates the Environment", Proceedings of ACM/SIGCSE Conference, Washington, DC, 1990.
  • "Corporate-University Education Programs: How the University Can Benefit", Proceedings of IBSCUG Conference, Omaha, NE, 1990.
  • "Corporate-University Education Programs: Forging a Relationship of Trust", Proceedings of ISECON Conference, Chicago, IL, 1990.
  • "Graduate Education for Telecommunications Professionals: Some Hard Data on One Program's Long Term Impact", Proceedings of NECC Conference, Dallas, TX, 1992.
  • "A First Computing Course Project: Turning Students into Pollsters", Proceedings of ISECON Conference, Nashville, TN, 1992.
  • "The Graduate Telecommunications Program: The First Three Years", Proceedings of IBSCA Conference, Denver, CO, 1993.
  • "Database Programming: Combining the Best of Two Worlds", Technical Reports, No. 65, School of Computer Science and Information Systems, Pace University, September, 1993.
  • "Graduate Computer Education in India and the United States: First Steps in an International Collaboration", (Paper abstract) Proceedings of the IRMA Conference, San Antonio, TX, 1994.
  • "Graduate Computer Education in India and the United States: First Steps in an International Collaboration", Proceedings of the IBSCA Conference, Baltimore, MD, 1994.
  • "The Westchester Online Project: Building Business Partnerships Through the Internet", Proceedings of the IRMA Conference, Atlanta, GA, 1995.
  • "Teaching Hypertext Markup Language in the First Computing Course: One University's Experience", Proceedings of ISECON Conference, St. Louis, MO, 1996.
  • "Self Descriptive Lists", Graphs Theory Notes of New York XXXI, 53-54, 1996.
  • "The Binary Gleichniszahlen-Reihe Sequence", Graphs Theory Notes of New York XXXII, 17-18, 1997.
  • "Using CGI Scripts to Promote Faculty-Student Communications", Proceedings of the Northeastern Conference of the Consortium for Computing in Small Colleges, Boston, MA, 1997.
  • "Privacy and Ethics Survey Among Computer Professionals", Proceedings of 2nd Annual Conference on Ethics & Technology, Chicago, IL, 1997.
  • "Using CGI Scripts to Administer Online Examinations", Eastern Conference of the Consortium for Computing in Small Colleges, Pomona, NJ, 1997.
  • "A Profile of First Computing Course Students: New Insights and Their Implications for the Curriculum", Proceedings of ISECON Conference, San Antonio, TX, 1998.
  • "Surveying Students about Computing: Results of a Two Year Study", Proceedings of ISECON Conference, Philadelphia, PA, 2000.
  • "An Introductory Course on E-Commerce and Web Development: A Case Study Approach", Proceedings of ISECON Conference, San Antonio, TX, 2002.
  • The Integrated Technology Assessment: A Portfolio-Based Capstone Experience, Proceedings of ISECON Conference, Washington, DC, 2009.
  • A Case Study in Building Communities of Common Interest: How One Webpage Changed Jazz History, Proceedings of ISECON Conference, Washington, DC, 2009.

INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL

In recent years (1990s), I have had an opportunity to make several international trips for Pace University, two to India (1993 and 1995) and one to China (1996). Both India trips included a side trip to Singapore to visit my brother who lives there with his family.

The India trips were in connection with an international education program that the School of Computer Science and Information Systems was running in collaboration with Apple Industries, a leading propriety computer training school that has branches throughout most of India. See the article India in Transition: High Touch Meets High Tech for more information about these visits.

The China trip was part of a World Bank project and is described in the article China at the Crossroads: One Professor's First Hand View which appeared in the CSIS Communique'. I have modified it slightly for presentation here.

More recently, I have had the opportunity to participate in the ITiCSE conference on computer science education in 1998 held in Dublin, Ireland, and in 2000 held in Helsinki, Finland.

Attended the TIGERA conference on Computing and E-Systems in Hammamet, Tunisia, March 15-17, 2008.

Besides being very interesting and professionally rewarding, I have found that upon my return to my duties at the University I have a better understanding and rapport with my international students, especially if I have visited their homeland.

PERSONAL BACKGROUND AND INTERESTS

Born in Binghamton, New York, my family moved to Manhattan when I was seven years old where I lived for thirty three years before moving to Harrington Park, New Jersey and later LaGrange, New York, Centerville, Ohio, and now Timonium, Maryland. I consider myself to be an "upper west side" Manhattanite by temperament, which if you know New York City should tell you a lot.

Moving was a fact of life as we had lived in ten residences by the time I was ten. This meant an assortment of schools, both public and private. I attended Cherry Lawn School in Darien, Connecticut for three years where I earned my high school diploma. This was a innovative co-educational boarding school, but not really a "prep" school in the usual sense of that term. It was an important positive influence in my early development.

After a failed attempt to earn my bachelor's degree at the University of Chicago, I volunteered for the draft. I spent two years in the U.S. Army as an Artillery Surveyor (MOS 153.10) with the 1st Armored Division, mostly at Fort Hood, Texas. I believe that my Army experience and a few extra years of maturation did a lot to help me begin to "get it all together." The rest of my professional life has unfolded pretty much as shown in other parts of this page.

I was married to Cecelia Ann Hardesty of Dayton, Ohio who passed away in 2014, and have two daughters, Stephanie Varden Kehrli and Beth Anne Varden. After living in the northeast for most of my life, my wife and I moved to the Dayton, Ohio area in 2000. Following her passing in 2014, I have relocated to Maryland to be near younger daughter Beth.

I continue to participate in distance education programs at Pace University, including the Doctorate in Professional Studies (DPS) in Computer Studies Program at Pace University, and at Excelsior College, which is located in Albany, New York.

I also include among my strong interests jazz music (see the two websites that I maintain on jazz greats Fats Navarro and Wardell Gray), and chess where I reached the level of an "A" rated player.

COURSES I AM TEACHING

During the 2019-2020 academic year I am teaching the courses listed below:

Fall, 2020

  • MAT 103: Intermediate Algebra
  • MAT 117: Elementary Statistics

Spring, 2021

  • IT 605: Database Management Systems