Information Technology – Seidenberg School News

Tech Leadership Series: UPS STEM Innovation and Diversity

This October, the Seidenberg Tech Leadership Series had not only one, but three amazing guests from UPS at the Seidenberg Lounge: Diane Chan, Senior Manager of Applications Development, Carla J. Garcia-Maier, Director of Cloud Platforms & Technology, and Stacie Morgan, Senior Application Development Manager. Being that tech has always been seen as more male-oriented, it’s refreshing to see and meet women who have found tremendous success in this field. Their presence proves that women in tech have the ability to flourish in any aspect of technology.

Diane Chan, like many college students, started school with one major in mind and finished with a degree in another. Through trial and error, she was able to recognize that her passions laid less with finances and more with technology. Initially an accounting major, Diane graduated from Pace University with a degree in Management Information Systems (MIS), thus demonstrating that college grants students the ability to explore other topics of interest.

Carla J. Garcia-Maier had a similar experience. It was in the U.S. Army that Carla developed her love for technology. After serving, Carla tried to follow in her father’s footsteps as a real estate agent, but quickly realized that she desired a career involving technology and leadership. Once that decision was made, Carla joined UPS in 1999 and has been working there ever since.

Stacie Morgan discovered her interest in technology after realizing the application of computers for business problems through programs like VisiCalc and dBase. Although her interests involved technology, she later found that she was more interested in the organizational side. Once hired by UPS, Stacie started off as an Information Center Analyst and was promoted to Lead Programming Analyst until, in December 2015, she was finally promoted to Senior Application Development Manager.

Because technology is being used in every aspect of our lives, the market for jobs in the tech field has increased tremendously – and so has job competition. With so many people who are equally qualified competing for the same positions, how do you make yourself stand out?

Diane’s answer to this is: “You have to step out your comfort zone.” This was a lesson she had to learn throughout her career at UPS. She stressed that, in order to be recognized for your accomplishments, it’s important to take that extra step and make yourself known. Once you’ve accomplished that, you’ll become one step closer to success.

Carla had her own guidance to offer. When asked about her transition from military to civilian life, she explained one perk of working with people whose background differed from her own: the increase in expansive ideas. When working with people who don’t share that military background and are more relaxed in their way of thinking, the chances of coming up with the same idea is much lower. Solutions become more creative and individualistic that way. When everyone thinks the same, deliberation stops, and you end up settling on an answer that may not be the best or most efficient answer to the problem. Being open-minded is key to working in the technical field, especially because a majority of the work gets accomplished in teams.

Despite a majority of those in the tech industry being men, when asked how it feels to be a woman working in that field, Stacie confidently answered, “I’ve never seen myself as a woman in information systems,” thus, highlighting that women in technology are people first before anything else. Unfortunately, because there is a major disparity between the number of male and female workers in tech, a disparity with a ratio of 4:1 to be exact, women may often feel isolated in their careers. Stacie, on the other hand didn’t fall victim to this. Surprisingly, it wasn’t until she was given her managerial position that she noticed how few women were on her teams. She suggests that, as a woman in tech, it’s best to pay more attention to the task at hand. Focusing more on their capabilities as a person in tech will help them pay less attention to that gender disparity.

Thankfully, here at Pace University, our Women in Tech club provides a safe space for female students studying technology to connect and relate. If you’re a Pace student feel free to stop by one of their meetings every other Monday. Click here to be added to their mailing list and see all their latest events!

Pace University hits top ten in online IT degree rankings

Pace University’s online Master of Science in Information Technology hit top ten rankings in Online College Plan’s list of 30 Best Online Information Technology Masters. The 2019 results saw Pace University’s online IT degree reach 7^th place among the 30 colleges selected.

The rankings were designed, according to the Online College Plan website, to “help you learn more about the best online masters programs in information technology available today. Online college is becoming more and more popular for professionals who have already joined the workforce in their field and want to continue their education. The benefits of earning a higher-level degree are clear when it comes to the average salary and ability to advance within your chosen career.”

The ranking methodology used to determine the top programs consisted of an even split between the program’s financial score, the academic support measures, and the academic quality.

According to the Online College Plan website, these break down as follows:

Program financial score (33.3%): the percentage of students whose financial need was met, the robustness of the financial aid department and offerings.

Academic Support Measures (33.3%): including student-to-faculty ratios, average graduation rates, and time-until graduation.

Academic Quality (33.3%): presence of high profile research opportunities and designations such as the NSA center of academic excellence designation for cybersecurity.

On top of that, the programs were scrutinized on their capability to fulfil the growing industry need for skilled cybersecurity professionals. As Pace University’s MS in IT specializes in cybersecurity, our students get the benefit of an education tailored to fill the growing number of jobs. In fact, the quality of the cybersecurity program at Pace University’s Seidenberg School of Computer Science and Information Systems earned Pace University’s designation as an NSA and DHS Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Education – a prestigious title.

Out of a potential score of 300 based on the ranking methodology above, Pace University’s program scored 289.3 – pretty close to the top!

The online MS in IT has been offered at Pace University since 1999, making it one of the longest-standing online master’s programs worldwide. Many of the undergraduate and graduate courses at the Seidenberg School of Computer Science and Information Systems can be taken in person and online. Increasingly, Pace University has been moving to meet student demand by offering blended in person and online programs that suit the life and schedule of today’s working student.

Learn more about the Master of Science in Information Technology

See all technology degrees offered by Pace University

Summer Internship Series: Melanie Greene

Summer is almost over, meaning it’s time to catch up with our students on where they interned over the break. First up is Melanie Greene (BS in Information Technology with a minor in marketing), who interned at broadcaster SiriusXM and was kind enough to share her experience with us.

Take it away, Melanie!

Over the summer I had the privilege of interning at SiriusXM within the Business Intelligence department of the company. I have been working with the IT Desk Support gaining exposure to the corporate world and the IT infrastructure of SiriusXM. I have a mentor who is the Site Supervisor. He has been training and teaching me along this journey. It is hard to fathom that it has been over two months since I started – time flies when you’re having fun!

Since I started back in June, I have gained a vast amount of knowledge and hands-on experience dealing with equipment and developing relationships. Establishing a good professional working relationship is essential to getting the job done, and hopefully opening the doors to professional development in the future.

Working in the field is completely different from reading a textbook – I value a hands-on approach to learning because there is nothing like diving into the field and participating in real world problems. Throughout my internship I have replaced and allocated equipment to my co-workers, moved employees from one location to another, replaced hardware in desktops, managed the inventory of hardware in Active Directory, reviewed the updates of machines in System Center Configuration Manager, and fulfilled tickets generated by employees on ServiceNow. Additionally I have updated the inventory of hardware in our Access database and created excel spreadsheets to keep track of newly acquired hardware. I also imaged machines with the SiriusXM build. My tasks changed every day depending on what my mentor asked me to do.

A lesson my mentor taught me when troubleshooting is to consider many reasons why something is not working. I could also see how this lesson applies to life. I feel that I have gained many new skills and strengthened many old ones. To work in this field or any industry, I have learned that it is essential to have stellar communication skills when asking the right questions, to manage customer relationships, and to troubleshoot relentlessly. These skills can be applied to a variety of jobs because they are invaluable.

I cannot fathom how fast the summer has gone. At SiriusXM I have had the opportunity to attend Snack and Learn Sessions where myself and the other interns would enjoy snacks and listen to an employee of the company discuss their journey on how they got where they are today. Towards the end of the internship there was an Intern Celebration Luncheon where we talked about our experiences and munched on delicious pizza and Ben & Jerry’s ice cream from our Intern Advisor which was extremely generous. I had a wonderful time attending the Snack and Learn Sessions, the Resume Workshop, and the Intern Celebration Luncheon.

One of my favorite parts of this internship has been meeting so many interesting employees from different walks of life and career backgrounds. I am fascinated speaking with my colleagues because I learn and grow as a technologist, a student, and a future woman in the workforce. It is intriguing to hear about everyone’s positions and the work that they do. I have met Java Developers, Web Designers, Application Developers, Marketing Managers, among many others – everyone’s job contributes to the success of the company. Everyone has been so kind to me and I cannot thank them enough for making me feel so comfortable and providing an environment for me to thrive and learn. It has been truly an unforgettable experience. I will most definitely be remaining in contact with everyone that I met and worked with. I hope the door remains open so that I could embark on more opportunities with SiriusXM.

I strongly thank all the professors I have had at Pace for challenging me and giving me the necessary foundation for thriving in the workforce and exposing me to endless opportunities.

D-D-D Defense! (or rather, C-C-D-C Defense!)

The Pace Cybersecurity Team based on the Pleasantville campus started the spring semester by competing in the virtual qualifier for the regional Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition (CCDC).

Out of the twenty problems our cyber warriors had to address over the eight-hour competition, challenges included things like defending a small business network against a big bad Red team, the configuration of a Palo Alto firewall, implementation of SSH on Linux servers, and an internal vulnerability audit with OpenVAS, to name a few.

NECCDC Team 2015 — (L to R): Mayrimar Vega-Vasquez (BS/IT), Joseph Glasser (BS/IT), Kaila Letteri (BS/IT) co-captain, Joseph Jacob (BS/IT), Brian Bounos (BS/CS), Joel Thomas (BS/CS), Nick Terrasi (BS/IT) co-captain, and Patrick Prescott (BS/IS).

Kaila Marie Letteri, a senior Information Technology major reflects on her experience.

“I found out about the Pace Cybersecurity Team in my junior year. I was very interested in getting involved in activities that would prepare me for a career in IT Security since my long-term goal is to work for the FBI or the CIA. I felt this cyber defense competition would be the perfect opportunity to expand my IT Security skills. However, after a few meetings I was intimidated because I did not know a lot, and I felt that the students on the team knew so much more than me. Now, in my senior year, I decided to give the competition one more try. After attending the first few meetings, the team held elections for captain positions. I told myself that this time I would not give up no matter what, and that it was meant to be a learning experience. It soon turned out to be one of the best learning experiences I have had at Pace.

I decided to run for team captain, and I was surprised to find out that I had been chosen to lead the team! We quickly started getting into gear by hosting meetings every Monday and Friday throughout the entire fall semester. We spent 60+ hours preparing the virtual environment for practice, running through different competition scenarios, and getting up to speed. The security-related courses most of us have taken provided a good base for the competition.

The team was a lot of fun this year! We had great chemistry and worked very well together. We were from different majors within Seidenberg, from different years, and with different levels of experience, but we made it work perfectly! I had so much fun spending time with the team and making new friends. We created a lot of great memories and inside jokes that I will remember for many years to come. However, it was not all fun and games because we all worked very hard learning new things and improving our skills. So when we had to get serious and go to work, we did.

I gained quite a bit of technical knowledge by joining this team and I would recommend the competition to any student interested in security. It is a learning process for many so do not get intimidated the way I did at first. You will learn what you need to know along the way. You will also learn how to work as a team and that is a skill an IT professional needs to master!”

The team was supported by the IT Department in Westchester, and was coached by adjunct professors Andreea Cotoranu and John Watkins. Those interested in joining the team next year should get in touch with professor Cotoranu at acotoranu@pace.edu.