In the Light of a Prairie Night

Introduction: On a calm, still night in the Flint Hills, I entered into another world. You can still do that out here on the Kansas prairie, but for how much longer, I do not know

Names and Faces: a staff dashboard to support student learning engagement

This paper describes the in-progress development and preliminary evaluation of a dashboard to support student-centred higher education. The dashboard, known as Names and Faces, aims to provide easy access to the data teaching staff need to proactively foster student engagement, and to improve the student’s overall university experience. Names and Faces brings together data from disparate systems, and provides a highly visual interface that meets the needs of a wide range of teaching staff. Importantly, the prototype has been developed by academic staff in collaboration with other academics using an iterative prototyping approach. 48 academic staff have used the prototype over two semesters, identifying new data sources and interfaces to be incorporated in future iterations. This project contributes to the development of improved information support for student-centred education, but also to academic information systems in terms of data integration, usability, and user-centred design

Strengthening Undergraduate Information Systems Education in an Increasingly Complex Computing Disciplines Landscape

There are concerns that even at times when overall computing degree enrollments are increasing, IS bachelor’s degree programs and enrollments continue to decline. IS programs differ from other computing programs in that they include highly interrelated business and technology components. This inherent interdisciplinarity is the source of its value but also one of its challenges. This paper uses the Australian higher education sector as a case study to examine overall computing degree offerings including IS offerings using the ACM/AIS curriculum models and classification of computing disciplines. We find that IS program offerings are indeed trending down and that computing offerings are dominated by Computer Science and Information Technology degrees. IS is not widely present as a “base” discipline, nor is it providing a platform for the integration of new technologies, such as AI and Cyber Security into “business” settings. To strengthen UG IS programs and perceptions, we recommend that higher education providers develop structure and processes that support interdisciplinary UG IS program development and delivery and that professional bodies and curriculum models be revised to reflect and recognize the business outcome focus of IS. These actions, together with clearer messaging around the value of IS competencies, will improve the image of IS

Is Project Management Still an Accidental Profession? A Qualitative Study of Career Trajectory

In this study, the authors used qualitative techniques to look for reoccurring themes related to 87 project managers’ responses to interview questions associated with entry into the field of project management and career progression. The study found that despite the efforts of higher education, professional associations, and their professional development and certifications, the project management remains a destination by accident. Professional project managers do not intend to be project managers but “fall into” the profession. This study provides a conceptual framework for project manager career trajectory that has implications for project management training and mentoring and contributes to the growing literature on the accidental profession

Aviation Risk Management

Risk management plans form a central part of all projects. However, projects in industries such as aviation and aerospace face serious risks due to the inherent hazards that may endanger the lives of those who utilize the products and services resulting from such projects. This study examined the practices of 56 project managers in the field of aviation to understand the unique approach to risk management undertaken by project managers. The results of the study offers approaches to managing risk in project characterized by extreme hazard

Australian Undergraduate Information Systems Curricula: a Comparative Study

The paper describes the first comprehensive comparative study of undergraduate Information Systems (IS) degree programs in Australia using the model curricula outlined in ACM/AIS IS2010 as a reference point. The study had three broad aims: 1) to compare the Australian IS curriculum with that of other major IS education systems internationally, 2) to identify what subject areas are considered mandatory and what are considered optional in Australian IS programs, and 3) to understand if the host academic division within different disciplines (e.g. Business or Science/Engineering/Information Technology) has an influence on the variations in the subject areas offered. In a first phase, 2017 IS degree program data was obtained from university websites. In a second phase, this data was validated in consultation with academic staff from those universities offering the programs. The conclusion is that a high level of adherence to the IS2010 curricula was evident in core courses; considerable diversity was found in a long tail of non-core offerings; and the location of the host academic unit within Business or Science/Engineering/Technology influenced the subject areas offered

Short Rotation Woody Crop Production Systems for Ecosystem Services and Phytotechnologies

While international efforts in the development of short rotation woody crops (SRWCs) have historically focused on the production of biomass for bioenergy, biofuels, and bioproducts, research and deployment over the past decade has expanded to include broader objectives of achieving multiple ecosystem services. In particular, silvicultural prescriptions developed for SRWCs have been refined to include woody crop production systems for environmental benefits such as carbon sequestration, water quality and quantity, and soil health. In addition, current systems have been expanded beyond traditional fiber production to other environmental technologies that incorporate SRWCs as vital components for phytotechnologies, urban afforestation, ecological restoration, and mine reclamation. In this Special Issue of the journal Forests, we explore the broad range of current research dedicated to our topic: International Short Rotation Woody Crop Production Systems for Ecosystem Services and Phytotechnologie

Biofuels, Bioenergy, and Bioproducts from Sustainable Agricultural and Forest Crops

This issue of BioEnergy Research highlights the Short Rotation Crops International Conference held in Bloomington, Minnesota in August 2008. This is the first special issue of BioEnergy Research, with several additional special issues planned in the next year, focused on the three U.S. Department of Energy Bioenergy Research Centers (Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center, BioEnergy Science Center, and Joint BioEnergy Institute), and emerging technologies for biodiesel production. The purpose of these special issues is to highlight emerging research efforts in the areas of biomass, biofuels, and bioenergy. The Short Rotation Crops International Conference represented a unique opportunity for communication and interaction between researchers working on herbaceous and woody bioenergy feedstocks, one that we hope will continue to stimulate new interactions and creative solutions for bioenergy and bioproducts. We invite other groups to submit ideas for future special issues to one of the three co-Editors-in-Chief of BioEnergy Research

Risk Management Practices in the Aviation Industry: Lessons Learned and Effective Tools… A Mixed Method Approach

This paper provides a data-driven approach to apply lessons learned from Project Risk Management in the aviation industry. This is accomplished by performing a qualitative analysis to inform a second-pass quantitative analysis using tools like surveys, word clods and analysis through NVivo and Singular Value Decomposition (SVD). The results of this analysis show that the most important lessons are elements of early identification, rigorous risk identification and analysis and a focus on reducing risks inherent within the aviation history. Furthermore, the analysis yielded the following top tools for risks management within their phases of the project life-cycle: document review, checklists or taxonomies, retrospection, assessment of risk parameter, data quality assessment, data analytics and status meetings

Biofuels, Bioenergy, and Bioproducts from Sustainable Agricultural and Forest Crops

This issue of BioEnergy Research highlights the Short Rotation Crops International Conference held in Bloomington, Minnesota in August 2008. This is the first special issue of BioEnergy Research, with several additional special issues planned in the next year, focused on the three U.S. Department of Energy Bioenergy Research Centers (Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center, BioEnergy Science Center, and Joint BioEnergy Institute), and emerging technologies for biodiesel production. The purpose of these special issues is to highlight emerging research efforts in the areas of biomass, biofuels, and bioenergy. The Short Rotation Crops International Conference represented a unique opportunity for communication and interaction between researchers working on herbaceous and woody bioenergy feedstocks, one that we hope will continue to stimulate new interactions and creative solutions for bioenergy and bioproducts. We invite other groups to submit ideas for future special issues to one of the three co-Editors-in-Chief of BioEnergy Research