Physical security models, philosophies, and context

This paper presents physical security of a computer facility within the context of a corporate environment. The context is established from several different perspectives. It first presents physical security philosophies and illustrates the philosophies via the Onion and Garlic Models. It defines a process for identifying and describing transition strategies between security levels. Once the models are defined, a Macro View of physical security is presented. This view discusses physical security goals and critical factors such as budget, monitoring and redundancy. With this context established, the Micro View is presented. Its focus is on information technology (IT) facilities that protect centralized or clustered IT resources. A variety of environmental threats, threat agents, and precautions are identified. Questions to help assess the security of off-site storage of backup media are provided. Procedures for establishing the transition strategy to the IT facility, authentication, access control logs, suggestions for handling emergency conditions, and other considerations are enumerated

Spreadsheet Accuracy Theory

Electronic spreadsheets have made a major contribution to financial analysis and problem solving processes. Decisions made using these tools often involve substantive consequences for the organizations. However, academic literature reveals that experienced professionals and students make many errors when developing spreadsheets. Practitioners recognize the importance of accuracy and have published many techniques they use for improving the accuracy of their spreadsheets. Systematic evaluation of this literature provides a basis for understanding practitioners’ perceptions of how and why errors occur in spreadsheets and is also valuable source from which to identify a theory of spreadsheet accuracy and capture the knowledge of experienced spreadsheet developers. The analysis of this literature suggests three categories of issues spreadsheet developers must address to create more accurate spreadsheets including: planning and design; formula complexity; and testing/debugging. Spreadsheet accuracy theory explains and predicts how changes in development processes can be expected to impact spreadsheet accuracy

Interdisciplinary Student Teams Projects: A Case Study

In today’s organizations team work has become an integral part of the day-to-day routine. For this reason, University professors are including group projects in many courses. In such group assessments, we advocate the use of interdisciplinary teams, where possible. As a case study, we report an interdisciplinary group technical project with members from a Master of Business Administration course and a Master of Science in Accounting course. We also describe the refinements made to the course in order to enhance the collaboration between students from two classes

Panel Session Proposal: Publishing in the Journal of Information Systems Education

This Panel Session will discuss various aspects regarding opportunities for submitting and possibly getting papers published in the Journal of Information Systems Education (JISE), the leading academic journal in IS education. In addition, other ways to assist JISE will be addressed and discussed

Integrating Student Groupwork Ratings into Student Course Grades

This article reviews the rationale for groupwork projects, particularly as they apply to business-related courses. It describes some of the pedagogical issues that faculty must address and highlights inherent weaknesses, particularly in the assessment of student effort, that often occur when groupwork is required in a course. The problem of evaluating individual student’s contributions to their group is particularly troublesome given that all students do not always contribute equally to a group’s success. Faculty members normally have little to no data or observations to assist them in valuing one student’s contribution over another student’s contribution to the group’s ultimate success. The evaluation problem can be solved by gathering and using student input regarding the contributions of their peers. This, too, can be problematic if not done in a manner that requires each student to distinguish amongst the different levels of contribution provided by each of their fellow group members. A conceptual solution for solving the ‘group member contribution’ problem and a detailed methodology for implementing the solution is offered for this problem. The solution uses peer evaluations solicited from all group members as a component of each individual student’s groupwork grade. Using a web-based form, student peer assessments are gathered anonymously and are easily integrated into the faculty member’s electronic gradebook

Identifying Employer Needs from Accounting Information Systems Programs

As the need for new hires with accounting and information technology knowledge increases, a new major in accounting information systems (AIS) has emerged. This new AIS degree is a hybrid of accounting concepts and common business subjects combined with key information technology issues. Employers were presented with 56 core content areas found in the curriculum for the AIS major and asked to rate the importance of each. We present the results of the survey along with company demographics. Conclusions are then drawn to determine if the employers are hiring new employees with the necessary knowledge and skills needed to fill these employment trends

Online IS Education for the 21st Century

Online teaching and learning have become increasingly common in higher educational institutions. These higher educational institutions realize the growing importance of online learning in information systems/information technology (IS/IT) education and are now offering online IS/IT courses and programs to students. However, designing, developing, teaching, and assessing an online IS/IT course effectively is often a challenge. Many IS/IT instructors are new to online teaching and need orientation and training for their own readiness in designing, developing, teaching, and assessing IS/IT courses in the online environment. It is recognized that effective faculty are key to student success in online courses and to the success of online programs (Meyer and Jones, 2012). Therefore, it is imperative that administrators and instructors of IS/IT courses and programs learn more of the best practices of online teaching for high student success. This support to instructors and administrators is the purpose of the Special Issue of the Journal of Information Systems Education

Incorporating Global Information Security and Assurance in I.S. Education

Over the years, the news media has reported numerous information security incidents. Because of identity theft, terrorism, and other criminal activities, President Obama has made information security a national priority. Not only is information security and assurance an American priority, it is also a global issue. This paper discusses the importance of Global Information Security and Assurance in information systems (IS) education. Current university graduates will become tomorrow’s users and protectors of data and systems. It is important for universities to provide training in security and assurance of information systems. Are students getting adequate education in this area? If not, this leaves them ill-prepared for the needs of the workplace. The security of our information systems needs to be a major concern for educators and corporate leaders. We recommend that instruction in security and assurance be a core component of the curriculum for all IS and business students. The purpose of this special issue is to provide insights, ideas, and practical tips from IS educators and professionals. Along with the academic papers in this issue, a new section was added, advisory from professionals. Just as a university information systems department has an advisory board of professionals, this new section provides an advisory to academics; professionals provide insights into the corporate world and they need

New concepts in password management

Passwords have been used for many years in the security of computer systems. The password mechanism has not changed in recent years and has several inherent security problems. This paper examines several password problems including sniffers, dictionary and brute force attacks. A specific Department of Defense incident is cited to illustrate a method to thwart sniffers followed by several suggestions intended to increase the security of the password process

The Doctor is in, but is Academia? Re-Tooling IT Education for a New Era in Healthcare

Healthcare information technology is at a crossroads today. As legacy data systems converge with bleeding edge technologies, the technology environments of today’s hospitals and clinics are evolving rapidly, producing new care delivery models. As a result, we need to reassess how information technology education is meeting the needs of healthcare practitioners and institutions. The recent push to adopt Health Information Technology (HIT) with financial incentives and penalties attached was a bold move, but establishing policies is easier to pen than implement. The challenge faced by many healthcare organizations is the lack of technical and organizational infrastructure, as well as skilled man power. This special issue seeks to bring new approaches to the IT classroom, particularly with HIT curriculum, training, and education. Students entering the workforce or completing professional programs will have more career options with an understanding of how to leverage enabling technologies. Those in a healthcare management and leadership capacities will also benefit from this special edition as each of the articles presented address strategic level issues and the need for IT leadership in the planning and implementation of enterprise level systems, to ensure the safety, privacy and security off all patients are protected. The authors of this special issue offer interdisciplinary perspectives on key topics shaping HIT around the world. As members of academia, curriculum is at the heart of the matter and our authors offer justification and case studies on areas where academia needs to continue its growth to serve the healthcare industry