Management Information Systems
"Just like anything else in life, whatever you put into your time at IUP is exactly what you will get out of it. There is no shortage of opportunities to get involved around campus, and this is especially true for Eberly College of Business and IT. Between clubs that directly correlate to a given major, and organizations that bring together the best that each major has to offer, the only limiting factor is your desire to get involved. Your experience in Eberly is what you make of itbe sure to make it right."
I am from a small area about 10 minutes north of Pittsburgh, ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø, called O'Hara Township, and I attended Fox Chapel Area High School. Being a first-generation college student, searching for the right university for me was difficult, to say the least. My uncle had attended IUP and really pushed me to check it out. After having conducted my own research online, I learned a few things. IUP's location and size were perfect for me, the facilities IUP had to offer left nothing to be desired, and the Eberly College of Business and Information Technology was by all accounts a phenomenal place to learn, grow, and prepare myself for a successful career in the IT field.
From the time I first set foot in Eberly, the MIS Department had become my home away from home. I got involved in the department early on, having joined the Association for Management Information Systems in the first semester of my freshman year. I also spent a great deal of time in the MIS office, talking to the professors and all of the more seasoned MIS majors about classes, things going on around Eberly, etc. It never ceased to amaze me just how willing everyone was to give me advice about my time at IUP to ensure that I would get the most out of it.
I have always made it a point to be as involved as I possibly could around IUP. In my time at IUP, I have been a member of the Eberly Business Honors program, the Cook Honors College, the Eberly Technology Committee, the Association for Management Information Systems, the College of Business Student Advisory Council, Phi Gamma Nu (professional business fraternity), and Phi Sigma Kappa (social fraternity).
The activity that I am involved in that I would like to be featured in the Student Gallery is the Association for Management Information Systems (AMIS). I joined AMIS in the first semester of my freshman year with the goals of getting involved within my major early on and meeting new people.
At the end of my freshman year, I was elected vice president of AMIS for my sophomore year. I used my time as vice president to learn as much as I possibly could about how the organization functioned and how it could be improved. At the close of my sophomore year I was elected to be the president of AMIS. During my first term as president, I tried new things within the organization to improve membership, productivity, and morale. The most significant result of these efforts was the implementation of the first Tech Week that Eberly had seen in many years. At the end of my junior year, I became the first ever two-term president of AMIS. From the time I first became president until now, membership has doubled. I have brought in corporate recruiters to put on recruitment workshops for the members, and I have fostered more major involvement than ever before. I am proud of the organization that AMIS has become over the last four years, and I am even more proud that I was able to be a part of it.
Getting involved around campus has allowed me to develop various aspects of myself in ways I had never previously thought possible as well as meet a host of people that have forever impacted me in tremendous ways.
Deric has a summer 2016 internship with PNC Bank as a business/systems analyst.