College of IS&T Celebrates 25th Anniversary

After years of time, effort, and commitment, it took a final bold decision for UNO administration establish UNO’s College of Information Science & Technology (IS&T) in 1996. In the years since, it has taken thousands more decisions to make the College the national leader it is today.

This year, IS&T faculty, staff, and students in the college are taking a step back to reflect on the last 25 years, and what’s ahead in the years to come.

The Past

“To start the new college with an IT focus, it was a bold move,” Hesham Ali, Ph. D., former dean of the College of IS&T said. “We were ahead of many universities to take on that challenge. At the beginning we were only a handful of universities in the entire country to decide to designate a college with a focus on IT. It did put UNO on the IT map right away.”

It was in the early 1990's when the University of Nebraska system was faced with public pressure to maintain UNO’s engineering program, which had been the source of much debate due to overlap with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's curriculum. However, the conversation then expanded to instead focus on the needs of students and the Omaha community in the new millennium. From these conversations emerged an idea for a college that teaches data analytics and information, technology, computing, and more.

The computer science program, formerly a part of the College of Arts and Sciences, was grouped with the management information systems program previously offered in the College of Business Administration, to form the College of IS&T. In the beginning, the college offered two bachelor’s and master's degrees in each program. In the years since, degree programs have extended to biomedical informatics, computer science education, cybersecurity, IT innovation, and more. The college has 15 academic programs now, including two doctoral and eight master's degree programs.

“If you look at the entire campus now versus the mid-'90s, I think the campus evolved in a significant way and while obviously the formation of the college is not the only factor in that evolution, I think it was a pretty significant factor,” Ali said. “Our partnerships with industry and government groups were a big part of how the community responded to the global challenges and moved towards a more technological-rich future. So after 25 years, it’s a sense of accomplishment and sense of joy to be a part of how UNO has grown and evolved and that we were an important part of that growth.”

“You can see that we have evolved as the world around us has changed," Sachin Pawaskar, Ph.D., senior research technology fellow in the Department of Information Systems and Quantitative Analysis, said. "We want to cater to the needs of the students, to the needs of the community, and to the needs of the business where the new growth opportunities are, and then tailor our programs to meet those needs.”

The Present

One of the biggest priorities for IS&T is recruiting and retaining students, with many projects in the college focusing on those goals. As the population of Omaha continues to change, college leaders say IS&T will adapt to recruit more students and keep them in Omaha.

“From my perspective, one of the things that I believe the college can do is to have a transformational impact in our communities because these are high paying, high demand, high skill professions, and if we can reach populations. Here in Nebraska, the fastest growing population is the Hispanic community, which has traditionally been economically disadvantaged, if we can reach them then they can make a transformation within themselves, their families, and their communities. So, we can have a great impact.” Martha Garcia-Murillo, Ph.D., dean of the College of IS&T, said.

There are several ways in which the college is looking to recruit and retain students including generating general interest in STEM fields. One way they hope to do this is by working with our faculty and community partners on pre-college STEM related initiatives to encourage students to major in IT related fields. The college is also partnering with Metropolitan Community College where computer science students who earn their associate’s degree can easily transfer to IS&T.

The Future

Garcia-Murillo, who joined the college as dean in 2021, says once students are at IS&T she wants to give them a good experience. Her goals for the future include providing first-year students with three experiences to shadow people in IS&T jobs while second years will work on a small project and third and fourth years will all have paid internships during their junior and senior years.

Along with providing opportunities in the classroom, Garcia-Murillo is working to start a scholarship program, Opportunity and Access Scholarships for IT Students (OASIS), where students’ tuition is paid for during college. After the students graduate, they contribute $200 a year for five years, then $500 a year for another five years and $1,000 a year from then on to the OASIS scholarship fund to support future generations.

“To be able to see a kid that comes from an economically disadvantaged background, knowing their decision to go to college is not about forgoing income to their families and being able to go to college without worry,” Garcia-Murillo said. “If we can take that worry away, that would be an excellent success.”

And if IS&T’s history is any indicator, these future students who graduate from UNO will not just enter IT-related fields but continue working in the industry and building their careers – filling a gap in one of the most in-demand sectors of the economy both locally and nationally.

“We keep track of our graduates to see what they’re doing, and the overwhelming majority are still in IT,” Ali said. “They have good jobs, are supporting their families, and being very productive members of society, which is the main goal of any campus- to make sure that we produce not only the workforce of the future but also the leaders of the future.”

As the needs of students, businesses, and the community continue to rapidly change in the IT sector, IS&T will continue to adapt to those needs and help students succeed.

“The path going forward is not going to be easy, but it is bright and there is much excitement to look forward to,” Pawaskar said.

What IS&T Faculty Are Saying

Kate Cooper, Ph. D., Assistant Professor in the School of Interdisciplinary Informatics:

“I have been a faculty member at UNO since 2015, but I have been with the College of IS&T since 2003. To me personally, the 25^th anniversary is a milestone for us to look back on our progress as a college and as a school and reflect upon all the hard work and passion for education that has gone into it. We also can take a moment to look forward and envision what we want the next 25 years to look like for our students, faculty, and staff. I think we acknowledge these milestones as a means to stop and really appreciate where we are.”

Robin Gandhi, Professor and Director of the School of Interdisciplinary Informatics:

“[This anniversary] is the celebration of a significant milestone to celebrate the impact that the faculty and graduates of the College have had. The programs in the College are more relevant than ever, and I am excited to be a part of this growing and dynamic community. It is also a time to reflect on the past and aspire for even better things in the future.”

Matt Germonprez, Ph. D., Associate Professor of Information Systems and Quantitative Analysis:

“I’ve been in Information Systems and Quantitative Analytics for 10 years. I have seen the department grow during this time to include a wide range of extremely exciting research interests. Part of the excitement to me is how applied the research is in the department. Being able to have an impact regionally, nationally, and internationally is amazing.”

Agatha Owora, Computer Science Instructor:

“[IS&T’s 25^th anniversary means] the celebration of past achievements while setting the foundations for future success.”