Site Map About the Faculty Center

Part I - Self-Assessment
Strengths: I am very competent in the use of the Internet for academic research. I’m very capable as a classroom instructor and am able to inspire my students to stretch themselves as they study various technological topics. I’m very skilled at enhancing the classroom experience through Internet augmentation. I’m well connected in the area of academic research on conceptual modeling and system analysis and design. I have substantial work experience in industry and bring that background to bear both in my research and teaching. I have a sincere desire to further the mission of BYU.

Skills and competencies: I am comfortable talking to large groups. I’m very comfortable teaching technology using technology—I don’t teach programming using the chalk board, I teach it using a projector and a compiler. Both my research and my teaching rely heavily on techniques for database management. This allows each area to be supported by the other.

Research interests: I’m currently researching conceptual modeling, especially the ontological foundations of particular modeling approaches. Most of my research has examined to some degree the cognitive competencies of humans as an integral part of information systems. New areas of research are taking me to examine how what we know about the innate human response to color can be leveraged in the design of web sites for electronic commerce.

Citizenship opportunities: I am an active member of the academic information systems research community. I serve on the editorial board of several journals including roles of associate editor and reviewer. I regularly serve as an ad hoc reviewer for top journals in our field. I’m an elected officer of the Special Interest Group on System Analysis and Design. I regularly participate on conference committees.

Areas I wish to develop: I would really like to get more real-world data warehousing experience, in order to better see the future problems that will show up in that area. Also, I need to be more rigorous in my research, especially in the area of identifying theorems and proofs. Finally, I want to change my approach toward research, writing possibly fewer but higher-quality, higher-impact papers.


Part II - Professional Goals and Plan
Teaching
Teaching Philosophy: I do not agree with the commonly accepted metaphor that students are customers who purchase a service from the university and instructor. Nor do I accept the metaphor that students are raw materials in a production process. I view students as co-creators in the process of developing an educated person. As such, I do not view my role as a dispenser of information that must be absorbed and given back at exam time. Rather, I view my responsibility as helping students to change themselves, acquiring skills and understanding that will allow them to perform well beyond what our limited classroom experience may be. Accordingly, I require students to seek new and novel ways to apply the skills expressly taught in class and to seek to develop new skills that will help them achieve their life goals.

Teaching Goals: My great hope for my students is that they will take the skills and ideas learned in my courses and apply them in ways that will help each fulfill his or her life’s mission, that they will use their talents for the service of others and the glory of God. I hope that my teaching techniques will be valued by the students and that they will communicate that through their course evaluations. My immediate goal is to attain above seven on an eight-point scale.

Teaching Plan: To improve my teaching I plan to accomplish the following activities: I plan to read at least one book on applying active learning techniques to help me in this area. I will try to apply the techniques to the classes I teach. I will seek out the outstanding teachers in the information systems department and in the school of management. I’ll sit in some of their classes and apply appropriate techniques and principles learned.

A major factor in my getting hired was my experience and success in teaching technology to MBA students. I will continue to develop my skills in this area and seek feedback from my masters students in continuing to improve in this area. I would like to teach a set of classes over and over so that I can continuously improve them and make them outstanding experiences for the students, instead of teaching new classes each semester. Since XXXX teaches the classes in my particular area of research, database management, I would like to restrict my teaching primarily to ISys 520 and ISys 521.

Research Goals: I want to publish papers in top conferences and journals that are considered important, that is, that are cited frequently and have an impact in industry. I have spent considerable energy becoming well known in the database research community, and I want to keep that stature by showing that I can continue to do good research at BYU. Finally, I want to share with BYU students the excitement and competition involved in doing research.

Research Plan: I plan to publish each year two papers in top conferences (16% acceptance rate), significantly extend one of those papers and publish it in a top journal (20% acceptance rate), and to turn one of those papers into something that can be read by a lay person and publish it in an industry magazine. To help me achieve my plan, I find it helpful to have co-authors from whom I can learn new techniques and ways of looking at things, and with whom I can set deadlines to achieve certain milestones. Therefore, at least one paper will be written with a co-author. Also, I plan to involve a student in at least one paper. In order to find time to work on my research, I plan to spend at least one day a week at home working solely on research during the semesters that I teach, and at least three days a week at home working solely on research during the semesters that I do not teach.

Citizenship Goals: I want to serve my family, in my church callings, and my neighbors. I want to help our department improve our preparation of students for their careers. I want to serve the broader information systems academic community by continuing to provide and maintain the web-based query formulation site, websql.org

Citizenship Plan: I will spend most Saturdays and Sundays at home with my family. I will take time to fulfill church callings, and will help my neighbors when I can. I continue development and improvement at websql.org.

Part III - Relationship Between Goals and University Aspirations, Needs
Teaching: I believe that my teaching goals are congruent with the needs of the university. There is a strong need for faculty to bring technology skills to our MBA students.

Research: I believe that my research goals are also congruent with the needs of the university. A significant factor in my hiring is that I have recently published multiple papers in our highest-ranked outlets. I plan to continue publishing in these outlets

Citizenship: As an untenured faculty member it is my understanding that my citizenship contributions are expected to be limited. For this reason I believe that my citizenship goals are in line with the needs of the university.

Resource Needs: I need to be able to consistently teach the same set of classes. I also need funding for one research assistant along with graders and teaching assistants as needed, and have a certain amount of money each year to spend on books, membership dues, software, hardware, and travel. I currently have these needs met.


Part IV - Summary of Goals
I want to be considered a superb teacher, adequate citizen, and an outstanding researcher. I want to see my students gain an appreciation and excitement about computer technology in my classes. I want them to learn a great deal, and especially learn how to learn on their own. I want to see my research have an impact for good.