iSchool senior receives honorable mention in CRA’s Outstanding Undergraduate Award competition

iSchool senior receives honorable mention in CRA’s Outstanding Undergraduate Award competitionDecember 03, 2007Margaret Costello Spillettmcostell@syr.edu

Syracuse University School of Information Studies (iSchool) senior Alana Edmunds of Perrysburg, Ohio, was selected for Honorable Mention in the Computing Research Association’s (CRA) Outstanding Undergraduate Award competition for 2008. The program recognizes students in North American universities who show outstanding potential in the area of computing research, and the honorable mention designation is awarded to students whose work is considered to be exemplary.

According to ARC, this year’s nominees were a very impressive group. Their contributions involved participating in research projects, writing research papers, presenting at academic conferences and producing software artifacts.

“I am most grateful to Dr. Jeff Stanton and the members of the Syracuse Information Systems Evaluation (SISE) Project, as they have not only provided me with opportunities to work in research, but mentored me over my past four years here at the iSchool,” says Edmunds, who has been an undergraduate research associate with SISE since spring semester of her freshman year.

Edmunds initially worked on the Behavioral Information Security arm of the project, investigating how companies’ employees influence and affect information security within their organizations. She has also performed in various roles with Stanton’s StudyResponse project, which facilitates online research for behavioral, social and organizational science researchers by distributing e-mail participation requests to adult research participants. Her responsibilities have ranged from administrative tasks and maintaining the database to developing new business and corresponding with StudyResponse participants.

“My working as a research assistant has optimized my undergraduate experience,” Edmunds says. “By working closely with the project team and asking questions, I learned how to apply my knowledge to research and how to think analytically.”

Edmunds is a stand-out student at the iSchool. Named SU’s 2007 Homecoming Queen, she also received one of the University’s highest honors by being named a 2007 Remembrance Scholar. She serves as the student manager of the Carrier Dome’s Gate E student entrance, helping with ticket and seating problems through a computerized system she oversees.

“In addition to this prestigious award, Alana has studied abroad, done two internships with GE, and been a National Science Foundation Research Experiences for Undergraduates Award recipient,” Stanton says. “Needless to say, she is one of the school’s star undergraduates, destined for great things.”

The award winners will be listed in the January 2008 issue of Computing Research News, posted on CRA’s website (http://www.cra.org) in early December.