Two $1,000 scholarships awarded for newly admitted undergraduate students have gone to Marla Sullivan and Katherine Meyer. The students are entering the Bachelor of Science in Information Science (BSIS) program at the School of Information and Library Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in spring 2011.
"Katie and Marla are exemplary students for the BSIS program," said Stephanie Peterson, Student Services manager of SILS undergraduate program. "They both have excellent academic records and a strong interest in the field of information science, particularly in language, information organization and human-computer interaction. The BSIS program at SILS should be a perfect fit for these two ladies, and I wish them the best!"
The Margaret Kalp Merit Scholarships, which were awarded to the students, are named for a former dean of the School who was held in high regard by both her students and her professional colleagues. The Kalp Scholarships are a continuing reminder of Dr. Kalp's many years of service and of her loyalty to the School.
"I am interested in human computer interaction and plan to study instructional technologies," said Sullivan. "I am fascinated by how humans learn and how technology can be used to that end. I look forward to being a part of SILS and learning from the amazing faculty and
students."
"I am extremely honored to be receiving the Margaret Kalp Merit Scholarship this year and to be accepted into the UNC School of Information and Library Science," said Meyer. "I look forward to becoming a part of this community of individuals who are truly experts in a rapidly growing field."
Two $1,000 scholarships will once again be offered for the fall semester for newly admitted students in the BSIS major who meet the criteria. (Please watch our Web site for application deadlines - normally admissions happen in February). Undergraduate students who have completed at least the first semester of their sophomore year may apply for admission.
About the BSIS Program
The BSIS curriculum is the only program of its kind in North Carolina and one of only a few nationwide. It is one of the fastest growing fields in the nation.
Information science (IS) combines working with people, designing technology and developing information content. For example, as an IS major, a student might be involved in designing/developing the Web site that reports the scores of the Tar Heel teams. The student would be concerned with the people trying to view the site (True Blue Fans), the technology used to support the site (the Web and perhaps a database behind the site) and the game scores (along with relevant quotes from the players, news items, etc.).
The BSIS program draws on our faculty's strengths in fields like usability, human-computer interaction, open source development, database design, information retrieval and human-information behavior and is designed to prepare graduates for a variety of careers in the information industry. Graduates go into positions of:
- Project Manager
- Corporate Blogger
- Web Master
- Knowledge Management Analyst
- Information Technology Analyst
- Software Quality Engineer
- Risk Management: Vulnerability Analysis, Disaster Recovery and Business Continuation
- Research Assistant
- And many more!
Graduates go on to work at organizations such as Credit Suisse, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Progress Energy, SAS, CISCO, the Department of Homeland Security, Aetna, Lulu Enterprises and the United States Census Bureau, to name just a few.
According to the United States Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics, the 30 fastest-growing occupations from now until 2016 include a number of information science occupations. The field of network systems and data communications is listed as the number one fastest growing occupation in the nation. Occupations like computer software engineers, systems software developers and database administrators are included on the list that require a bachelor's degree are included on the list as well.
Some of the exciting, emerging and growing fields of information science that students may wish to explore include:
- Social Networking (Facebook, Twitter, etc.)
- Open Culture: Open Source Software, Open Access
- Intelligence: market intelligence, business and competitive intelligence
- Search Engine Marketing or Search Engine Optimization
- Cyber and Internet Security
- Data Forensics: e-discovery, data recovery
- Scientific Informatics
For more information about programs, contact us by calling 919-962-8366 or sending e-mail to sils-ug@ils.unc.edu or by visiting the Web at: http://sils.unc.edu/programs/undergraduate/bsis
