Category Archives: faculty research

CIS Faculty Present at the Research & Grants Expo

Leave a reply

Our CIS faculty are active in research, and several of our faculty are part of ongoing grants. Several faculty members presented at the Research and Grants Expo on March 15, 2023.

Among those presented was the CyberCorps Scholarship for Service grant. Dr. Ping Wang is the PI for this grant, and Dr. Sushma Mishra (pictured below) and Dr. Frank Hartle are Co-PIs.

The CIS Cyber Scholars grant “Developing a Faculty-Student Mentor Model” was also presented. Pictured below (left to right) are Dr. Abdur Shahid, Dr. Natalya Bromall, and Dr. Karen Paullet. Dr. Paullet is the PI on this grant and Dr. Shahid and Dr. Bromall are Co-PIs.

Dr. Abdur Shahid (pictured below) presented “Data Poisioning Attack Against Wearable Artificial Intelligence Systems.” His co-researchers include Dr. Peter Wu and Dr. Diane Igoche from RMU, as well as two colleagues from other institutions.

Congratulations to the faculty for this outstanding work!

Dr. Sushma Mishra Presents at ISACA Conference

Leave a reply

Dr. Sushma Mishra, Professor of Computer and Information Systems, gave a presentation titled “Organizational Security Governance Practices: A Convergence of Frameworks” at the ISACA Pittsburgh Information Security Awareness Day Conference.

This is the premier educational event for information systems audit and information security professionals in the Pittsburgh region. With a chapter membership of more than 600 professionals, the ISACA Pittsburgh Chapter is represented by employees of more than 150 companies, academic institutions, and government entities throughout the region.

Dr. Ping Wang Wins Best Paper Award – Research at IACIS 2021 Conference

Leave a reply

Dr. Ping Wang, University Professor of Computer and Information Systems, and co-author Dr. Hubert D’Cruze (University of Maryland) were the recipients of the Best Paper Award – Research at the 61st Annual Conference for the International Association for Computer Information Systems (IACIS). The IACIS conference was held virtually this year on October 6-8, 2021.

Dr. Wang’s winning research paper was titled “Honeypots and Knowledge for Network Defense.”

Congratulations, Dr. Wang!

CIS Faculty Win Awards at EDSIGCON 2020 Conference on Computing Education

Leave a reply
Dr. Paul Kovacs
Dr. Wenli Wang

Dr. Paul Kovacs, University Professor of Computer and Information Systems, and Dr. Wenli Wang, Professor of Computer and Information Systems, received the Best Paper Award at the 2020 Conference on Computing Education (EDSIGCON) for a paper that they co-authored with Dr. Alan Peslak (Penn State University) and Dr. Lisa Kovalchick (California University of Pennsylvania). Their award-winning paper was titled “Effectiveness of Educational Delivery Modes: A Study in Computer Information Systems.”

Dr. Jamie Pinchot
Dr. Karen Paullet

Dr. Jamie Pinchot, Professor of Computer Information Systems, and Dr. Karen Paullet, Associate Professor of Computer and Information Systems, received the Distinguished Paper Award (Top 10%) at the same 2020 Conference on Computing Education (EDSIGCON) for their paper titled “Using Student Choice in Assignments to Create a Learner-Centered Environment for Online Courses.”

The EDSIGCON 2020 Conference was held virtually this year on November 4-7, 2020. Congratulations, faculty!

Dr. Pinchot and Dr. Cellante Win Distinguished Paper Award – Top 5% at CONISAR 2020

Leave a reply
Dr. Jamie Pinchot
Dr. Donna Cellante

Dr. Jamie Pinchot and Dr. Donna Cellante, both Professors of Computer and Information Systems, received the Distinguished Paper Award (Top 5%) at the 2020 Conference on Information Systems Applied Research (CONISAR) for a paper that they co-authored. The CONISAR 2020 Conference was held virtually this year on November 4-7, 2020.

Dr. Pinchot and Dr. Cellante’s paper was titled “Privacy Concerns and Data Sharing Habits of Personal Fitness Information Collected via Activity Trackers.”

Congratulations on this award!

Dr. Ping Wang wins Best Paper Award – Pedagogy at IACIS 2020 Conference

Leave a reply

Dr. Ping Wang, Professor of Computer and Information Systems, and co-author Dr. Hossein Zare (Johns Hopkins University) received the Best Paper Award – Pedagogy from the 60th Annual International Association for Computer Information Systems (IACIS) Annual Conference. The IACIS 2020 Conference was held virtually this year on October 7-10, 2020.

Dr. Wang’s paper was titled “Teaching Internet of Things (IoT) through Software Simulations with Packet Tracer.

Congratulations, Dr. Wang!

Dr. Laverty honored as AITP-EDSIG Fellow

Leave a reply

lavertyThe CIS Department congratulates Dr. J. Packy Laverty who was inducted as an AITP-EDSIG Fellow at the 2019 EDSIG Conference for Information Systems and Computing.  AITP-EDSIG Fellows are inducted in honor of their long-term, meaningful, and effective support of AITP-EDSIG in its mission to improve information systems (IS) education and foster the careers of IS faculty.

Dr. Laverty is a Professor of Computer Information Systems and Coordinator of Enterprise Systems at Robert Morris University.  Prior to his time at RMU, he held faculty positions at University of Pittsburgh, St. Vincent’s College, Community College of Allegheny County, and Carlow College. He has 35 years of professional consulting experience which includes working closely with IBM on its z-System academic initiative and curriculum. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Accounting and a MBA from Duquesne University. He received his Ph.D. in Academic Computing from University of Pittsburgh. In addition, he has obtained numerous IT-related certifications. During his 44 years as an information systems and business administration educator, he has taught a variety of undergraduate and graduate classes including Linux, Java, IBM DB2, Unix, COBOL, Oracle, HTML, JavaScript, and MySQL-PHP, just to name a few.

During his time in academics, Dr. Laverty has established a consistent research record including publications and innovative outcomes assessment initiatives. He has consistently published in the Information Systems Education Journal and Issues in Information Systems journal, as well as presented his research at numerous international and national conferences. Dr. Laverty has been actively involved with EDSIG throughout the years serving as the workshop chair, publishing papers, making presentations, and always willing to help out wherever needed.

Congratulations, Dr. Laverty, on receiving this prestigious honor.

Dr. Davis, Dr. Sullivan, and Dr. Stewart Receive Best Paper Award at IACIS 2018

1 Reply

best-paper-iacis2018Dr. G. Alan Davis, Professor of Computer and Information Systems, Dr. Adam Sullivan, Manager, Instructional Design and Faculty Support Services, and Dr. John Stewart, Associate Professor of Computer and Information Systems (not pictured), were honored for excellence in research at the 58th Annual International Association for Computer Information Systems (IACIS) conference in Clearwater, FL.

On October 5, 2018, Dr. Davis, Dr. Sullivan, and Dr. Stewart received the Best Paper Award in the Pedagogy category, for their paper titled EdTech Effectiveness: Using Screencasts to Increase Learning Outcomes in Information Systems Curricula.

Academic research papers accepted and presented at the IACIS conference are published in the Issues in Information Systems (IIS) journal, a double-blind refereed, serial publication (ISSN 1529-7314).  IIS publishes research in both practice and pedagogical topics focused on the field of information systems.

Congratulations to the authors on their dedication to excellence in scholarship.

Dr. Charles Woratschek honored as an AITP-EDSIG Fellow

Leave a reply

woratschekThis week, the CIS Department congratulates Dr. Charles Woratschek who was inducted as an AITP-EDSIG Fellow at the annual EDSIG Conference for Information Systems and Computing. AITP-EDSIG Fellows are inducted in honor of their long-term, meaningful, and effective support of AITP-EDSIG in its mission to improve information systems (IS) education and foster the careers of IS faculty.

Dr. Woratschek is Professor Emeritus of Computer and Information Systems at Robert Morris University. His career in teaching began in middle school science where he taught for four years. He took a leave of absence in his fifth year to pursue a Master’s Degree in Information Science at the University of Pittsburgh and never looked back. Point Park University hired him as an adjunct faculty in 1982 to teach courses in FORTRAN, data communications, and database. He remained in that position for six years. Robert Morris University hired him full time in 1983 to teach COBOL and Introduction to Computing. During his 33 years at Robert Morris University he went on to teach a variety of courses in programming languages, human computer interaction, database management systems, operating systems, and data warehouse. His first EDSIG conference was in San Antonio, Texas in 1998. Since then he has served as program co-chair, papers co-chair, new member orientation co-chair, and on the editorial board for the Journal of Information Systems Education. Dr. Woratschek has a B.S., M.S.I.S., and Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh and a M.S.Ed. from Duquesne University.

IMG_3209

Pictured above is the induction ceremony with past AITP-EDSIG Fellows, from left to right: Paul Leidig, William Tastle, Charles Woratschek, Alan Peslak, and Bruce White.

Congratulations, Dr. Woratschek, on receiving this prestigious honor recognizing your career-long dedication and service to the field of information systems, and your students.

Dr. Ping Wang and Dr. Sun-A Park Receive Best Research Paper Awards at IACIS 2017

Leave a reply

SAP2PWDr. Ping Wang and Dr. Sun-A Park have been recognized for research that was presented at the 2017 International

Association for Computer Information Systems (IACIS) conference.  The conference took place Oct. 4-7 in Philadelphia.


IMG_0405Dr. Wang, a professor in SCIS’ Department of Computer and Information Systems, earned the Best Paper Award – Pedagogy, Honorable Mention for “A Constructive Team Project Model for Online Cybersecurity Education,” a paper he authored with Dr. Raed Sbeit, a senior manager at Verizon.

“The study suggests that an effective online team project model can enable students to succeed both individually and as a team,” Dr. Wang said.

Dr. Wang and Dr. Park co-authored “Communication in Cybersecurity: A Public Communication Model for Business Data Breach Incident Handling.” That paper received Best Paper Award – Research, Honorable Mention.  Dr. Park is an associate professor in SCIS’ Department of Communication.

“Our research has valuable implications on corporate communication with various publics, such as stakeholders, customers, media, and industry regulation authorities, as part of cybersecurity incident response and handling,” Dr. Wang said.

Dr. Park added, “Our case study of the massive Yahoo data breaches indicates that the timing of incident response may be more important than the communication strategies in shaping public perception on the company’s incident handling responsibility and subsequently the company’s reputation.”

“I am immensely proud of the SCIS faculty for their commitment to teaching, research and service,” AnnMarie LeBlanc, the SCIS dean said. “The honors bestowed by this international organization of their peers is testimony to the quality of Dr. Wang and Dr. Park’s scholarly endeavors. Together with their colleagues, I congratulate them.”

Dating to 2012, faculty in RMU’s Department of Computer and Information Systems have been honored with paper awards at four of the six IACIS conferences.