School of Information Sciences

Student Spotlight

  • Student Spotlight: Matthew Cowan Brings Knowledge Management to Cybersecurity

    Featured Student: Matt Cowan Location: Knoxville, Tennessee Education/Career Background: I finished undergraduate in 2014 at the University of Alabama, where I studied geology. Between then and now, I worked largely in real estate and hospitality. Why information sciences? I came to the School of Information Sciences because I realized there’s such a gap in how…

  • MSIS Student Melinda Sandkam Awarded Lemoncello Scholarship

    Melinda Sandkam has always had a heart for certain endeavors, including the education of children and youth, and also helping people find the answers they need. This has guided her career, which includes positions as a hotel concierge, church program director, and preschool director. So perhaps it’s not unusual that she decided to pursue information…

  • MSIS Student Karen Beal Awarded Gary R. Purcell Scholarship

    Karen Beal is nearing the end of completing her MSIS program, a goal of hers that she’s had since high school. She had put it off for years and finally went for it, and now it has enhanced her current career and given her other options for the future should she wish to go down…

  • MSIS Student Charlie Mix is Putting Conservation on the Map

    Charlie Mix and Nyssa Hunt look at the “Cradle of Southern Appalachia” map. – Photo by Angela Foster, University of Tennessee, Chattanooga Information is delivered in many forms, and for MSIS student Charlie Mix, maps are his deliverable of choice. Mix earned a bachelor’s degree in geography and went on to work for the National…

  • Stephanie Walker to be One of the First Undergraduate Students to Earn Her Bachelor’s Degree in the New SIS Major This Spring

    While Stephanie Walker is excited to be on the verge of graduating from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, with her undergraduate major in information sciences, the senior said it is also a bittersweet moment. “I look back and almost wish I could have discovered information sciences sooner. I just feel like I spent a good…

  • Student Spotlight: Jesse Morris Uses Environmental Science Background and Information Science Skills at Her ‘Dream Job’

    Featured Student: Jesse Morris Location: Knoxville, Tennessee Education/Career Background I got my undergraduate degree in life sciences and environmental studies from Guilford College in Greensboro, North Carolina. After I graduated I did a couple of random things – I did some pharmaceutical research and was a GIS technician – and then I fell into being…

  • Student Spotlight: Joshua Melendez Enjoys that BSIS Major Embodies Tech and Creativity

    Featured Student: Josh Melendez Hometown: Clarksville, Tennessee What drew you to the University of Tennessee, Knoxville? I’m originally from Clarksville, Tennessee, and I heard about UT from word of mouth and how great the program is and how the faculty and staff really care about students. During my high school time, I did dual enrollment…

  • Undergrad Holland Parkins First Ever SIS Student to be a CCI Land Ambassador

    Junior Holland Parkins recently became the first ever College of Communications and Information Land Ambassador for the School of Information Sciences (SIS), a position in which she will represent the college and assist CCI with student recruitment, student retention, alumni relations, community outreach, and college events. What is a CCI Land Ambassador? The CCI Land…

  • MSIS Student Spotlight: Adam Hembree Pursues Interest in Public Librarianship and Archives Pathways

    Featured student: Adam Hembree Location: Knoxville, TN Education: Bachelor’s in Spanish and interdisciplinary studies, Christopher Newport University, Newport News, Virginia; Master’s degree in applied linguistics from Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia. Career/Background: After I did my undergrad, I worked my way up at Rosetta Stone to being an area manager in Hampton Roads, Virginia,where I’m from, and it got…

  • Student Jessica Giles Creates Map to Track People’s Movements During the Pandemic

    One of the reasons student Jessica Giles entered the MSIS program was to learn how to better represent data through visualization for her job as an associate data engineer at Intermx in Atlanta, Georgia. She had hoped to gain skills that would allow her to put data and statistics into an easy-to-consume format for the…