To help students answer all these questions and more with just a few finger taps, Syracuse University recently launched a new flagship mobile app experience. The , available on the and , was developed directly in response to student feedback and brings together many of the essential tools, resources and platforms that contribute to a thriving student experience on campus.

Features of the app include:

• seamless integration with Blackboard to view class schedules, upcoming assignments, course announcements and connect with an academic advisor;
• a robust dining hub highlighting food menus, hours of operations and real-time insight into how busy a dining center or café is before you go;
• easy access to the Bus Tracker, campus maps, student activities calendars, MySlice, the Patient Portal/Wellness Portal and everything else needed to plan your day;
• and links to other crucial pieces of the student experience: school/college websites, athletics, news, ITS, Libraries, SU Mail, printing, parking and more.

The launch of OrangeNow represents a significant step in the University’s ongoing digital transformation efforts, which aim to deliver a best-in-class digital and technological experience to the University community.

Jeff Rubin ’95, G’98, the University’s first chief digital officer, longtime faculty member in the School of Information Studies and the founder of SIDEARM Sports, the nation’s leading digital provider for college athletics, oversaw development and implementation of OrangeNow in partnership with Jeff Stoecker, senior vice president and chief communications officer.

Rubin says he is excited for the campus community to begin using the app and for the iterative process to continue with the addition of future enhancements on an ongoing basis. While the primary audience is currently students, the app’s features will be expanded to serve a broader audience, including faculty and staff.

“As with most digital platforms, OrangeNow was designed to adapt and evolve dynamically, ensuring we meet the needs of our users,” Rubin says. “While this is just the beginning, we are extremely proud of the user experience for our students. We are committed to continuing to add new features, integrate with existing tools and technology, and evaluate student needs and feedback to ensure this remains an integral part of the Syracuse University technological landscape.”

“We’ve heard from students that they want the functionality and portability of a mobile app dedicated to the many facets of life at Syracuse University,” says Stoecker. “OrangeNow is a vibrant, fully customizable, comprehensive response to this need that synthesizes many of the tools and platforms students already use in one centralized digital location. We truly hope users find it valuable and that it helps students navigate a thriving life on campus with ease.”

Campus community members are encouraged to download the app on the App Store or Google Play today! To share your thoughts, look for the “Feedback & Support” button on the app’s home screen. Loving it so far? Be sure to leave a five-star review wherever you downloaded it!

What to Expect

Based on tests conducted this summer, Information Technology Services (ITS) expects many existing AirOrangeX-connected devices to reconnect to the upgraded network automatically. Other users might be asked to “Connect” or receive a prompt to acknowledge the changes by clicking “OK.” New devices, including those not previously supported such as Apple TV, Roku Sticks and other “Internet of Things” devices, can select AirOrangeX from the list of available Wi-Fi networks and connect freely.

As a result of the upgrade, ITS will remove the Gadgets&Games, AirOrangeGuest, SUAD and AirOrangeHelp wireless networks from the airspace around campus. Users who previously connected to those networks will connect directly to AirOrangeX instead. Other Syracuse University locations around the world will also shift to a new AirOrangeGlobal network, which will boast enhanced device compatibility and ease of access at all locations.

Convenient, Secure Access

The new iteration of AirOrangeX makes it easier to join the network without compromising security.

For decades, most organizations have secured their Wi-Fi networks by requiring some form of authentication or registration. Over the last eight years, ITS has made significant investments to shift toward a security model that ensures users are secure on any network, anywhere in the world—including those that do not require authentication.

While one might think a Wi-Fi network without authentication could introduce significant security risks, the University’s information systems (e.g., MySlice or Blackboard) require cloud-based multi-factor authentication using HTTPS encryption as required by all modern web browsers. The upgraded AirOrangeX network will also utilize Opportunistic Wireless Encryption to further enhance security on most modern devices made in the last five years.

Multiple virtual private networks will further enhance access to datacenter and cloud resources around the globe while also limiting users who do not authenticate to the underlying information services to internet access only, ensuring the campus community remains protected.

With questions about this or any other technology-related topic, please contact the ITS Service Center at help@syr.edu or 315.443.2677.

is an associate professor in the iSchool at Syracuse University, faculty advisor to the Worldwide Innovation Technology and Entrepreneurship Club (WiTec), and an affiliate of the Institute for National Security and Counterterrorism (INSTC).��Regarding today’s cellular outage, he writes:

“The dirty secret of telecom networks these days is they are just a bunch of wires & towers connected to the cloud like everything else in modern life, whether Netflix or your grocery store.��

With little information released on the cause of ATT’s cross-country outages, the most likely cause is a cloud misconfiguration. Which is a fancy word for saying human error. I was reviewing this exact issue in class yesterday. (IST 615 Cloud Management) which is all too common.��

A possible but far less likely outcome is an intentional malicious hack of ATT’s network, but the diffuse pattern of outages across the country suggests something more fundamental.”��

Asif Salekin (left) and Brian Testa (Photo by Alex Dunbar)

Whether you’re looking to try a new recipe, dimming the lights in your living room, or curious about the species of bacteria living inside your mouth, Amazon Alexa has got you covered. With a simple voice command, Alexa’s ability to perform various tasks or answer questions has made it widely popular, with over 40 million users in the United States alone. Despite the convenience smart speakers like Alexa offer, these devices have also raised some privacy concerns.

Amazon has been known to collect data on users, which includes their shopping habits, preferences and even their location for personalized marketing. But that’s not all. When using waking words such as “Hey Alexa” to activate smart speakers, the audio of your voice command is also recorded and stored, becoming Amazon’s property. This means that Amazon owns your voice audio and can do whatever they want with it.��“Big tech companies are using our personal information. We’re less like customers and more like their product,” says graduate student Brian Testa ’24. “I’ve always been sensitive to that. I don’t use a lot of technology at home for that reason.”

Using voice data, companies like Amazon and Google have now developed technology that poses even more threats to privacy: AI and machine learning that can determine people’s emotional state or mood from their voice. This patented technology can even pick up on feelings from emotionally neutral phrases like “What’s the weather?” Since there are no laws in place to prevent this, there’s no protection against it.��“In the U.S. for the last five to 10 years, lots of researchers have been working on how they can use voice to infer emotions, mood or even mental health,” says assistant professor in electrical engineering and computer science, Asif Salekin. “In my own lab, we have previous works on tech that can infer mental disorders like depression, social anxiety, manic disorder and even suicidal tendencies from one’s voice.”

While this technology can be useful in certain circumstances, most users, if not all, have not consented to having their emotions detected by smart speakers. These privacy concerns led Testa, Professor Salekin, graduate students Harshit Sharma ’26 and Yi Xiao ’26, and undergraduate student Avery Gump ’24 to begin researching ways to protect users’ privacy from smart speakers.��“Consent is key,” Salekin says. “We’d still like to use smart speakers since they’re quite useful–I have them in my own home. This project was about finding a way to use these devices without giving companies the power to exploit us.”

Led by Testa, the group conducted extensive research and developed a device that can be attached to a smart speaker or downloaded as software onto a laptop. This device emits a mild noise that only the smart speaker can hear and masks the emotional tone in your voice, providing a new level of privacy protection for concerned users. “Through the use of a speech emotion recognition (SER) classifier, a smart speaker can analyze how people are feeling based on how they sound. We created a microphone device that listens for the wake word ‘Hey Alexa,’” Testa says. “When the smart speaker activates, our device activates too and begins to emit a noise that disrupts the smart speaker from detecting your emotions. However, only the smart speaker hears this noise.”

Currently, their device masks your emotional state by presenting it as a completely different emotion. When you speak, the smart speaker may detect from your voice that you’re sad, angry or frustrated when you’re not feeling any of these emotions. This unpredictability makes it difficult for smart speakers to accurately determine your true emotions or mood and also prevents machine learning from picking up on any patterns and mood correlations. The group hopes to improve the device’s functionality by making it mask your emotions as neutral rather than presenting them as a different emotion. “To create the mild noise our device emits, we utilized genetic programming to identify a combination of specific frequencies that disrupt the smart speaker from determining a person’s mood,” Salekin says. “Only the speaker hears this noise, but it can hear your speech commands clearly, so the utility of the smart speaker remains intact.”

Though the sound is only detected by the smart speaker, the group wanted to see how loud it would be when the device is used. Testa played the sound in the lab when Professor Salekin was having a meeting and Salekin didn’t even realize it was playing, which showed that the noise wasn’t disruptive. Additionally, they also conducted a survey with others to see if the noise was loud enough to be disruptive.

Testa, Salekin, Sharma, Xiao and Gump are currently working on patent submissions, form factors and speaking with companies about commercializing their device. What sets their patent apart from similar concepts is that while past technology focused on determining people’s moods or emotions, their technology is all about protecting them. This unique approach makes their device the first of its kind. “It was a fun project,” Testa says. “This paper was published by me and as the first listed author, I’m excited about it. I’ve been working towards my Ph.D., and this is another step towards that goal.”

“Working with the students in real-world applications and research with real results was exciting,” Salekin says. “This research has many components and the collaboration between us was great. We’re excited to see what the future for this tech holds.”

Users with a valid Syracuse University or SUNY ESF I.D. can borrow Dell or MacBook Pro laptops by reservation for up to 14 days per month (sequentially or non-sequentially). When the overnight laptops are borrowed, users will also receive a laptop bag and charger.

Reservations for overnight laptops can be or in person at the Libraries, and laptops will be available to pick up from the Bird Library Lockers no later than noon on the day the reservation begins.

Laptops must be returned in person at the Bird Library Checkout Desk at least 15 minutes before the checkout desk closes on the final day of the reservation.

Gloria Somolekae

In celebration of International Women’s Day on Wednesday, March 8, the (WiL), in partnership with the , the and the , is pleased to bring Gloria Somolekae G’94, H’22 back to campus for an in-person keynote talk titled “DigitALL: Innovation and Technology for Gender Equality: Challenges and Prospects.” This presentation will give a global focus on technology and education, with an emphasis on how women and girls across the globe can be empowered in the digital age.

The event will be held in the Goldstein Auditorium at the Schine Student Center from 1 to 2 p.m. All students, faculty and staff are welcome and encouraged to attend. Registration is required in advance and .

As a barrier-breaking academic in her home country of Botswana and a dedicated public servant, Somolekae has been a leader in women’s rights, democracy and development in Botswana and throughout southern Africa. Somolekae, who earned a Ph.D. in public administration from the Maxwell School, was the first citizen of Botswana to earn a Ph.D. in public administration, and the first woman in the Department of Political and Administrative Studies at the University of Botswana—a trailblazer as one of only a small number of women in academics at the university at the time. In 2022, Somolekae was recognized with an Honorary Degree from Syracuse University.

More About Somolekae

Somolekae earned a bachelor’s degree in public administration and political science from the University of Botswana and Swaziland in 1981. She then earned a master’s in public policy and administration at the International Institute of Social Studies in The Hague in 1983, before coming to Syracuse.

After her studies, Somolekae returned to Botswana where she became a senior lecturer at the University of Botswana. She then worked in various policy advisor and director roles for foundations in Botswana, including as a policy advisor on rural development for the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, before entering government service. The president of Botswana appointed her first to a position in the 10th Parliament of Botswana, and then to the position of deputy minister of finance and economic development. It was another first for the nation—the first woman to serve in a senior position in the Ministry of Finance. She was tasked by the president to review the country’s rural development; the Somolekae Report led to major policy shifts in the country’s rural development programs.

Along with her public service, Somolekae has had a deep presence in leading civic engagement projects, helping to energize voters and engage more citizens in politics in Botswana. She co-founded and directed the Democracy Project in Botswana, which was organized to help preserve and strengthen democracy through education of the public on their rights and responsibilities in a democracy and monitor elections. She was a board member of the organization Emang Basadi, which successfully challenged a number of laws that discriminated against women, and helped conceptualize the organization’s effort to encourage women to get involved in politics.

Currently, she serves as senior research fellow and head of the Governance and Administration Unit in the Botswana Institute for Development Policy Analysis. She is working to build capacity in governance, advocating for evidence-based policymaking.

In recognition of her public service and engagement with the citizenry, she was awarded the Presidential Order of Honour by His Excellency the President of the Republic of Botswana, the highest civilian honor in Botswana, in 2008; was named one of Botswana’s 50 Inspirational and Formidable Women by W.A.V.E. as part of Botswana’s independence celebrations in turning half a century in 2016; and was named by the All Africa Council of Churches, based in Kenya, as an Eminent Persons for Peace in Africa.

More About WiL

The WiL Initiative seeks to catalyze the personal and collective advancement of women on campus.��To learn more about WiL or get involved in upcoming programs, visit the��. Programs are open to all community members, regardless of gender identity or expression.

Jenny Gluck

“If you have had the pleasure of interacting with Jenny Gluck, then you know the essence of a passionate technology leader,” Sedore says. “Over the two decades I have had the privilege to work alongside Jenny, I have observed the profound impact she has had at Syracuse University. Jenny is a staunch ally for the underrepresented members of our community, striving daily to include the needs of all when making decisions.”

Gluck joined Syracuse University as a senior computer systems engineer in 1992. Prior to joining the University, her career included more than 10 years at General Electric in roles spanning aerospace information technology, sonar systems, robotics and more.

During her tenure at Syracuse, she gained a campuswide perspective and helped shape the evolution of technology across the University in such roles as UNIX system administrator, manager of Research and Development, director of Networking Systems and Services and director of Academic Applications and Service Centers before beginning her current role in 2011.

At all times, Gluck strived to improve technology to enable effective teaching and learning, communication, safe experimenting and collaboration. Her approach emphasized inclusion and accessibility for the University’s diverse communities.

With a well-established track record of increasing responsibility, Gluck has never been one to take on a light workload.

“As a woman in technology,” she says, “you feel like you’re always trying to prove that you know what you’re doing.”

By building consensus with campus partners and assembling teams, Gluck helped deliver exceptional results for the University. Some of her accomplishments include the following:

• Supporting the move from mainframes to the current client-server
• Developing the first conceptual account provisioning service for the campus
• Spearheading the major network master plan to install, upgrade and replace the entire campus network
• Implementing robust teaching and learning tools, including multiple versions of Blackboard, Zoom, Kaltura and PlayPosit
• Creating the MakerSpace and the Digital Scholarship Space in support of students’ need to experiment, promoting the merits of trying, failing and trying again
• Replacing the University’s data analytics tool
• Deploying a multi-spatial and artificially intelligent chatbot tool
• Creating an academic media productions team
• Installing cutting-edge classroom technology
• Bringing pronoun and preferred name self-selection to MySlice and downstream systems
• Developing a process for the procurement of accessible information and communication technology
• Implementing a robust campus map solution with accessible wayfinding

‘A Remarkable Leader’

Gluck’s campus partners are as quick to praise her collegiality and respect for diverse communities as they are thankful for her technological expertise and guidance.

“Jenny has been a remarkable leader in creatively integrating technology with innovative teaching practices. Her determination to provide support wherever it’s needed has always been remarkable, particularly given the scope of her responsibilities and the increasing need for attention to technology in the classroom,” says Lois Agnew, interim dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and professor of writing and rhetoric. “Jenny’s keen expertise, generosity, accessibility and kindness have made her a respected colleague and valued collaborator. She will be greatly missed.”

Another colleague, Kira Reed, associate professor of management, says, “Jenny has been a great friend and mentor since we co-chaired the Standard III team for the last Syracuse University Middle States Accreditation Self-Study. She is an expert in her field and the highest-ranking woman in IT I’ve met. She continues to inspire me.”

“Jenny has been a champion of meeting student academic needs for information and community technology with a strong emphasis on equal access to technology for members of our disability community,” says William Myhill, director of disability access and ADA coordinator for the Office of Diversity and Inclusion. “Jenny is highly collegial, collaborative, and an ally to historically marginalized communities, putting others first time and time again.”

Looking forward, Gluck offers a word of advice to the Syracuse University community: “Persist. If you know in your heart that it’s right, persist.”

With respect to striving for digital accessibility, in particular, she adds, “it may be hard, and it might not happen right away, but you are removing barriers. No matter how difficult something is, and no matter how many nay-sayers you get, you can never go wrong doing what’s right.”

Story by Christian Jones and Eric Ferguson

Rick Burton

The fastest game on ice requires the fastest internet connectivity available, and this season an upgrade is underway. The National Hockey League (NHL) has updated wireless access in arenas throughout the league. As the puck dropped on opening night recently, nearly two-thirds of all NHL rinks had 5G connectivity. It’s simply a sign of the times when it comes to competitive sports—not only for fans but for teams, too.

“The speed of modern hockey is similar in some regards to the speed of change in technology and decision-making by contemporary leaders,” says , David B. Falk Endowed Professor of Sport Management in the Falk College. “In a hockey game, players have split seconds to make choices that influence outcomes. Modern business is becoming much the same way and while 5G sounds exciting today, 6G is right around the corner.”

Of the 32 arenas in the NHL, 21 have been equipped with 5G with four or five more slated to be upgraded this year and the remainder by the following season. It’s a necessity when it comes to the fan experience. People sitting in the arena want access to fast wireless speeds, not only to keep up with the game on social media, but to check email or their favorite TikTok videos. It’s part of life for professional sports to try to stay relevant in the lives of an increasingly distracted fan base.

“In an era where it is tough to attract millennials and Gen Zers to stadiums and arenas to watch traditional sport, a few professional sport leagues in North America have performed better than others,” says Norm O’Reilly, professor of sport management at Maine Business School. “These are typically the ones who understand that ticket buyers of these cohorts need environments that are both engaging and interactive.”

Burton and O’Reilly write extensively about the current state and future of hockey in their new book, “.” As is the case with most professional sports, the NHL is at a crossroads when it comes to appealing to young fans while maintaining its current fan base. In one small sense, faster wireless connectivity is important to the success of the league, as important as fast wireless speeds in the classroom, boardroom or hotel room.

“We are all moving faster than ever before,” Burton says, “and hockey reflects that new reality.”

The AT&T ’Cuse Digital Experience is designed to encourage more underserved and diverse students to enter the field of technology, an industry that has long faced a pervasive diversity gap. The program provided more than 120 underrepresented students from the Syracuse City School District in fourth through eighth grades an opportunity to gain critical digital literacy and readiness skills through unique technology focused immersive experiences, while encouraging them to explore a STEM and technology educational and career paths

Over the course of the program, the students learned a vast array of digital literacy skills, including cybersecurity, positive social media uses, analyzing search engine results, computer coding basics, keyboarding skills, artificial intelligence, 3D printing disciplines, digital animation, robotics, computer-based design for civil engineering and public space projects, and skills for finding factual news online.

The students also learned how technology can be used for good and community building by creating solutions and discovering creative uses to address issues impacting youth of the region, such as digital citizenship, while also learning the dangers of cyberbullying, cyberscams and digital footprint issues that hurt children’s reputation later in life.

Deborah Nosky

“We are grateful to AT&T and our collaborative partners for allowing us to introduce digital citizenship to so many local students. During our time together we were able to learn more about safety and how to protect our personal information in the digital world,” says Deborah Nosky, professor of practice in the School of Information Studies. “By expanding the students’ understanding and use of digital technologies, students were better able to understand how the skills we learned applied to careers they were already familiar with and new ones that they may wish to explore.”

“Technology innovates and transforms our world, and it creates boundless opportunities for those who know how to unlock its potential.��This is why I am so excited for the 120 Syracuse City School District students who participated in the first AT&T ’Cuse Digital Experience summer program.��They learned valuable skills that will surely be the foundation for their future success—and the economic prosperity of our community,” says Jennifer Tifft, director of strategic initiatives for the City of Syracuse. “I am deeply thankful to AT&T, the Museum of Science and Technology, Tech4Kidz and Syracuse University for offering such an impactful program to our kids. Partnerships like this make it possible to create more inclusive educational and economic opportunities for families of all backgrounds.”

Digital knowledge has become the new literacy and is the driver of all new global technology. With the growing demand to innovate, organizations across various industries struggle to fill skilled positions. It’s��projected��that there will be 3.5 million��STEM and digital jobs��in the U.S. by��2025, underscoring the importance of providing the youth the tools and skills necessary to compete in this innovation economy.

The urgency for more diverse technology trained employees is accentuated by the low percentage of diversity make-up of the technology industry. This alarming diversity shortage in the tech industry and the growing STEM job market emphasizes the importance of providing programing like the AT&T ’Cuse Digital Experience for youth of all backgrounds and economic situations.

“It’s been a pleasure teaching and learning from these energetic local students about technology and digital citizenry. Thank you to AT&T for making it possible,” says Laurie Ferger, teaching professor in the School of Information Studies.

Laurie Ferger

The free program was made possible by financial support and programing collaboration from AT&T as part of the company’s from 2021-2023 to help bridge the digital divide and homework gap.

“It has been an honor to collaborate with the MOST, Tech4Kidz and Syracuse University to offer this innovative experience to these students, as it further enhances our commitment to providing resources for digital literacy educational programming throughoutnd builds upon our vigorous efforts to bridge the diversity gap in the technology industry,” says Kevin Hanna, director of external affairs, AT&T. “I am so impressed by these remarkable students and proud of their determination throughout the summer working hard to gain critical digital literacy skills, they all have great futures ahead of them.”

Vice President for Research Duncan Brown. Photo by Marilyn Hesler

As the new vice president for research, Duncan Brown steps into a role in which he will orchestrate, support and enable the research, scholarship and creative activities that are central to the mission of the University. He notes that these activities form the ideas that society needs now and in the future.

“It is a critical moment to bring our research and scholarship to bear on both local and global challenges. We need the humanities, public communications and creative arts to help address the problems society is facing,” he says. “We need the fields of science and engineering to address the environmental challenges we’re facing. We need people in the social sciences to address an aging population and food production and distribution. We need people from policy and law to address the policies and legal underpinnings of the technologies we are creating and the framework of society. And at Syracuse University we can bring together experts in these and other areas to address society’s greater challenges.”

Brown’s role is to lead the and its component units. That includes providing support to the University’s centers and institutes; advocating for advancements in infrastructure to support the University’s broad range of basic and applied research and creative activities; and empowering our faculty in their scholarly excellence.

Operationally, he helps to support over $100 million in external funding and supervises the work of the , , , and the (SOURCE). He reports to Vice Chancellor, Provost and Chief Academic Officer .

An internationally recognized leader in gravitational-wave astronomy and astrophysics, Brown joined the University in 2007 as an assistant professor in the in the College of Arts and Sciences. Since 2015, he has served as the , a role that he will continue to fill as an active researcher while serving as vice president for research.

In this Q&A, Brown provides insight into his vision for the Office of Research and how he intends to support faculty, students and staff to strengthen and grow research activities across the University community.

The CASTLE curriculum consists of a minimum of 12 credits, including a foundational course in entrepreneurship offered at Whitman and an applied capstone course offered at the College of Law through its Innovation Law Center (ILC). The ILC offers a unique, interdisciplinary experiential learning program for students interested in the commercial development of new technologies. It is also the designated New York State Science & Law Technology Center by Empire State Development’s Division of Science, Technology and Innovation (NYSTAR). Under the leadership of Director Brian Gerling L’99, ILC students and faculty provide research, information, and advisory and support services to the more than 30 universities and research centers in New York supported by NYSTAR as well as New York state entrepreneurs and companies with new technologies.

Students enrolled in CASTLE can choose from courses in the areas of intellectual property, patents, venture capital and startup advising, among others. CASTLE is open to graduate and law students enrolled at Syracuse University, State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY ESF) and SUNY Upstate Medical College.

“The College of Law’s Innovation Law Center has a twenty-plus-year track record of preparing law students to drive growth in tech-related industries, including emerging medical, pharmaceutical, robotics, computing and manufacturing technologies, by combining real-world practical experience and academics, including courses at Whitman. CASTLE formalizes this interdisciplinary approach with an advanced credential that employers will immediately recognize as an added value in candidates,” says Dean Craig M. Boise.

Whitman School Interim Dean Alexander McKelvie says, “We are delighted to be able to launch this new program with the College of Law. We have a long history of working collaboratively and this new program formalizes our joint work in support of technology entrepreneurs and innovators. This new program is a major benefit to students as they learn both business and legal skills, like how to do market sizing, competitive analyses and commercialization, as well as intellectual property law and how to do patent searches.”

Students interested in CASTLE can apply at any time during their graduate programs. College of Law students should apply in the spring of their 1L year. Tuition follows the current tuition rate per school and course.

For more detailed information about this Certificate of Advanced Study, please visit the College of Law’s . Current College of Law students interested in the certificate should contact the ILC at 315.443.8933 while prospective law students should contact College of Law admissions. Whitman students should email Christopher Wszalek, executive director of graduate admissions and student recruitment.

Answers to that question are what ’80, director of the and an adjunct faculty member in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, hopes to seed through his Fulbright Specialist grant project in Estonia this spring.

Sean Branagan

Branagan was awarded the prestigious grant to teach a digital media entrepreneurship course at cutting-edge . He’ll work with students and faculty at the public research university’s film, media and arts school and with community entrepreneurs for six weeks.

As part of the larger hosted by the U.S. Department of State, his grant is one of 400 typically awarded each year to professionals and academics to share expertise, strengthen institutional partnerships, and gain international and other-cultures experiences. The grants are awarded based on academic and professional achievement, demonstrated leadership and the potential to foster cooperation.

Tallinn University is one of the three largest higher education institutions in Estonia and is ranked among the top 1,000 universities in the world. It promotes achieving an “intelligent lifestyle” through education, research and cross-discipline collaborations to promote citizens’ well-being and to improve society.

A Digital Nirvana

The digital media landscape is at another moment of acceleration, Branagan says, and that’s what prompted his interest in the Fulbright Specialist program as he and his peers started asking, “What’s next after the pandemic?”

Estonia is a perfect place to assess how the digital media future might unfold, he says.

“It’s one of the most digital countries in Europe and maybe one of the most digital countries in the world. It’s the Silicon Valley of Europe, yet with just 1.3 million people, it has the highest concentration of entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial ‘unicorns’ in a community that’s just a fraction of Silicon Valley’s size.”

Take Chances Now

Sean Branagan

Branagan plans to optimize the current disruptive state, a business environment ripe for innovation and a world more accepting of change to teach Estonian students to take chances and create new types of media right now. He foresees a whole new group of creative lifestyle and small businesses, new media platforms and new business models emerging from this time.

“Right now, it’s all Game On. It feels like 2006 again, and I think we’re about to see another 20 years of major disruption taking place in the media world. There’ll be new players, new centers of media, new films coming out of unusual places. It’s going to be a mix and match of things that used to be very distinct. So, it’s opportunity time again,” Branagan says. “New voices, new media owners and new kinds of media create new narratives that change our culture and society. Media entrepreneurship is powerful. It’s a very accessible type of entrepreneuring. I see it as a force multiplier for social change.”

Branagan has been teaching digital media entrepreneurship since 2011, when the late Newhouse School Dean Emerita Lorraine Branham “took a chance on me,” he says, and established the Center for Digital Media Entrepreneurship.

In addition to starting lifestyle businesses and high-tech companies, Branagan served five years as entrepreneur in residence at the in Syracuse. He has been instrumental in Syracuse University’s Kauffman-funded, award-winning��, and is the creator and co-founder of , a national collegiate startup tournament that culminated at SXSW. He has been involved from the early days of entrepreneurship programming, and still teaches entrepreneurship to transitioning military personnel via the program. He also serves as advisor, board member and in other roles with several early-stage startups and venture funds.

Three Goals

The professor has three goals for the project. They are to show students that entrepreneurship is a creative endeavor they can pursue freely, versus a mechanism or a business focus; to help faculty cast aside myths about who entrepreneurs are (“because the student getting a C grade is more likely to innovate and do something creative, unusual, and non-conforming”); to share perspectives with and soak in the Tallinn startup community.

How will the immersion in the Estonian innovation space disrupt him?

“I want to come back and look more expansively at what we have built at the Newhouse School around media entrepreneurship and media innovation. We already have been expanding the academic offering inside the school,” Branagan says. “I’d like to go further and bring media entrepreneurship to other parts of the Syracuse University campus to take advantage of the emerging Creator Economy. And then I’d like to go beyond Syracuse University and bring the Newhouse brand of media entrepreneurship and media innovation to other schools, especially schools with underserved populations and globally. Ultimately, we could have an institute that trains faculty from all over the world to teach media entrepreneurship in their programs.”

Professor Zhang conducted a survey to gauge how AI researchers and the US public feel about the developments of AI in terms of the interest of the public. Zhang said, ‘US public still seems to broadly trust tech companies to guide development of AI.’ His survey results showed that the public is most trusting of the US Military and university researchers.

As a result of the upgrade, MySlice features increased mobile compatibility, accessibility and personalization. You can find information about the enhanced navigation and user experience, including screenshots, on the��. Helpful tips include:

At the same time as the upgrade, MySlice’s security was enhanced with Microsoft Two-Factor Authentication (also known as multi-factor authentication or MFA). MySlice users will need to ensure they have access to their multi-factor authentication methods, which they can manage at��.

If you have any questions about the MySlice upgrade, you can contact the ITS Help Desk at��help@syr.edu��or by calling 315.443.2677.

Here are six ways things were noticeably different 18 years ago.

1. Social media was in its infancy.
   It’s hard to remember a time when scrolling TikTok, Instagram or Twitter wasn’t part of our everyday lives, but in 2003? MySpace, which would become the largest social media network in the world from 2005 to 2008, had just been invented. Facebook didn’t come onto the scene until 2004, Twitter until 2006, Instagram until 2010 and TikTok until 2016.
2. We were all about that T-9 life.
   Smartphones were relatively rare in 2003, with BlackBerry just starting to catch on among predominantly business users. The best-selling cell phone in 2003 was the , on which you could call and text but not much else. Before unlimited texting plans became ubiquitous, users would pay 15 to 20 cents per text or have a monthly allotment of texts—so you had to make every message count. The first iPhone wouldn’t be released until 2007.
3. To obtain food, you had to (mostly) leave the house.
   Grubhub, Instacart, Uber Eats and DoorDash hadn’t been invented yet. Sure, you could have a pizza delivered back then, but the world of ordering any type of cuisine you desire with just a few finger taps was at least a decade away in 2003.
4. Network TV was still king.
   Before Netflix, Hulu, Sling, HBO Max, Disney+ and Apple TV (need we go on?) gave us a million things to watch at any given moment, Americans were still hooked on primetime network television. The top shows in 2003 were “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” (CBS), “American Idol” (FOX) and “Friends” (NBC), the final season of which would air the following year in 2004.
5. Streaming music was not a thing.
   If you wanted to listen to one of the top albums of 2003 (“Get Rich or Die Tryin’” by 50 Cent, John Mayer’s “Heavier Things” or the “Bad Boys II” soundtrack, perhaps), you would more than likely hit a local music store like FYE or Sam Goody and buy the CD. YouTube didn’t launch until 2005, Spotify followed in 2006 and Apple Music wasn’t available until 2015.
6. Men’s hoops had everyone coming down with Orange fever.
   The spring of 2003 marks the last time the Syracuse Orange men’s basketball team claimed the title of NCAA Division 1 National Champion in a nailbiter game against the Kansas Jayhawks. While we could do without the return to flip phones and compact discs, here’s one piece of history from that era we wouldn’t mind repeating. Go Orange!

Internet Backpack for Edge Connectivity (Courtesy: Imcon International Inc.)

The rise of the digital age and widespread use of the Internet have turned web access into an essential utility—similar to water and electricity. In the past year and half, the COVID-19 pandemic has emphasized the importance of web connectivity, as it became the primary way people connected with family and friends, pursued an education, met with doctors and remained apprised of information regarding the pandemic.

Although there are areas where broadband is not available, most areas in the U.S. have ways of connecting to the web, as��. Most homes are hardwired into the web through high-speed cable connections or fiber-optic hookup. Homes located in more rural areas turn to technologies such as satellite Internet, although typically at a higher price. The same cannot be said for remote locations in Central American countries such as Costa Rica, says Danielle Taana Smith, professor of African American studies in the College of Arts and Sciences and director of the Renée Crown University Honors Program.

While over��, many poor, remote regions of the country do not. Smith has been awarded a $416,000 grant from the Internet Society Foundation to help establish Internet connectivity in underserved communities in Costa Rica through the use of an��. In 2019, with support from multi-stakeholder partnerships, the Internet Backpack was deployed in Isla Caballo, a remote island in Costa Rica, to provide Internet connectivity to the community. The success of this model for digital inclusion served as the foundation for the design of this current research project. Smith and her colleagues will set up these backpacks in public community spaces, making Internet available to any community resident in the participating communities.

It’s with this spirit of innovation that the iSchool announces the launch of two new undergraduate programs: and . These two new majors will complement the current program and will provide further opportunity for inquiry and exploration.

“We’re excited to add new undergraduate programs at the iSchool,” says Bruce Kingma, director of undergraduate programs. “There’s a growing need to understand data and technology’s role in society. Businesses want to know how to use technology to reach their audiences. They want to improve cybersecurity. And they want to find efficient ways to use and manage data. These new programs give students the chance to specialize in any of these areas. After graduation, they’ll be top candidates for many emerging roles.”����

Students in the program will learn to find, present and apply data insights to anything from policy, to product, marketing and business decisions. They’ll study R and Python programming languages and visual and conceptual data science methods, as well as explore new approaches to machine learning and artificial intelligence.��

The i program takes a liberal arts approach to technology. Students will explore how technology impacts society, studying topics like misinformation, privacy issues and policymaking. They will also learn how social media and technology impact communication, advocacy and social justice.

The program will focus on the intersection of business and technology. Students will examine how technology systems are integrated into organizations of all sizes, and how to develop and manage those systems. They will also study topics like website design, cybersecurity and the future of work.��

Each of the programs will prepare graduates with the skills to become innovative leaders and experts in their fields. iSchoolers learn to challenge themselves, so they feel confident entering the workforce. And they are in-demand, earning them the highest placement rates and starting salaries of any school on campus.��

“The job market at the intersection of business, tech and data continues to grow,” says iSchool Dean Raj Dewan. “Our graduates are sought after because we’re always innovating our programs to keep up with the job market and align our programs with what employers are seeking. With these two new programs, our students will be able to specialize in areas that interest them, while gaining the skills that will prepare them for successful careers.”��

New majors are open for current students who wish to transfer. Each major requires 120 credits for graduation. Students can specialize their studies by choosing a concentration. Concentration options include information security management, project management, network and systems management, web design and management, digital retail strategies or innovation, design, and strategy.��

Students can begin enrolling in the new programs for the Fall 2021 semester. For more information on applying to any iSchool undergraduate program, .

Employers are looking for individuals who have both soft skills and technical skills, are problem solvers and are passionate about technology. Computer programmers can choose a wide variety of career paths, including health care, criminal justice, defense contracting, finance and more.

Students will gain a comprehensive understanding of how and why computer systems work and how to design solutions that encompass functionality and usability. They will also learn how to manage projects, understand system limitations, and write and test the code that will run software applications and programs.

Syracuse University’s 120-credit Bachelor of Professional Studies (BPS) degree in computer programming is a fully online program with weekly interactive live sessions.

Registration is now open for the spring 2021 semester and classes begin Feb. 1. For more information, email parttime@syr.edu or call 315.443.9378 (toll free at 1.866.498.9378).

In the story, Gusroy writes about the possibilities behind 5G technology and the issues surrounding it. He says that “vehicular networks, autonomous driving, robotics, healthcare, and virtual and augmented reality are [other] examples where the need is greatly increasing.”

is an assistant professor of retail practice at Syracuse University’s Whitman School of Management. Wimer says Amazon Web Services is a big driver for profits in the technology space, but thinks it’s unlikely another online retail company will move into the top spot,

Wimer says:

“Amazon makes most of their money and most of their profits in the technology space.�� The biggest driver is Amazon Web Services.

“I think it is unlikely that other online retail companies (that also have technology components) move into the top spot. Alibaba as roughly half��the market cap right now of Amazon and Walmart has a quarter of the market cap of Amazon. These would be the likely leaders to join. Retail is a very tough business on margins and this is something that investors look for.

“Walmart is near the top of the Fortune 500 based on revenue year after year but the margins are small compared to a company like Apple or Exxon-Mobile.”

To request interviews or get more information:

Daryl Lovell
Media Relations Manager
Division of Marketing and Communications

T��315.443.1184 ����M��315.380.0206
dalovell@syr.edu |

820 Comstock Avenue, Suite 308, Syracuse, NY 13244
news.syr.edu |

Syracuse University

In the article, Grygiel, who studies social media, ��said that “Facebook is still asking a lot from the public, given its recent track record.”

The City of Syracuse’s Open Data website is one example of how Upstate New York cities are using and sharing municipal data. The portal provides a central location for open data, maps, and visualizations to help residents understand what is happening in the city.

The (iSchool), the��, and the����at the State University of New York at Albany are joining together to offer the����at Syracuse University in June.

The one-day event, planned for Wednesday, June 6, will bring together municipal government officials from across Upstate New York to showcase innovative uses of data and technology.

“The hope is that the summit will provide an opportunity for attendees to learn more about how other Upstate governments are using data,” explains��, an innovation specialist for the U.S. government General Services Administration’s��who is helping to organize the event. Headd is a 1994 graduate of the ’s MPA program.

“Attendees can learn how municipalities that are new to open data and data analytics can get started with data programs of their own,” Headd adds.

Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh will deliver the summit’s keynote address.

Speakers at the event will include Kate May, chief performance officer for the City of Rochester; Kirk McLean, director of Open Data Buffalo for the City of Buffalo; John Coluccio, signal superintendent for the City of Schenectady; Megan Sutherland, senior program associate at the Center for Technology in Government; Sam Edelstein, iSchool alumnus and chief data officer for the City of Syracuse; and Jared Kraham, Maxwell School and alumnus and deputy mayor of the City of Binghamton.

The summit will run from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and will be held in Room 275 of Falk College’s White Hall. The registration fee is $10. For a full event schedule and online registration form, visit the��.

Prior to founding Women 2.0, Brodock was the director of the W2O Group Center for Social Commerce at S.I. Newhouse school of Public Communications and executive director of social media for Syracuse University. Women 2.0 is both a media and tech company with the mission of impacting gender equality in the tech world. Brodock has been involved in the tech startup space as an employee, founder, judge, mentor and investor. She has spoken at SXSW, TEDx and contributed to Forbes Magazine.

Root is a site reliability engineer at Spotify and the resident FOSS evangelist. She is also a global leader of PyLadies and former vice chair of the Python Software Foundation board of directors. Root has spoken at several technology conferences, specially to the Python community and Glamour Magazine featured Root as “35 Women Under 35 Who Are Changing the Tech Industry.”

Benjamin has over 30 years of experience in the realm of software development. She’s worked in different industries: digital imaging, databases, insurance, finance, travel and music. In her current position as director of engineering at Pandora, Benjamin is in charge of the Playlist Algorithm, Music Tools and Retention teams at Pandora. Benjamin also is the co-founder of the Tech Intersections Conference, which is the first conference with a focus on women in color in technology.

Contact: Clelia Ryan
Women’s Empowerment Project
973.668.0290
clryan@syr.edu

Webpage:

is a professor in Syracuse University’s School of Information Studies. He says it’s too early to know how the growing trade rift between the U.S. and China will impact phone or gadget prices but says non-tariff barriers may become more restrictive.

Dedrick says:

“I don’t think there will be much of a direct impact on phone or gadget prices in the U.S.�� The way the supply chain works, there aren’t a lot of direct imports of U.S. components into China. For instance, the Qualcomm chips in most phones are manufactured in Taiwan, so they wouldn’t be affected by tariffs on U.S.-made goods. Of course, most phones themselves are made in China, and most of the components are made in China or elsewhere in Asia. It looks like the tariffs are aimed more at U.S. agriculture, cars and other products actually made or grown in the U.S.

“There’s obviously a risk that the trade war will expand into other products, but the current tariffs don’t seem to be directly aimed at tech products.��Tech companies in both countries are more affected by non-tariff barriers, which are nothing new but could become more restrictive in the future.

“It’s kind of early to know how this is going to settle out, especially given Trump’s penchant for announcing one thing and doing another.”

To request interviews or get more information:

Daryl Lovell
Media Relations Manager
Division of Communications and Marketing

T��315.443.1184 ����M��315.380.0206
dalovell@syr.edu |

820 Comstock Avenue, Suite 308, Syracuse, NY 13244
news.syr.edu |

Syracuse University

Associate professor in the School of Information Studies at Syracuse University has no doubts that more driverless vehicles are headed to the road – but without the legal infrastructure and social norms in place to keep up with the technology, he says they are “accidents waiting to happen.”

McKnight says:

“The first autonomous shuttle bus brought into service in Las��Vegas��summer 2017 was in an accident within an hour. A delivery truck driver that did not ‘sense’ the presence of the shuttle as he backed up was blamed. Of course, a human shuttle bus��driver would have heard the truck��beeping, and backed up out of the way. Instead of the supposedly��smarter autonomous��vehicle – stupidly – just sitting there waiting to get hit.�� But yeah let’s blame the human truck driver, and not the – human software programmers, or the hubris of the shuttle designers and��operators thinking their smart vehicle need��not ‘sense’ when a��vehicle��is backing up towards it; or ‘hear’ that beeping noise humans know to take as a warning sign to be careful and get out of the way.

“It is too soon to say what exactly went fatally wrong��in Arizona when��an autonomous Uber (with a human inside) killed a pedestrian who was not exactly where humans should be on a highway. Still, no doubt��autonomous vehicle enthusiasts will blame the pedestrian, and note many pedestrians die in accidents across the country daily. While that is true, many more pedestrians walking not exactly where they should are avoided by – intelligent human drivers. Every day.

“In sunny Arizona, in Las Vegas, and soon in California, humans are��the guinea pigs while autonomous vehicles learn – from their errors – to not kill us. In the future. Hopefully.

“More challenging terrain like rainy Oregon, or the snowy Rockies…well, for now, the owners��of autonomous cars��will not risk their vehicles in those terrains.��Soon, however, on interstates and highways, we are supposed to trust autonomous trucks more than human drivers. No doubt the autonomous trucks will not need��coffee to stay alert; but why should we believe their owners, and programmers, have taught the vehicle everything it needs to know to avoid the careless things humans do? Of course, machine learning and artificial intelligence have great potential to improve vehicle safety.

“So no doubt��autonomous vehicles are coming; but when neither legal norms nor social practices have evolved to deal with them, they are, by definition, accidents waiting to happen.��And, very large lawsuits waiting to be filed.”

To request interviews or get more information:

Daryl Lovell
Media Relations Manager
Division of Communications and Marketing

T��315.443.1184 ����M��315.380.0206
dalovell@syr.edu |

820 Comstock Avenue, Suite 308, Syracuse, NY 13244
news.syr.edu |

Syracuse University

is a professor in the School of Information Studies at Syracuse University, who researches the globalization of information technology. Dedrick doesn’t predict tariff increases would have a significant impact on iPhone costs but says the retaliation consequences could be a bigger concern.

Dedrick says:

“The enclosure for an iPhone is a pretty expensive part, actually.��We had it at $22 on the iPhone 7, but according to some reports, it’s $51 on iPhone 8 and $61 on iPhone X. Some of the enclosures are aluminum and others are stainless steel. In any case, I think the raw material cost is a very small part of the enclosure cost.

“Raw materials are bought by Apple outside the U.S. and imported from China as parts in the iPhone. I don’t predict the tariff would have any impact, any more than it would have on the cost of an imported car.

“If I were Apple, I might be more concerned that the Chinese government will retaliate against U.S. companies doing business in China.��Apple’s position there is precarious enough, as China generally favors its own tech companies, and this might not help.”

To request interviews or get more information:

Daryl Lovell
Media Relations Manager
Division of Communications and Marketing

T��315.443.1184 ����M��315.380.0206
dalovell@syr.edu |

820 Comstock Avenue, Suite 308, Syracuse, NY 13244
news.syr.edu |

Syracuse University

Lee McKnight, left, and Chris Chomicki

Lee W.McKnight is an associate professor in the , faculty advisor to the Worldwide Innovation Technology and Entrepreneurship Club and an affiliate of the Institute for National Security and Counterterrorism. He is also an expert on Bitcoin and its underlying technology, Blockchain. Chris Chomicki is a junior studying information management and technology and computer science in the iSchool He also works as a web developer for SIDEARM Sports and is also an athlete on the Division I Cheerleading Squad at the University. Together, they answered some questions about Bitcoin and Blockchain for those of us who are not technical whizzes.

For more information: Register for McKnight’s��webinar Feb. 14, noon-1 p.m. EST, titled:��“.”

Sponsored by the Syracuse University Libraries’ Research and Scholarship department, the series explores how scholars in different fields engage digital technologies as the subject matter of their research, in their research methods, their collaborative work and the systems through which their research is disseminated and preserved. The program explores the ways in which the libraries, the University, and��their technology infrastructure can support these modes of scholarship and sustain their future.

If you need an accommodation in order to fully participate in this event, please contact��Patrick Williams at jpwillia@syr.edu by Nov. 8.

Volunteers deployed by AarogyaSeva help provide healthcare solutions for underserved populations in India.

Through research and philanthropy, and his students are developing ways to use software to provide improved��healthcare to underserved populations. “I believe that the availability of adequate healthcare is a fundamental right of every individual, and the proper application of technology can improve healthcare access for all,” says Mohan.

One of the key problems he aims to address is the lack of medical records. With no consistent health provider, patients often have incomplete or nonexistent documentation of their past health and treatments. What records do exist are paper documents and are left to the patient to keep on file. There is no medical scenario in which this lack of information is ideal, but in cases where patients require emergency care, the consequences can be dire. For example, if an unconscious patient without medical records needs emergency care, they cannot provide information pertinent for determining the best treatment. Without this knowledge, a��doctor’s actions can sometimes harm the patient instead of helping.

To address this, Mohan and his team are designing a robust electronic healthcare record system that puts the records in the hands of the patients and their chosen proxies. Their goal is to give patients and their doctors the ability to use inexpensive and widely available computer hardware and storage devices with simple software interfaces—such as smartphones and tablets—to access these valuable records.

Mohan says, “Our students can help develop such software. Students need to know what it takes to build a large software system, and working on a real-life project can significantly enhance their abilities.”

In India, he envisions the possibility of connecting this information to an emerging identification system, similar to the United States’ social security identification system. By providing each citizen with secure private storage associated with their ID number, every individual’s medical records could be stored and made available when needed. Patients would only need to provide healthcare professionals and volunteers with an access code to review and update their records through personal devices.

In a recent publication, “,” Mohan and Dayaprasad Kulkarni, a physician with many years of experience in healthcare volunteering, address the requirements for such a system. They address the challenges of��sharing information with multiple healthcare providers, patient privacy, interfacing with multiple platforms, robustness, ease of use by people with limited technical skills and extensibility.

Dayaprasad Kulkarni, left, and Professor Chilukuri Mohan

With this work and other active initiatives, Mohan and Kulkarni help deploy healthcare solutions for underserved populations through an organization called��. AarogyaSeva is an international humanitarian group dedicated to providing healthcare services that provides volunteer services in seven countries. Mohan serves as the academic mentor and advisor of engineering affairs on their executive team and Kulkarni is the founder and director. The organization provides a platform for the development and deployment of medical technology that allows engineers and computer scientists to contribute directly to providing affordable medical technology.

In addition to deploying medical volunteers and addressing medical records, the organization produces 3D printed prosthetic hands for children, developing tools to facilitate remote healthcare��using smartphones (such as an��e-stethoscope), and provides logistical assistance for disaster relief efforts. In another instance of applying new technology to healthcare, Mohan and Kulkarni are exploring the development of low-cost virtual reality tools to help treat patients without convenient access to a doctor’s office.

“Let’s say a person has something on his skin. It could be poison ivy or acne. It may also be melanoma. For triage, a volunteer can take pictures of the blemish from different angles and send it to doctors. At the doctor’s office, which could be anywhere in the world, software can take the multiple images and make them into a 3D image of the arm and skin to facilitate accurate diagnosis. If it is something of concern, then the doctor can tell the patient if they need to get to the nearest hospital.”

In every initiative, AarogyaSeva and its volunteers prove that the technical skills learned in classrooms at Syracuse University can have a significant impact in unexpected disciplines—even bolstering humanitarian efforts a world away.

Mohan says, “Computer science isn’t just about writing code. Exposing our students to projects like these shows them that their computer science knowledge can be put to use helping people around them and making the world a better place, in very direct ways.”

““If you look at how you can bend the sheet of paper that spacetime is, there are many ways you can bend it,” he said. “But if you look at [Einstein’s predictions], only two of those ways are present.”

Shiu-Kai Chin is a Professor at Syracuse, who focuses his research on computer security. In his mind, business should look at this breach issue in a very simple light. “People who run businesses don’t want to think about the cost of information audits,” he says. “But if they just imagined that every packet of information was a hundred dollar bill, all of a sudden they would start to think about who touches that money and should they be touching that money? They would want to set up the system properly—so you only give people enough access to do their jobs and no more.”

“Grad school is a very stressful and mentally challenging experience for a lot of people, myself included,” Negoita says.

A screenshot of the smartphone application for HabitU from the website. The program is currently looking for beta testers.

To combat the all-too-common stressors of academic life, Negoita tested a smattering of the 80,000 wellness apps on the market, but found them too prescriptive, or even too stressful, to use. Taking notes from his own journey and leveraging student entrepreneurial services on campus, he created : a new mobile application to help users develop desired habits while reducing stress in the process.

“I had this epiphany that my stress was linked to feeling out of control. I realized that doing a few things in particular, even as simple as spending five minutes washing the dishes, brought back some of the control I was missing,” Negoita says

After tracking habits in spreadsheets for over a year, Negoita decided to turn his personal tinkering into a publicly available tool. To go from concept to app, he tapped into Syracuse’s free entrepreneurial resources, including mentorship and professional business services from the ’s and the at Bird Library.

The end product is an easy-to-follow path to self-improvement, Negoita says. HabitU is simple to use: just make a list of tasks that your “ideal self” would do daily, assign tasks a difficulty rating and tally your progress—the app takes care of encouraging you to improve over time.

“Habit-tracking applications are fantastic tools for staying organized, being more productive and building healthy habits, but can often be complicated or stress-inducing,” says mental health promotion specialist Kristelle��Aisaka from Syracuse’s . “HabitU takes those useful habit-tracking features and integrates them into an easily navigated, low-stress interface.”

A compassionate and personalized approach separates HabitU from other available habit tracking apps, Negoita says. HabitU employs an algorithm to suggest daily point goals shaped by an individual’s past performance, including cutting users some slack when appropriate.

“HabitU pushes you by learning from your successes and providing progressively more challenging goals over time—but it does this in a very kind way. If you don’t complete a task one day, that’s fine. You can do another in its place, or just skip it for now. HabitU pushes you with personalized daily goals that account for the fact that we all have bad days.” Negoita says.

An early tester of the app, biology Ph.D. student Alex Ebert, echoes HabitU’s unique approach: “This is exactly the way a good��habit-building app should work: it doesn’t feel like a chore, it doesn’t guilt me for having a bad day, and the flexibility keeps me excited about fulfilling the items on my list!”

For now, Negoita is seeking for HabitU, beefing up the website with developer Max Matthews ’16 and designer David Badillo; and finishing up his dissertation work for May 2018. Ultimately, he envisions HabitU growing into “the go-to app for personal development,” with the ability to integrate data from niche wellness apps, like Headspace and Fitbit. And with a couple local start-up competitions under his belt, including an award for Student Entrepreneur of the Year from the Entrepreneurship and Emerging Enterprises program at the Whitman School, he is headed in the right direction.

“The early beta we’ve seen from Luka and his team has been very promising,” says Aisaka. ”We’re looking forward to see how HabitU continues to grow and evolve.”

Feedback from most users of the system has been positive. Since its inception, more than 10,000 appointments between students and their advisors/faculty have occurred. Faculty have raised 19,140 flags and 21,439 kudos in support of 12,611 unique undergraduate students.

Administrators say one of the major accomplishments of the initiative is how the University has worked closely with the vendor to ensure accessibility for all.

“Accessibility and inclusion are part of the fiber of Syracuse University, and that fiber must carry through to the information and communication technology that is provided to all campus constituents,” says Sam Scozzafava, vice president for information technology services and chief information officer. “Removing barriers to access, in all forms, must be a priority for all of us.” A draft University-wide policy on information and communication technology, shepherded by the Workgroup on Diversity and Inclusion, is being vetted at open forums in the campus community.

Starfish Retention Solutions was chosen as the platform for Orange SUccess because it provided the best combination of usability and features, says Scozzafava. “Starfish was selected after a review of its accessibility,” he says, “but there were some exceptions on the VPAT–the voluntary product accessibility template–that the vendor was still addressing.”

“The adaptations that had to be made to improve accessibility have taught us a great deal about the importance of humility, patience and collaboration in everything that we do, as well as about the applicability and relevance of the principles of Universal Design for Learning,” says Kal Srinivas, director of retention in the Office of the Associate Provost for Academic Affairs.

“We knew it was critical to develop a partnership and process with Hobsons (Hobsons, Inc. is now the owner of the Starfish Retention Solutions system) that would allow us to continue to move forward with the system implementation and adoption, but also work together to eliminate remaining accessibility issues,” says Scozzafava. “We’ve found Hobsons to be a great partner. They have been very transparent about their product development methodology, and they have welcomed our input into issue identification and prioritization. It has truly become a partnership.”

Scozzafava emphasizes the importance of establishing an ongoing process for ensuring the accessibility of this system, as well as other systems around the University. “Many systems we deploy are large, complex, multi-module systems. As vendors continue to add new features and upgrades, new accessibility issues and other difficulties can arise,” he says. “These systems are dynamic, and thus can never be considered ‘done.’ A highly accessible system today could have a problem with accessibility in its next release. Establishing and maintaining a long-term process with our software and service providers is the best insurance we have toward achieving and sustaining our accessibility goals.”

Much has been learned through the implementation of the system and the ensuing work in ensuring its accessibility, Scozzafava says. “We have learned, without a doubt, that not all technology service and/or system providers are created equal. I would classify Hobsons as a model citizen in regards to their responsiveness and willingness to partner with Syracuse.”

Scozzafava and Associate Provost for Academic Affairs Jeffrey Stanton have submitted a proposal to present at the October 2017 EDUCAUSE Annual Conference. Titled “Enabling Accessibility for Cloud-Based Systems: From Contracts to Consortia,” their presentation describes the University’s experience with making improvements to Orange SUccess and other systems.

“One goal we have is to use the EDUCAUSE platform to gauge interest amongst our peers to combine forces and emphasize to vendors that higher education campuses want and need their information technology partners to be more like Hobsons, or run the risk that they are left behind as more and more campuses strive for accessibility for all,” Scozzafava says.

The Orange SUccess team is committed to providing periodic updates to the University community on the system’s accessibility as well as training materials and other information. Accessibility updates appear can be found .

Learning Opportunities/Takeaways

• work with a cross-discipline team (i.e. with students from different majors)
• learn how to creatively and effectively solve real-world problems
• build upon your leadership skills
• present your findings to a panel of subject matter and industry experts
• grow your professional network
• gain a thorough understanding of consulting at the intersection of business and technology

Requirements

• freshman or sophomore from any Syracuse University school/college
• GPA of 3.0 or higher
• interest and aptitude for technology and its applications
• availability to attend the entire length of the program on campus
  • location: 152 Link Hall
  • date/time: March 24, 4:30–9 p.m.; March 25, 8:30 a.m.–5 p.m.

Application Instructions��

• Apply to Posting (Job ID 102095) with resume attached
• Application deadline is March 10 at 11:59 p.m.

About Deloitte
Deloitte is led by a purpose: to make an impact that matters. This purpose defines who we are and extends to relationships with our clients, our people and our communities. We believe that business has the power to inspire and transform. We focus on education, giving, skill-based volunteerism and leadership to help drive positive social impact in our communities.

Disclaimer
Applying to the program does not guarantee a seat. Candidates will be selected based on their resume and notified accordingly. This program is Deloitte’s way to help students build on their academic experience and of giving back to the Syracuse community. It is not an interview or candidate selection process for internship or full-time employment with Deloitte.