Show 1 v Systems System's Manager Speaks At t Ch Chapter apter M. M Meeting fi f s f by Julia Lee Chapter President On March 12 student chapter was enlightened with words of advice by a gu guest t speaker Roland Squire systems manager with the Salt Lake City Corporation Squire has work worked for forthe the Corporation o ration for twelve and a half years and is pres presently responsible for the design and development of automated systems J He e also teaches introductory Computer Science part time at the Utah State University The theme of Squires Squire's lecture was Systems Design and Analysis Squire spoke of f the basic basic skills required for becoming a successful successful b business lne s systems designer He said accounting should be included in a professionals professional's s knowledge of b business iness systems and business application software software such as COBOL A background in computer sc science ence is also important as well as being familiar with micro computers and main frames Because a systems designer works closely with users Squire stressed communication and people skills These include being able to listen to the user and to provide feedback It is necessary to realize that there are many ways of solving a problem and to look at all the options The designer should be able to receive criticism and to todeal todeal todeal deal with stress He gave several typical l examples of situations which the systems design team is confronted with situations where he allowed the students to determine how the problem should be solved and nd then he explained how his team actually accomplished the task Some of the examples s he discussed were First dealing with the big picture ideal versus the short term reality It is important to develop long te term m g goals als for a business but sometimes immediate problems must be resolved first A second problem is user involvement versus user non The systems design team needs user involvement throughout the design process but not so much that the design cannot be completed The third problem is there needs to be an atmosphere of cooperation between the various departments in a company Many times the computer software of one department nt interfaces with the software of another creating problems where there is a lack lack of of communication i hejl b em brings bring out t that th the system stem designer g er m must t ho how p alf with the ney never ending r problem of policies Policies and procedures must st be be- adhered to Most often it is th the steering committee that makes the final decisions NOTE The student chapter members are provided with many opportunities opportunities opportunities to interact with professional data processors These opportunities include meetings featuring a speaker from the field Being the toe President of the student chapter I have the opportunity of m meeting eting with the CIS Student Advisory ory C Committee which is made up of several managers and representatives of large DP shops in Salt Lake City The skills Squire re identified have been stressed many times by these professionals The rhe Utah Technical College CIS program is well known a among ong the data processing community as a successful complete curriculum which turns out qualified graduates The success of the CIS program m is largely attributable to the instructors and staff of CIS department The instructors are among the finest of the data processing professionals They continually look for new and better ways to improve the education provided to their students by not only including tec technical kno knowledge le ge in the c curriculum but also by helping students develop their communication and problem solving skills Teaching methods and class projects ts are a reflection of the real world of data processing A student dete determined mined to succeed in computer information systems would do well to listen to the advice of the instructor and evaluate closely personal skills and abilities |