2019-2020 School of Business Department of Information Systems award winners

May 4, 2020 - VCU School of Business Office of Student Engagement

Each year the VCU School of Business departments recognize the outstanding achievements of select students. See below the 2019-2020 Department of Information Systems award winners.

 

Student of the Year
Giovanni N. Knight
*Pictured above*

Giovanni is an outstanding student, with exceptional academic record and accolades from her instructors. In addition to her extraordinary classroom performance, she has been an actively involved in professional development activities which include serving as President and Secretary of the student chapter of the Association for Information Technology Professionals (AITP).  As President, she organized workshops, outside speakers, networking events, and increased the membership of AITP with her enthusiastic leadership style and engagement.  She is also a Mentoring Coordinator for the Office of Student Engagement where she has been instrumental in gathering and analyzing data that is used to improve the mentoring program. Following graduation, Giovanni is looking forward to becoming a full-time IS/IT professional.  

Distinguished Service Award
George K. Akpakli Jr.

George is an exceptional student who in addition to being on the Dean’s List academically, is very actively involved in the VCU Student Chapter of the Association for Information Technology Professionals (AITP), serving as Vice President of Operations. He has been instrumental in coordinating special events such as “Networking Night,” where students learn about internships and possible jobs opportunities from business professionals working in the Richmond metropolitan area. Members learn the importance of gaining IS/IT experience to give them a competitive advantage when seeking a job.

George has organized 10 professional events for the organization this academic year alone. Additionally, he has maintained the AITP website for community marketing and membership recruitment through SquareSpace and has kept the calendar of events up to date. George has also served the Information Systems Department as a Network Technician, maintaining the IS Department’s computer networks for enhancing performance and user access, troubleshooting Oracle Database to ensure system security, configuring and maintaining 16 servers for student and faculty software needs, and providing IS majors technical support and problem solving. His impressive ability to multitask allowed George to balance his academic studies, service commitments to AITP, and maintain an internship with New Market Corporation as a User Support Intern. Upon graduation, George plans to secure a job in cyber security.