Computing guide, Bartik DVD recognized for excellence

Northwest was among 26 colleges and universities nationwide honored this fall by the Association for Computing Machinery's Special Interest Group for University and College Computing Services (ACM SIGUCCS).

The University received two Awards of Excellence at ACM's fall conference, which took place last month in Orlando, Fla. This year's theme was "Inspiring Magical Outcomes."

Northwest took home awards for "A Guide to Healthy Computing," which was honored in the Printed Quick Reference Guides category, and the DVD documentary "Jean Jennings Bartik -- Computing Pioneer," which was honored in the Promotional Video/Audio category.

Both projects were led by staff members within the Office of Information Systems with assistance from the Department of History, Humanities, Philosophy and Political Science and the offices of Mass Communication and University Relations.

"We are so pleased to have won two Awards of Excellence," said Kim Todd, client computing user consultant. "The Bartik DVD is a living history piece that showcases an extraordinary Northwest graduate who was a true pioneer of early computing, while the brochure seeks to illustrate risks associated with prolonged use of computing equipment and communication devices. It's gratifying that this message was recognized."

The Northwest team responsible for the printed guide consisted of Todd; Publications Assistant Amber Hashemi; Tabatha Verbick, client computing user consultant; and University Photographer Darren Whitley.

"A Guide to Healthy Computing" is available online at www.nwmissouri.edu/compserv/Recognition/awards/SIGAward2007.htm.

Members of the Bartik documentary team included Todd; Dr. Jon Rickman, vice president for Information Systems; Dr. Thomas Spencer, associate professor of history; Fred Lamer, assistant professor of mass communication; David Morgan, Lindsay Blohn, Christopher Rinella and Joe Masciovecchio of Bearcat Productions; and Will Murphy, mass communication television and video engineer.

Bartik, a Northwest alumna, was one of six women programmers selected during World War II to program the world’s first successful electronic computer (ENIAC). She would go on to program UNIVAC I, the world’s first commercial stored-program computer.

Those wishing to view the documentary can check it out from Northwest's B.D. Owens Library. The DVD is also available as a gift from the Northwest Foundation with a donation of $20 or more.

The annual SIGUCCS Communication Awards Program recognizes excellence in developing useful and attractive publications and gives SIGUCCS conference attendees a chance to view materials from other schools.

For a complete list of winners, go to: www.siguccs.org/Conference/Fall2007/awards_winners.php.

For more information, please contact:

Anthony Brown,
News Bureau Manager
E-Mail: abrown@nwmissouri.edu
Phone (660) 562-1704
Fax (660) 562-1900

Northwest Missouri State University
219 Administration Building,
800 University Drive
Maryville, MO 64468

Return to Previous Page