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Mar 8

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5 Big Technology Trends

According to NCU faculty member Dr. Pamela Carter, big data, cloud computing, social media, smart machines, and mobile computing are the five big technology trends of the moment.
“The impact of just these five trends is overwhelming,” notes Dr. Carter. “Businesses now really have to focus on how to leverage these technologies.”

• Big Data – We’re currently overwhelmed by the amount of data being produced. According to Eric Schmidt, Google’s former chief executive officer, the world creates five exabytes of data every two hours, which is roughly the same amount created between the dawn of civilization and 2003! Carter believes the secret is for companies to be able to know what data they need to pay attention to, analyze this massive amount of data, and then use it to their advantage according to business priorities.

• Cloud Computing – or the use of computing resources (hardware and software) that are delivered as a service over a network (typically the Internet) entrusts remote services with a user’s data, software and computation. Carter notes that the trend has the potential to save companies money by increasing their computing power and reducing IT operational costs, but it also breeds a new generation of hackers trying to gain unauthorized access to the cloud provider’s server.

• Mobile Computing – Computers are on the move and our mobile devices give us the capability of workplace computing anytime, anywhere – and this huge trend seems to have the potential to get even bigger. And of course, with the proliferation of mobile computing, smart apps appear daily, helping companies manage and optimize their mobile workforce. Dr. Carter notes that manufacturing companies are analyzing supply chain data and risks with real-time insights via mobile technology.

• Smart Machines – We now speak into our iPhones and Siri reschedules appointments for us. While companies like GE Healthcare are using robotic modular manufacturing technologies to stay even more agile in the bioprocessing field and reduce research to market timeframes. Advanced applications of artificial intelligence and highly sophisticated machines, while replacing some jobs, are adding new knowledge-based jobs to the workforce. Finding people with the skills to take on these new jobs is already recognized as a growing problem.

• Social Media – People are becoming more connected through the use of social media. While large social media outlets such as LinkedIn and Twitter continue to evolve, more specialized social media are being used to create micro-networks that enable focused attention and interaction on specific topic areas. Businesses can create, follow, participate in, or analyze data from large and micro-networks to strengthen relationships with stakeholders and gain insights into important trends.

Mar 7

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What’s Important in a Recovering Economy?

Dr. Smith, Dean of the School of Business and Technology Management at NCU

Dr. Smith, Dean of the School of Business and Technology Management at NCU

We’ve seen a number of business developments emerge during early 2013: Office Depot and OfficeMax have merged, while American Airlines and US Airways are creating one of the largest airlines in the world. Home prices are up in many parts of the country, and the DOW Jones Industrial Average reached a new record.

Dean Smith of NCU’s School of Business and Technology Management shares his insights on three things that remain important, even in a rebounding economy:

1) Reducing costs – “Making something cheaper has led to our current trends of outsourcing and globalization,” remarks Dean Smith. “We’re no longer competing with local neighborhood businesses here in the U.S. We’re competing with highly successful international operations in India, Vietnam, China and in this global spectrum, there’s a constant drive to increase profit margins for shareholders.”

2) Differentiation – Consumers are willing to pay more for products and services that are perceived as better. “This is where technology can really be a game changer,” he notes. “Innovation can create differentiation in areas like customer service and product development, by reducing labor costs and utilizing emerging technologies to better serve their valued customers.”

3) Educated Business Leaders – The key to successful businesses is still talent. People with the necessary skills, management ability, and vision to leverage the emerging technologies and seize competitive advantage are required. “Business leaders who fail to understand their operating environment will make costly mistakes that can decimate the organization,” shared Dean Smith. “But people who can see the big picture – people who can collaborate and are adaptive to new ideas and technologies – those are the individuals who can lead successful enterprises.”

Mar 6

Why Do We Love Our Favorite Sports Teams?

Thomas Pucci
Face paint? Check. Foam finger? Got it! Vanity license plate cryptically revealing your love for your favorite team? Done!

Have you ever wondered about the psychology of sports – and why we identify so strongly with a particular team? We recently asked NCU faculty member, Dr. Pucci, why many of us are so dedicated to our favorite teams.

Dr. Pucci, who is a full-time faculty member in NCU’s School of Education and teaches courses in our Master’s program with an Athletic Coaching Specialization, believes sports fans love their teams because they are a microcosm for the normal lives that most of us lead. As in a work setting, great teams have bench warmers or “250 hitters,” blue-collar guys who perform their jobs with pride, and then, at the top, we have the all-stars who everyone either loves or hates – and they inspire us.

“I think we’re fans because sports give people a model for living life successfully – they give us hope,” reflects Pucci.

“At the heart of every successful team, just like every high-performance organization, is a great leader who can get people to do what he or she wants, and they are happy doing it,” explains Dr. Pucci. “On a truly successful team, individual goals become secondary to the goals of the organization.”

Dr. Pucci notes that great leaders of companies like Sam Walton at Walmart or Steve Jobs at Apple share very similar qualities to great coaches such as basketball Coach K (Mike Krzyzewski) at Duke, Coach Lou Holtz, the football coach whose team at Notre Dame won a national championship in 1988, and the legendary basketball coach for UCLA, John Wooden.

“Wooden’s Pyramid of Success was basically a very simple way for his players to remain excited, successful and positive – and as in companies, once people buy in to the leader’s vision, they believe that this is their calling and great things can happen,” relates Pucci.

Dr. Pucci started his own athletic journey after completing his Ph.D. at the University New Mexico where he served as the head tennis coach. He then went to the University of Arkansas, where he coached the men’s tennis team and taught in the Physical Education Department for 11 years. Recently, he was inducted into the University of Arkansas Athletic Hall of Fame. Pucci has been an athletic administrator for 28 years and has experience at the NAIA, NCAA Division I, and NCAA Division II levels.

Mar 5

Stage 4, Yak Attack Update

Congratulations Rob on your 2:30:19 Stage 4 finish (8th place)!

Mar 4

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Who’s Laughing Now? NCU’s Dr. Greg Hickman Discusses Humor in the Workplace

Do you want to be more productive at work or find a way to release the stress that can sometimes overwhelm you? Dr. Greg Hickman of Northcentral University explains how humor can impact stress and increase productivity in the workplace.

Mar 1

NCU Students Check in Before Yak Attack Starts!


The Northcentral University p/b Nepali Tea Traders cycling team is finally together in Kathmandu! It has taken almost a year of preparation, but the team is finally all in Nepal, with the Yak Attack less than a week away. Excitement is high as other racers trickle into the city from all over the world. Australia, New Zealand, Great Britain, Sweden, Japan, Nepal and America are only some of the nations represented in the race. Bikes are being built, legs are getting stretched and the racers are sharing stories about training, travel, and the sacrifices made to get to this point. The atmosphere at the race hotel is a tense calm, with everyone enjoying themselves, but getting anxious for the race to begin.

I (Rob Burnett) am enjoying readjusting to a city I know and love. Kathmandu is a whirlwind of activity that can be overwhelming at times, but I find a certain peace in all of the chaos. There is something very calming about the country of Nepal, it might be the vastness of its landscapes, or the beauty and energy of its people, but whatever it is it draws me strongly to this place. I feel very lucky that my work with Nepali Tea Traders allows me to visit often, and that my school, Northcentral University, gives me the freedom of schedule to travel. I have had my eye on this race for a long time, and now I just can’t wait to get started. I am feeling good and all there is left to do is stay rested and start the race fresh.

Thor, my roommate and friend has had a bit of a rough trip. He traveled to Nepal with a nasty chest cold. Fortunately, with the help of antibiotics the cold has subsided, but in its place food poisoning (not uncommon in Nepal) has laid Thor low. Luckily, with two days to go until the race starts there is still time for him to get his feet under him again. Illness aside, Thor’s big personality has made a great impression on the group. He and defending women’s champion Sonya Looney have been trading movie quotes during the pre-race rides, to the enjoyment of the whole group.

Our two Nepali teammates, Aayman Tamang and Rajan Bhandari have been a fantastic addition to our little team. They are both extremely talented, as well as extremely warm-hearted. They are both crack mechanics, and have kept Thor and My bikes in good working order, insisting on doing the work themselves and not letting us help. Both are small, but their legs and lungs pack a lot of power. Aayman is an underdog for the podium and Rajan is a wildcard where the sky is the limit. Both are younger and less experienced than some of their more experienced Nepali counterparts, but both have unlimited potential. Even in training the last few days their natural climbing talents have shown through clearly.

Going into the race I like our chances to mix things up and maybe surprise some people. We are the biggest team here, and we have the potential to achieve some great results if luck falls our way. Stay tuned on our blog and Facebook page for mid-race updates, we will update them as much as possible given the limited availability of internet during the race.

A huge thank you and Danyebhad (Nepali for thank you) to all of our sponsors, we wouldn’t be here without you!

Feb 27

Final Tune Up!

Final Tune Up!

NCU students Robert Burnett and Thor Loechell tune up before the Yak Attack race begins on March 1.

Feb 26

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What is the Oxford Learning Model?

Are you familiar with the Japanese proverb, “Better than a thousand days of diligent study is one day with a great teacher?”

While books are essential to learning, education today depends on the ability to apply what you learn. And who better to illustrate how to apply what you learn than a teacher with abundant academic and professional experience?

Such was the foundation of the Oxford Learning Model. Deeply rooted in the distinguished halls of British higher education, the overarching theme of the Oxford Learning Model is the concept of mentoring.

Whether your understanding of mentoring has been shaped by movies (Yoda, Mr. Miyagi, Gandalf the Grey); literature (Mentor and Telemachus, Merlin and King Arthur, Dan Cody and Jay Gatsby); history (Socrates and Plato, Aristotle and Alexander the Great, Lord Melbourne and Queen Victoria); or from personal experience, the principle is the same:

“Mentoring is often defined as a professional relationship in which an experienced person (the mentor) assists another (the mentee) in developing specific skills and knowledge that will enhance the less-experienced person’s professional and personal growth.” -Management Mentors

In Oxford higher education, the mentor-mentee relationship is made up of a faculty member and student. Today, this relationship is reflected in what is referred to as Oxford Tutorials. Tutorials at the University of Oxford commonly consist of weekly meetings with a tutor (faculty mentor) to discuss the week’s assignment. These meetings may be one-on-one or potentially include up to three or four students. In these meetings, the tutor discusses the assignment with each student, investigating his or her grasp of the assignment while encouraging deeper and more critical thinking.

In the same way, the principle behind Northcentral University’s one-to-one teaching model, based on the Oxford Learning Model, is the assertion that faculty pass down valuable feedback and experiences to their students through this personalized interaction. In other words, the one-to-one interaction that results by pairing one faculty member with one student in each course at NCU enables faculty to diagnose students’ strengths and weaknesses in order to better aid the learning process.

In essence: faculty members teach students, not material.

Feb 25

NCU students, and Denver Residents, Robert Burnett and Thor Loechell, Tackle the 2013 Yak Attack

Rob Burnett has been racing bikes for the past eight years, mostly on the road, and races for an elite amateur team in Denver, CO. When Rob isn’t racing, he loves to travel, particularly to Nepal. Thor Loechell has been an avid amateur cyclist for the past 13 years, with experience on both the road and dirt.

The Yak Attack covers approximately 250 miles, over ten days, through the Himalayas. The race starts in Kathmandu and climbs northwest into the Annapurnas, a popular trekking destination, finishing in Pokhara, a picturesque lakeside town nestled in the shadows of 20,000+ ft. peaks. Stage 9, the queen stage of the race, tops out at almost 17,800 ft. above sea level, where there is half the amount of oxygen available as there is at sea level. The race is the ultimate test of skill and endurance on the mountain bike and will push riders and their equipment to the absolute limit.

Burnett and Loechell will be sharing updates and pictures throughout the race, which runs March 1 to 15.

Feb 22

Online Research Best Practices – Database Search

Online library databases may allow instant access to just about any subject you could need for your research, but when a simple keyword search turns up more than a hundred thousand results…too much information can be a bad thing. Who has the time to slog through that much data to find relevant resource material? Let’s look at several ways to focus our database search resulting in less wasted time and more useful information.

• Reduce search results by narrowing your topic. You can do this by adding search terms that are related to your research question. Be sure to use the thesaurus or subject terms for ideas on keywords – see bullet below on using a thesaurus.
• Record your keywords: keep a list of the keywords and combinations of keywords you’ve searched, adding new words you’ve noticed in search results.
• Boolean Operators: Databases typically use Boolean operators (AND, OR and NOT) to assist in a search. Boolean operators allow one to connect search terms in order to narrow and expand search results. See the tutorial on Boolean Operators – Boolean Tutorial
- “OR” always broadens a search. “Communism OR Socialism” finds articles that discuss either Communism OR Socialism.
- “AND” always narrows a search. “Communism AND Socialism” finds articles that compare Communism and Socialism.
- “NOT” always excludes records with the specified term. “Communism NOT Socialism” finds articles that include Communism and exclude Socialism.
• Truncation and Phrase search: Truncation allows a search for many forms of a word by adding a symbol (typically an asterisk) to a root word. For example: pollut* could result in pollute, polluted, pollutes and pollution. Putting quotation marks around a search phrase allows you to define how you want the words to appear in the search results with no other words in between.
• Many library databases contain a thesaurus or list of subject terms (aka in library land as controlled vocabulary) to help you identify search terms to use in your searching. This helps make your searching more precise and can help generate other ideas for your research.
• Search limits: Databases offer various search limits to help limit search results. Most common are:
- full text limit
- scholarly/peer review limit
- publication date limit
- publication type
These search strategies are typically built-in to online library databases to facilitate efficient research, so try them out! You don’t have time to waste.

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