Three of the common denominators I learned from my Professors in the CIS program were critical thinking, interdisciplinary approach to research, and contributions to the IS field.
Joining the University of Hawaii Communication and Information Sciences (CIS) PhD program in 2007 is one of the best academic decisions of my life. With an Engineering degree and an MBA my academic aspirations were perfectly aligned with interdisciplinary approach of the CIS program. The CIS program provided me opportunities not only to conduct research on information systems for crisis management, understand institutional theory, convergence behaviors and inter-agency coordination during crisis situations, but also provided me a platform to interact and gain knowledge from an array of internationally acclaimed interdisciplinary CIS faculties. With their support my PhD research contributions include six papers including the recent one “Nepal Earthquake Response through Twitter” at HICSS’17.
After returning from Hawaii I re-joined government service as the Deputy Director of Communication Directorate, as well as started teaching at Kings College in Kathmandu, an affiliate of Westcliff University, California, USA. The knowledge gained from the program helped me become a successful pracademic. The CIS program enabled me to implement theoretical knowledge to practice for the benefit of the public at large when in distress. Immediately after the Nepal earthquake on 25th April, 2015, I decided to practically implement my PhD research knowledge to help people in crisis. In addition, by getting personally involved on the Twitter handle for crisis response, I felt a sense of accomplishment when my knowledge not only successfully enabled the project to provide crisis information on rescue and relief operations, but also helped save lives. I was honored with two national awards – including the Nepal Academy of Science and Technology Award conferred by Prime Minister of Nepal.
Three of the common denominators I learned from my Professors in the CIS program were critical thinking, interdisciplinary approach to research, and contributions to the IS field. Moreover, the program enabled me to understand the three teaching priorities: interdisciplinary content, interactive teaching sessions, and activity-based learning. The passion for teaching that I developed through the CIS program has not only honed my actual teaching skills, but also gained my recognition as a Distinguished Professor at Kings College, Westcliff University. Fundamentally, the CIS PhD degree not only changed my professional portfolio, but also enabled me to contribute and make a significant impact on society of which I am very proud.