A Letter to Northwestern Engineering's MSIT Graduates

Program Director Randy Berry shares a year-end message with students in the Master of Science in Information Technology (MSIT) program.

Northwestern Engineering's Master of Science in Information Technology (MSIT) will award degrees to graduates from its full- and part-time program options this weekend. (You can watch the ceremony here) In anticipation of the Convocation ceremony, MSIT Program Director Randy Berry wrote this message to the graduating class.

The IT field is in a period of dramatic change with the rise of artificial intelligence and related technologies reshaping industries. Likewise, the continuing trend of moving IT environments to the cloud is changing how IT departments are organized.

Prof. Randy BerryNorthwestern Engineering's Master of Science in Information Technology (MSIT) program is designed to prepare students not just for today's technologies and the challenges they bring, but for tomorrow’s as well by exposing students to the timeless engineering fundamentals that are underlying these technologies.

Like most years, all of this year's graduating class are IT professionals from a wide range of backgrounds who were all up for the challenge of completing a rigorous MS program from Northwestern Engineering.

At orientation, I reminded you that you signed up for a graduate program that will challenge you in new ways. By being admitted, we felt you were all up to this challenge, but that it would require hard work, collaboration and a desire to learn new things to succeed. During your time here in the MSIT program, it has been great to see strong relationships within the study groups form and to see you learn to better manage your time and gain confidence by overcoming the challenges of completing your degree.

Now, as you prepare to graduate, I think the most important message I have for you is even though you are graduating, you should not think of this as an end. A key to success is that you should continue to try and find new challenges and learn new things and to keep moving.

After you graduate, I hope that you will also try to stay in touch with the program and our broader alumni group. This is a great network of which you are now a member. There are many ways you can make this happen:

  • Come back and audit/sit-in on a class
  • Serve on an information session panel
  • Give a lunch-time tech or leadership talk
  • Be a guest speaker in a MSIT class
  • Help organize or attend an alumni event
  • Bring new ideas to grow our alumni network

I'm excited to watch as you help the IT field navigate the evolving changes and challenges that are presenting themselves on a seemingly daily basis, and I look forward to keeping in touch with each of you.

Good luck moving forward, and congratulations!

Randy Berry
MSIT Director
John A. Dever Professor and Chair of Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Northwestern University

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