Shu He began her career teaching at the University of Connecticut last August. Currently, she teaches a section of Business Information Systems (OPIM 3103).

In addition to teaching, He is working on research about how companies respond to emerging business challenges by adapting competitive strategies, such as effective social media management, adoption of mobile devices, and cyber security threats.

He enjoys having the opportunity to choose the topic of her research based on her interests. She said she is fascinated by information systems because of its unlimited possibilities. The information technology field is both exciting and challenging, He said.

“With the rapid deployment of computing devices and the improved Internet access, our daily lives and the business world have been reshaped dramatically,” He said.

She said advancements in computer systems and the Internet is constantly evolving. These improvements bring about abundant research opportunities, new technologies and new business environments, she said. In order to embrace this new technology development, there is a high demand for professionals who can bridge technology and business within companies.

“Technology has permeated every management discipline,” He said.

She said that there are many professional opportunities for Management Information Systems (MIS) students with both technical and business skills.

As for her position here at UConn, He said the most rewarding part about teaching is interacting with the students and being a part of their development.

“I have the privilege of teaching students from all over the world. I learn a lot from my students and I am always motivated to update my knowledge,” said He.

On a more personal level in her free time, He likes to exercise by doing pilates and swimming. She enjoys cooking, as well.

Outside of technology, UConn Operations and Information Management (OPIM) assistant professor, Shun-Yang Lee enjoys playing the piano and exploring the outdoors. He recently began teaching at UConn in August 2016.

Lee teaches two different courses at UConn, Business Information Systems (OPIM 3103) at the undergraduate level and Predictive Modeling (OPIM 5604) at the graduate level taught in the GBLC (Graduate Business Learning Center) in downtown Hartford.

When asked why he went into teaching, Lee said he enjoys learning new things. He loves working with students because he is constantly learning from them. He knows that information technology is extremely important.

“Being in academia, particularly in the information systems field,  you are constantly learning new technologies and figuring out how things work, which I enjoy very much,” Lee said.

Information technology is so important because it is constantly changing, he said. He enjoys introducing students to different types of technologies and he finds it empowering and humbling to know that his students’ careers will benefit greatly from this knowledge, he said.

Lee’s motivation in research are the times where there is no clear solution to a business problem or technology. He said that going out, conducting research and exploring on his own to understand these complex problems is much more exciting than when there is a present and clear solution.

Lee’s current research is focused on the interactions between humans and information systems. He said that he is specifically interested in how people use and react to technology. Lee wants to know whether technology helps or inhibits people’s decision making.

“I am interested in understanding how users utilize and react to technology – do they make decisions more efficiently and more effectively? Or does the design of technology somehow mislead people into making biased decisions?” Lee said.

This topic of technology research is extremely important because Lee believes that better understanding how people use and are affected by technology will ultimately lead to more effective design in the future.

Lee shared some information about one of his current projects on how the politeness level of answers on question answering platforms affects user’s perception of answer quality. He takes a look at sites, such as Quora, Stack Overflow and Yahoo! Answers. What he has found so far in his preliminary research suggests that question askers prefer polite to impolite answers, which is an example of how technology users might make biased decisions, he said.

Management Information Systems (MIS) students are extremely valuable assets to businesses in a time where technology is such an integral part of daily life, Lee said. MIS students have the unique ability to bridge the gap between technology and business. Lee encourages interested students to pursue the MIS major, most importantly, because he said technology is fascinating and MIS is fun!