The Information Quality (IQ) Graduate Program works under the umbrella and with the support of UALR’s Information Science Department. Information Science Faculty are among the main contributors to the continued growth of the program. As the program’s enrollment grows each semester, the Information Science Department actively involves its excellent faculty to accommodate the academic needs of all IQ students.
As we continue to connect our IQ students with Information Science Faculty Members,
we sat down with Dr. Ningning Wu, Professor of Information Science, for an Interview.
IQ Program: Dr. Wu, thank you so much for accepting to do this interview with us.
Dr. Wu: You are welcome.
IQ Program: Could you please tell us some information about you? Who is Dr. Wu?
Dr. Wu: I am a professor of Information Science and have been with UALR for about 15 years. My major research areas include data mining, information quality, and information security.
IQ Program: What courses are you teaching? How are these courses related to the IQ discipline?
Dr. Wu: I am teaching mainly undergraduate courses including database systems, current trends in database technology, database security, etc. Without question, IQ plays an important role in database systems. Without a proper quality control on its data, a database is almost useless. Indeed, some key concepts in relational data model, such as key constraint, foreign key constraint, domain constraint, functional dependency and normal forms, aim to ensure that data stored in the databases are correct and consistent no matter how data change over time. Data security is another IQ dimension that protects data from unauthorized disclosure and modification. In short, all my courses are closely related to the IQ discipline. They give me an opportunity to expose the concept of information quality to my undergraduate students. I am very glad to see that some students actually pursued a Master’s Degree in Information Quality after completing their Bachelor’s Degree.
IQ Program: We have seen a rapid growth in the IQ program enrollment during the last year and the program continues to grow through this year. The Information Science Department with its excellent faculty has been trying to accommodate the need for more resources. Do you think there is room for more growth?
Dr. Wu: Congratulations on the growth of the IQ Program! Certainly there is room for more growth considering the growing demand for IQ professionals. However, I hope the program can hire more faculty to accommodate this growth.
IQ Program: Our student body is very diverse. However, we have seen a growing interest from Asian students in our program. What do you think about that?
Dr. Wu: Asia is the continent with the largest population. Several countries have developed very fast in the past decades especially in IT. I think that’s why we have seen a growing interest from Asian students. Another reason is that our IQ program has a very good exposure in some Asian countries.
IQ Program: In your opinion, what challenges are facing newly graduated students? How does the curriculum prepare the students for these challenges?
Dr. Wu: Promoting IQ and raising IQ awareness in the society. Our curriculum has prepared the students pretty well for these challenges. They just need to be persistent in promoting IQ in their work and daily life.
IQ Program: Finally, what is your advice to IQ students? Do you have a special advice for International Students?
Dr. Wu: Enjoy your study. My advice for International Students would be: Help promote IQ and the UALR Information Quality Graduate Program in your home countries.
