401 North Michigan Avenue, Suite 2400 Chicago, IL 60611-4267 800.224.9371 Welcome to ISECON 2003 Dear Colleague: The Information Systems Education Conference, known as ISECON, provides special opportunities for information technology faculty. It has a long history, a broad spectrum of presentation topics, and a special camaraderie shared by those who attend. Annually, we are provided with a unique occasion to come together, and learn from each other. This week, thanks to the extremely capable leadership of Conference Chair Bruce White and his committee members, we are gathering to expand our understanding of information systems education. We are extremely grateful for the effort and expertise applied by Bruce and his team over the past year to present a quality event. The work of authors, reviewers, presenters, and panelists, in conjunction with the ISECON committee, have collaborated to make this national conference function smoothly. In addition, those volunteers involved with registration, logistics and local arrangements deserve a special thanks. Anyone who has worked on the planning and execution of a conference of this magnitude can certainly appreciate the amount of effort necessary to present an excellent conference and proceedings. The Foundation for Information Technology Education (EF) exists to advance the state of education and practice in the Information Technology profession. We are extremely fortunate to partner with the Education Special Interest Group (EDSIG) of the Association of Information Technology Professionals (AITP) in developing the annual ISECON meeting. Through this meeting, we offer a forum in which IT educators can interact, learn, and return to their classrooms to shape the skills and knowledge of tomorrow’s IT professionals. On behalf of the EF Board of Regents, I would like to extend our gratitude to those who have participated over the last few years to build the coalition that draws on the combined strengths of EDSIG, AITP and the EF. A special note of thanks to Jack Russell, EDSIG President, and EF Regents Bill Lackey and Teresa Hickerson, who have worked with the ISECON 2003 team. We hope ISECON 2003 will be a valuable experience – from both a personal networking and professional development view. We also sincerely hope you will join us at ISECON 2004 and beyond. Sincerely, William R. Reaugh, CDP President Foundation for Information Technology Education