{"id":30256,"date":"2014-12-10T19:15:15","date_gmt":"2014-12-11T00:15:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom2\/2014\/12\/11\/twenty-six-years-and-counting-of-teaching-cis\/"},"modified":"2026-05-18T16:38:45","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T20:38:45","slug":"twenty-six-years-and-counting-of-teaching-cis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2014\/12\/10\/twenty-six-years-and-counting-of-teaching-cis\/","title":{"rendered":"Twenty-six years and Counting of Teaching CIS"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_10221\" style=\"width: 241px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/media-old\/2014\/12\/Ethel-Schuster-newsroom.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-10221\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-10221\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/media-old\/2014\/12\/Ethel-Schuster-newsroom-231x300.jpg\" alt=\"Ethel Schuster newsroom\" width=\"231\" height=\"300\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-10221\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dr. Ethel Schuster<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Twenty-six years after teaching her first basic computer course, Dr. Ethel Schuster of Andover, is still teaching classes in the ever-evolving field of computer and information science (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.necc.mass.edu\/academics\/courses-programs\/areas\/cis\/\">CIS<\/a>), from applications to programming to security and web design.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI love teaching all the CIS classes,\u201d says Schuster. \u201cI especially enjoy classes that are hands-on, where I can watch the students get that \u2018Aha!\u2019 moment or say, \u2018I got it to work!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Schuster worked as a computer programmer for two years after graduating from Brandeis University with a bachelor\u2019s in computer science. After that, she went on to earn both a master\u2019s and PhD in computer and information science from the University of Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n<p>A lover of math, logic, and languages, Schuster comes to CIS via computational linguistics, which was the focus of her graduate work. She examined how humans process language and then reproduce those processes with computers.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis interdisciplinary field was perfectly suited for me because it combined philosophy, linguistics, computer science, and psychology,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n<p>The Colombian native brings her diverse skillset to the CIS classroom to train tomorrow\u2019s CIS leaders, in particular women and underrepresented populations.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI love teaching people to think\u2026I feel accomplished when I watch my students succeed at getting problems solved\u2026when suddenly their programs do what they wanted and expected them to do,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n<p>Currently, there is a high demand for science, technology, engineering, and math majors, she notes, in particular computer science and information technology. Although the technology sector in Massachusetts has grown at a rate of 5.6 percent since 2009, there remains a shortage of workers with adequate skills for the tech fields, according to a February 2014 Boston Globe\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bostonglobe.com\/business\/2014\/02\/13\/state-tech-economy-growing-but-not-fast-enough\/nICclqzSeCLcSszJCKmhcN\/story.html\">article<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Schuster uses a variety of techniques including hands-on activities, collaborative work, and discussion on current and relevant topics to keep CIS students engaged and informed.<\/p>\n<p>She also likes to take her CIS skills off campus and frequently leads workshops on technology, gizmos and gadgets, and information security at local schools and after-school centers, like the Boys and Girls Club.<\/p>\n<p>Northern Essex offers three associate degrees in computer information systems and seven certificate programs.\u00a0 To learn more\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.necc.mass.edu\/academics\/courses-programs\/areas\/cis\/\">visit the Computer and Information Sciences Programs on the web<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Twenty-six years after teaching her first basic computer course, Dr. Ethel Schuster of Andover, is still teaching classes in the ever-evolving field of computer and information science (CIS), from applications [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":30258,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30256","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archive"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Twenty-six years and Counting of Teaching CIS - NECC News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2014\/12\/10\/twenty-six-years-and-counting-of-teaching-cis\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Twenty-six years and Counting of Teaching CIS - NECC News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Twenty-six years after teaching her first basic computer course, Dr. Ethel Schuster of Andover, is still teaching classes in the ever-evolving field of computer and information science (CIS), from applications [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2014\/12\/10\/twenty-six-years-and-counting-of-teaching-cis\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"NECC News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-12-11T00:15:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-05-18T20:38:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/03\/Ethel-Schuster-newsroom.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"444\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"576\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ellen Small-Davis\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ellen Small-Davis\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2014\/12\/10\/twenty-six-years-and-counting-of-teaching-cis\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2014\/12\/10\/twenty-six-years-and-counting-of-teaching-cis\/\",\"name\":\"Twenty-six years and Counting of Teaching CIS - NECC News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2014\/12\/10\/twenty-six-years-and-counting-of-teaching-cis\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2014\/12\/10\/twenty-six-years-and-counting-of-teaching-cis\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/03\/Ethel-Schuster-newsroom.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-12-11T00:15:15+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-05-18T20:38:45+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/1482c1e2b61df3b1955e30860d9a769c\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2014\/12\/10\/twenty-six-years-and-counting-of-teaching-cis\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2014\/12\/10\/twenty-six-years-and-counting-of-teaching-cis\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2014\/12\/10\/twenty-six-years-and-counting-of-teaching-cis\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/03\/Ethel-Schuster-newsroom.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/03\/Ethel-Schuster-newsroom.jpg\",\"width\":444,\"height\":576},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2014\/12\/10\/twenty-six-years-and-counting-of-teaching-cis\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/home\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Twenty-six years and Counting of Teaching CIS\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/\",\"name\":\"NECC News\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/1482c1e2b61df3b1955e30860d9a769c\",\"name\":\"Ellen Small-Davis\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/84a1f8e7e823ce7cabaa92618226fd3ba7a7bcee8e352db85821e8ea1e9c86fa?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/84a1f8e7e823ce7cabaa92618226fd3ba7a7bcee8e352db85821e8ea1e9c86fa?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Ellen Small-Davis\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/author\/esmalldavis\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Twenty-six years and Counting of Teaching CIS - NECC News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2014\/12\/10\/twenty-six-years-and-counting-of-teaching-cis\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Twenty-six years and Counting of Teaching CIS - NECC News","og_description":"Twenty-six years after teaching her first basic computer course, Dr. Ethel Schuster of Andover, is still teaching classes in the ever-evolving field of computer and information science (CIS), from applications [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2014\/12\/10\/twenty-six-years-and-counting-of-teaching-cis\/","og_site_name":"NECC News","article_published_time":"2014-12-11T00:15:15+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-05-18T20:38:45+00:00","og_image":[{"width":444,"height":576,"url":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/03\/Ethel-Schuster-newsroom.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Ellen Small-Davis","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Ellen Small-Davis","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2014\/12\/10\/twenty-six-years-and-counting-of-teaching-cis\/","url":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2014\/12\/10\/twenty-six-years-and-counting-of-teaching-cis\/","name":"Twenty-six years and Counting of Teaching CIS - NECC News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2014\/12\/10\/twenty-six-years-and-counting-of-teaching-cis\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2014\/12\/10\/twenty-six-years-and-counting-of-teaching-cis\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/03\/Ethel-Schuster-newsroom.jpg","datePublished":"2014-12-11T00:15:15+00:00","dateModified":"2026-05-18T20:38:45+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/1482c1e2b61df3b1955e30860d9a769c"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2014\/12\/10\/twenty-six-years-and-counting-of-teaching-cis\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2014\/12\/10\/twenty-six-years-and-counting-of-teaching-cis\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2014\/12\/10\/twenty-six-years-and-counting-of-teaching-cis\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/03\/Ethel-Schuster-newsroom.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/03\/Ethel-Schuster-newsroom.jpg","width":444,"height":576},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2014\/12\/10\/twenty-six-years-and-counting-of-teaching-cis\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/home\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Twenty-six years and Counting of Teaching CIS"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#website","url":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/","name":"NECC News","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/1482c1e2b61df3b1955e30860d9a769c","name":"Ellen Small-Davis","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/84a1f8e7e823ce7cabaa92618226fd3ba7a7bcee8e352db85821e8ea1e9c86fa?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/84a1f8e7e823ce7cabaa92618226fd3ba7a7bcee8e352db85821e8ea1e9c86fa?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Ellen Small-Davis"},"url":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/author\/esmalldavis\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30256","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/26"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30256"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30256\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30257,"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30256\/revisions\/30257"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30258"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30256"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30256"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30256"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}