Boyer starts academic honor fraternity

Cayden Boyer

Cayden Boyer, a senior from a small town near Peoria, Illinois, has expressed his appreciation for the BS/IS degree program by starting the Information Sciences Academic Fraternity. This new fraternity is an official student organization with a focus on helping future information professionals network and find more internship and career opportunities. Boyer's goal is to create a community of people with similar interests and advocate for their success.

"My friend, Jasmine Yuan, and I started the organization because the information sciences major is still new, and we both felt this organization would greatly benefit BS/IS students in navigating the major, building a professional network, and learning better ways to land internships and jobs," said Boyer.

Boyer decided to pursue a BS in information sciences because it offered the perfect culmination of his interests, which include data science, analytics, and the policy aspects of privacy and security. The iSchool's "world-renowned faculty and excellent career outcomes" assure him that the time he dedicates to his studies is worth it.

"I enjoy working with people and helping them access information, and I also enjoy practicing my technical skills. I like the fact that the BS/IS degree has allowed me to build a strong foundation in technical, social, and consulting skills," he said.

After graduation, Boyer hopes to find a position related to business analytics or consulting, where he could aid companies in improving their technical infrastructure. Fortunately, he has found beneficial internship opportunities related to his interests.

"My first internship was in network administration at Busey Bank, [where] I worked on network hardware and helped troubleshoot issues with IT," said Boyer. "My current internship is in human resources at Caterpillar, which aligns very well with my interest in corporate policy. They have given me projects related to my interests, a lot of which include creating and distributing surveys and strategizing methods of process improvement."

When Boyer has free time, he enjoys golfing, spending time with his friends and family, and working on personal projects.

Updated on
Backto the news archive

Related News

iSchool undergraduates selected as 2025 Community Academic Scholars

The Interdisciplinary Health Sciences Institute (IHSI) has selected BSIS student Dhanvi Puttur and BSIS+DS student Lara Terpetschnig as 2025 Community-Academic Scholars. Representing nineteen majors and nine minors in eight colleges and schools at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and two additional universities, the eighteen scholars in this cohort encompass diverse fields of study, from community health to graphic design to statistics. 

BSIS+DS student Lara Terpetschnig and BSIS student Dhanvi Puttur

Guan successfully defends dissertation

Doctoral candidate Yingjun Guan successfully defended his dissertation, "Disambiguating Academic Institution Names: A Comprehensive Study of Authority Files, Linguistic Variations, and Computational Evaluation in PubMed Affiliations," on April 28. 

Yingjun Guan

Scholarship provides validation, motivation for Martinez

BSIS+DS student Fabian Martinez chose his major because he wanted to learn how to help people understand and interpret data and information. While his immediate plans include finding a job in data analytics, business analytics, consulting, or product management, his ultimate goal is "to create meaningful relationships and help make a meaningful impact in the world" in whatever way he can.

Fabian Martinez graduation

Spectrum Scholar Spotlight: Guadalupe Castillo

Twelve iSchool master's students were named 2024–2025 Spectrum Scholars by the American Library Association (ALA) Office for Diversity, Literacy, and Outreach Services. This "Spectrum Scholar Spotlight" series highlights the School's scholars. MSLIS student Guadalupe Castillo earned her BA in international studies and Spanish and Latin American literature from the University of California, San Diego.

Guadalupe Castillo

iSchool researchers to present at CHI 2025

iSchool faculty and students will present their research at the ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2025), which will be held from April 26 to May 1 in Yokohama, Japan.