Meet Michelle Carter
Associate Professor of Information Systems

By Sue McMurray

With much of the workforce working remotely and schools shifting to online environments, understanding information systems and how people engage with technology is more critical than ever. Michelle Carter, a recognized expert in the information systems field, will be preparing Carson College students to navigate an increasingly digital world in their classes and as future researchers and business professionals in the IT space.

Carter is a new associate professor in the Department of Management, Information Systems, and Entrepreneurship and is delighted to join the Pullman faculty after spending three years as a faculty member at WSU Everett, as well as other institutions including the University of Alabama, the University of Washington, and the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

“Higher education institutions all over the world are navigating a difficult period. Students, staff, and faculty are having to adapt to distance learning and working,” says Carter. “It’s tough, but WSU’s ‘one university, geographically dispersed’ model means we have been delivering courses at distance, to multiple campuses and through Global Campus, for some time. As such, I think we’re well-placed to adapt to our new—hopefully, temporary—‘normal’ and continue to deliver high quality instruction that provides value to our students.”

“I am excited about welcoming Michelle into the department,” says Robert Crossler, chair of the MISE department. “She brings an incredible research record and is great in the classroom, and we are lucky to hire someone of Michelle’s caliber.”

Goals to increase diversity within the Carson College

An important part of Carter’s new role will be teaching undergraduate and graduate courses in information systems. During 2020-21, she’ll teach database management in the Carson College and for WSU Global Campus, and she aspires to offer more research opportunities for undergraduates through research-based courses in information systems and by developing more options for creative inquiry into existing courses.

Carter will also serve as the Ph.D. coordinator for the management information systems’ concentration of doctoral students. As chair of the Association for Information Systems (AIS) committee on diversity and inclusion, Carter is committed to increasing the diversity of information systems faculty and attracting and retaining undergraduate information systems students in the Ph.D. program. She is consulting on a project that recently received a National Science Foundation ADVANCE Partnership award for nearly $1million to address the lack of gender equity within the AIS and information systems academia.

“I aim to assist the college in identifying and removing barriers traditionally underrepresented student groups, such as first-generation and those from lower socio-economic backgrounds, face in pursuing a business doctorate,” she says.

Making a difference through research

Carter spends most of her time on scholarly research focusing on issues around identity and IT usage. She has published her work in top journals including MIS Quarterly, ACM Transactions on Management Information Systems, European Journal of Information Systems, Journal of the Association for Information Systems, Journal of Information Technology, Information & Management, Communications of the Association for Information System, and MIS Quarterly Executive. Michelle previously served as a senior editor for Information Technology & People. She is an associate editor for the Journal of the Association for Information Systems, and she serves on the editorial review board of IEEE-TEM. She is chair of the Association for Information Systems (AIS) Committee on Diversity and Inclusion and a past-president of the AIS Special Interest Group on Social Inclusion. In 2016, she earned the AIS Early Career Award for her research and service contributions to the information systems field.