Sherri K. Weitl-Harms, PhD

Associate Professor

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Contact

sherriweitlharms@creighton.edu
College of Arts and Sciences
Computer Science & Informatics
Hitchcock Center for Communication Art 210A

Sherri K. Weitl-Harms, PhD

Associate Professor

Sherri Weitl-Harms is an Associate Professor of Computer Science in the Computer Science, Design, & Journalism Department at Creighton University. In addition to several years of industry experience, she has been in academia for more than twenty-five years and served as chair of the Cyber Systems department at the University of Nebraska at Kearney for 12 years. Her research areas include machine learning/artificial intelligence, natural language processing, sentiment analysis, CS education, gamification, user experiences, health informatics, and spatial-temporal data mining. She is a highly productive researcher (producing 50+ peer-review publications, in journals such as the Journal of Intelligent Information Systems, Journal of Cybersecurity Education, Research and Practice, Communications of the ACM, and Journal of Climate, and peer-reviewed conferences such as ACM and IEEE conferences, and the Hawaii International Conference for System Sciences. She has contributed to projects totaling more than $12M in external funding, with research funded by NSF, USDA, Google, and state agencies. As an educator, she has taught more than 20 different courses and has mentored hundreds of student publications and presentations.  Dr. Weitl-Harms received the 1997 Governor’s Award for Teaching Excellence for Lincoln University in Missouri.  Dr. Weitl-Harms is heavily involved in undergraduate research, serves as a Division Representative for Math/CS (MCS) on the Council for Undergraduate Research (CUR), and received the 2025 Advanced-Career Faculty Mentor Award for the MCS Division of CUR. She is actively committed to service learning, has received grants for implementing social media plans for small businesses & non-profits through service learning, mentored student projects that have aided hundreds of local, regional, and national organizations and is the creator of the innovative Human Centered Design Iterative Service Learning (HCDISL) Framework for delivering sustainable computing artifacts through service learning. She is an editor, program committee member and reviewer for several professional conferences and journals, a Program Coordinator for the Nebraska and Southwest Iowa NCWIT Aspirations Alliance, a Senior IEEE member, and a member of several honor and professional organizations. She received her PhD from the University of Missouri.

Research Focus

Gamification
CS/IT Education
UX and Computing for Social Good
Spatial-temporal data analytics
AI/Machine Learning
Healthcare Informatics
sentiment analysis

Department

Computer Science, Design and Journalism

Position

Associate Professor

General

  • Weitl-Harms Sherri, Hastings John D., Powell Jay H., Toward Automated Knowledge Discovery in Case-Based Reasoning 2024
  • Weitl-Harms Sherri, Iterative Service-Learning: A Computing-Based Case-study Applied to Small Rural Organizations 2024
  • Harms Sherri Weitl, Spanier Adam, Hastings John, Rokusek Matthew, Assessing User Experiences with ZORQ: A Gamification Framework for Computer Science Education 2023
  • Mallipeddi Ruchitha, Subramaniam Mahadevan, Schaaf Chris, Parakh Abhishek, Weitl-Harms Sherri, A Framework for an Intelligent Adaptive Education Platform for Quantum Cybersecurity 2023
  • Weitl-Harms Sherri, Database Service-learning Projects: Addressing Community Needs while Measuring and Meeting Computer Science Learning Outcomes 2022
  • Hastings John, Weitl-Harms Sherri, Spanier Adam, Rokusek Matthew, Henszey Ryan, ZORQ: A Gamification Framework for Computer Science Education 2022
  • Spanier Adam, Hastings John, Harms Sherri Weitl, A Classification Scheme for Gamification in Computer Science Education: Discovery of Foundational Gamification Genres in Data Structures Courses 2021
  • Harms Sherri, Hastings John, A cross-curricular approach to fostering innovation such as virtual reality development through student-led projects 2016

Publications

  • Journal of organizational psychology
    Weitl-Harms Sherri, The Human-Centered Design With Iterative Service-Learning Framework: Applied to Small Rural Organizations
    25:1 2025
  • Journal of cybersecurity education, research & practice
    Weitl-Harms Sherri, Spanier Adam, Hastings John, Rokusek Matthew, , A Systematic Mapping Study on Gamification Applications for Undergraduate Cybersecurity Education
    2023:1 2023
  • Journal of cybersecurity education, research & practice
    Weitl-Harms Sherri, Spanier Adam, Hastings John, Rokusek Matthew, A Systematic Mapping Study on Gamification Applications for Undergraduate Cybersecurity Education Authors A Systematic Mapping Study on Gamification Applications for Undergraduate Cybersecurity Education Authors
    2023:1 2023
  • Journal of The Colloquium for Information Systems Security Education
    Weitl-Harms Sherri, Spanier Adam, Hastings John, Rokusek Matthew, Framing Gamification in Undergraduate Cybersecurity Education
    10:1, p. 7 2023

Grants

  • Sustainable Open-Source Software through Service Learning: Iteration and Longevity in Undergraduate Computing Projects Across Semesters/Sponsor: National Science Foundation/NSF

  • Creating a Tool for Sentiment Analysis of User Experiences (SAUX)/Sponsor: CURAS Summer Faculty Research Fellowship

  • Using LLM Sentiment Analysis of User Experiences for Improved Product Analysis and Marketing/Sponsor: CURAS Magis Investigatio Research Award/MIRA

  • Bridging Disciplines in Collaborative Service-Learning Projects for Sustainable Open Source Initiatives/Sponsor: Dr. George F. Haddix President's Faculty Research Grant

  • Experimenting with Dimensional Sentiment Analysis of User Experiences for Improved Product Analysis/Sponsor: CURAS Magis Investigatio Research Award/MIRA