Michele Gribbins, Rassule Hadidi, James Hall, David Larson, Xiaoqing Li, Te-Wei Wang, Yifeng Zhang

Associated Faculty Burks Oakley II, David O'Gorman

Adjunct Faculty Apiwan Dejnaronk Born

Department goals and objectives

The goal of the MIS degree is to prepare students for challenging positions in the application of information technology to solving business problems. Specific objectives of the degree are 1) to provide students with the analytical and practical frameworks and methodologies necessary to analyze, design, implement, and manage complex information systems in contemporary organizational structures, 2) to provide knowledge of the principles necessary for understanding basic computer hardware and software systems to ensure the data quality, transmission, processing, and storage necessary to facilitate organizational decision making and general operations, 3) to enable students to develop competencies in applying systems analysis and design strategies and techniques in realistic marketplace environments, and 4) to provide a balance between technical and organizational knowledge for a variety of professional organizations.

The master of science degree in management information systems may be earned online, on campus, or through a combination of online and on-campus courses.

Advising

New students must contact the department for initial advising to plan a program of study that reflects their interests and satisfies degree requirements.

THE MASTER'S DEGREE

The Management Information Systems degree is designed to provide the professional administrator/manager a balance between technical expertise and organizational knowledge in the application of information technology to solving business problems.

Entrance requirements

Applicants must complete the following (or equivalent) coursework: introductory courses in managerial and financial accounting (or ACC 311), one semester of production/operations management (such as BUS 322 Operations Management), one semester of statistics (such as ECO 213 Statistics for Business and Economics), one semester of college algebra or mathematics, and competency in a structured high-level programming language such as Java, C++, Visual Basic, COBOL, C, Fortran, etc., either through coursework, such as MIS 322 Structured Programming, or practical experience. All students applying for admission to the MIS department are expected to submit a Graduate Management Admissions Test (GMAT) score or a Graduate Record Exam (GRE) score. Students may take their required prerequisite courses while they are waiting to submit either of these test scores.

Communication skills

Entering students are required to pass a diagnostic writing examination administered by the Center for Teaching and Learning. Students with deficiencies in writing may be required to take ENG 375 Expository Writing or ENG 474 Professional and Technical Writing.

Degree requirements
MIS 502 Technical Foundations of Information Systems       4 Hrs.
MIS 513 Management Information Systems       4 Hrs.
MIS 523 Managerial Decision Support Systems or
MIS 531 Strategic Decision Support Systems       4 Hrs.
*MIS 542 Management of Database Systems or
CSC 572 Advanced Database Concepts       4 Hrs.
*MIS 552 Systems Analysis and Design       4 Hrs.
MIS 564 Telecommunications       4 Hrs.
MIS 573 Project Management       4 Hrs.
One approved non-MIS elective (see important notes below)       4 Hrs.
One approved course in organizational behavior (see important notes below)       4 Hrs.
MIS 583 Graduate Project and Seminar or MIS 584 MIS Capstone       4 Hrs.
**One approved MIS elective       4 Hrs.
or MIS 585 MIS Thesis and Seminar       8 Hrs.
      Total       44 Hrs.

*Students must take MIS 552 before MIS 542.

**Those who write a thesis are not required to complete the MIS elective.

Important notes:

Electives: MIS 571 Electronic Commerce: Business Uses of the Internet and MIS 574 Marketing on the Internet may be taken either as MIS electives or non-MIS electives.

Organizational Behavior: Students may take BUS 541 Organizational Behavior, PAD 502 Organization Dynamics, MIS 575 Technology Management and Organizational Transformation, or an approved alternative. Students who have equivalent experience in all but MIS 583, MIS 584, or MIS 585 may substitute an approved elective but must complete 44 hours for the degree.

Graduation requirements

1. Selection or assignment of a management information systems faculty adviser.
2. Fulfillment of all the prerequisites for the master's degree in MIS.
3. A minimum B average (3.00) in MIS 502, MIS 513, and MIS 523 or MIS 531.

At least 24 hours of the courses required for the degree must be completed following matriculation into the department.

Closure requirement

All MIS graduates must complete MIS 583 Graduate Project and Seminar (4 hours) or MIS 584 MIS Capstone (4 hours) or MIS 585 MIS Thesis and Seminar (8 hours). The nature of the project is contingent on the individual's career goals and may or may not include a practicum experience.

Projects may involve, for example, design/analysis of an information system for an existing organizational need; development of one or more databases for a potential organizational need; analysis of managerial needs or uses for information that is accessible in an existing database; or analysis, design, security, and management of networks. If the project/thesis is not completed during these initial four or eight hours, students must register for MIS 586 Graduate Project and Seminar Continuing Enrollment/MIS 587 Thesis and Seminar Continuing Enrollment (zero credit hours, one billable hour) each semester the project/thesis remains incomplete.

UIS policy precludes students who are not registered from using campus resources. If a leave of absence is requested and approved, continuous registration is not required. Failure to obtain a leave of absence will require retroactive registration of one credit hour per semester.

Grading policy

MIS department majors must maintain a minimum 3.00 grade-point average in all MIS degree requirements. Two successive semesters of probation may lead to a one-year suspension. One C (2.00) in an MIS course is acceptable. An MIS master's degree candidate may not take any of the 44 semester hours required for the degree on a credit/no credit or pass/fail basis. A grade of C (2.00) is not acceptable for a project (MIS 583), MIS capstone (MIS 584), or a thesis (MIS 585).

GRADUATE CERTIFICATES

The Management Information Systems Department offers the following three graduate certificates: IT Project Management, Business Process Management, and Digital Organizations. See the "Graduate Certificates" section of this Guide for additional information about these certificates.

UNDERGRADUATE MIS MINOR

To earn an undergraduate minor in management information systems, students must complete a minimum of four courses totaling 15 semester hours, at least 11 hours of which must be upper-division coursework taken at UIS. Prerequisites include proficiency in a spreadsheet and/or a database package or completion of CSC 317 Software Packages.

Required courses include at least four credit hours selected from the following courses
ACC 211 Introduction to Financial Accounting
ACC 212 Introduction to Managerial Accounting
ECO 201 Introduction to Microeconomics
ECO 202 Introduction to Macroeconomics
ECO 315 Economics for Administration

Completion of the following three MIS courses:
MIS 352 Principles of Management Information Systems       3 Hrs.
MIS 423 Decision Support Systems       4 Hrs.
MIS 424 End User Systems Development and Implementation       4 Hrs.
      Total        minimum 15 Hrs.