COB: MIS Department
Curricula Review
BBA-MIS
Spring 2015
COB: MIS Department
Example of informal review:
•
2010-2012: three MIS and one CS faculty met with three
key Acxiom employees for an assessment of curricula
•
Examined business needs with respect to our curricula
•
Included some actual training with Acxiom’s ETL tools
•
Conducted a gap analysis
•
In part, this resulted in:
•
New courses
•
A new concentration (Business Analysis)
•
Large grant ($150k)
COB: MIS Department
1. Alignment with Mission/Vision
2. Current Curricula
a. Ours
b. Other Schools
c. Guidelines
d. Pedagogies Used
COB: MIS Department
3. New Major: BS in Information
Systems
4. Where Does MIS Go From Here?
COB: MIS Department
Our Goal is to Provide a Current,
Responsive and Innovative
Curriculum
We consider this critical in IT
COB: MIS Department
We do this by the following:
•
Monitoring industry IT trends
•
Meeting often with stakeholders
•
Employers
•
Students and alumni
•
Examining curricula at other universities
•
IT/IS Curricula Guides
COB: MIS Department
We must prepare students in two ways:
1. Enduring IT concepts and practices—
used throughout one’s career
a) Strategic deployment & development of IT
b) Data storage/retrieval
c) Networking—communications
d) Project management?
Foundation & Core Courses
COB: MIS Department
We must prepare students in two ways:
2. Latest tools and technologies – to help
get first job
a) Relational DBs
b) LAN/WAN & wireless networks
c) Data analysis tools (Visible Analyst, etc.)
d) Latest programming languages
COB: MIS Department
Number of majors and graduates
Majors
Grads
2010/11
2011/12
2012/13
2013/14
2014/15
116
112
126
133
148
31
29
36
36
40?
Percentage of grads. by concentration (since 2012)
Percentage of Graduates
Business Analysis
Networking
35%
Programmer Analyst
E-Commerce
GIS
21%
32%
11%
1%
COB: MIS Department
Major curricular initiatives (10 yrs):
•
Established four concentrations 2008
•
Added Business Analysis concentration
2012
•
About to establish a new major, BS-IS
•
Developed ten new courses, eight in last
five years; revised many others
COB: MIS Department
New Courses
•
MIS 4366 Adv. Web Development (2007)
•
MIS 4367 Adv. Web Design w/ DBs (2010)
•
MIS 3343 Adv. Spreadsheets (2011)
•
MIS 4355 Project Management (2011)
•
MIS 4360 Information Security (2011)
•
MIS 4380 Business Intelligence (2013)
COB: MIS Department
New Courses
•
MIS 3335 Scripting Languages (Python) (2014)
•
MIS 4339 Java II (2014)
•
MIS 4364 Comp. & Network Security (2014)
•
QMTH 4341 Quant. Analytical Methods (2014)
MIS-Current Curricula
Three Concentrations (BBA-MIS)
• Application Development
•
E-Commerce Track
•
Programmer/Analyst Track
•
GIS Track (3 GEOG courses)
• Networking
• Business Analysis
MIS-Current Curricula
Business Analysis
•
Newest concentration (2012)
•
Direct result of industry stakeholder input
•
Required four new courses
•
•
MIS 4355 Project Management
•
MIS 4380 Business Intelligence
•
MIS 4360 Information Security
•
QMTH 4341 Quantitative Analytical Methods
All of these courses also taught in MBA
MIS-Current Curricula
•
Core Courses
•
MIS 3363 Networking I
•
MIS 3365 Database Applications
•
MIS 3328 Sys. Analysis & Design
•
All concentrations require a programming
class
•
All have two MIS electives
•
Two courses are concentration-specific
MIS-Current Curricula
How We Compare
•
Eight colleges in AR. offer MIS
•
Six are BBAs; two are BS (but in COB)
•
Only one other has concentrations (UAFayetteville)
•
All are similar in curricula, though most
req. more MIS courses (27-33 hours)
•
Add more to compete?
MIS-Current Curricula
Curricula Standards
•
Only one “standard” available:
IS 2010 Curriculum Guidelines for
Undergraduate Programs in IS
• By ACM/AIS
• Interestingly, they are shifting toward a
less technical curriculum; the
programming course is no longer a core
course (now an elective)
MIS-Current Curricula
Pedagogies
• MIS uses traditional, hybrid and
online course pedagogies
• Both COB Foundation Courses online
•
MIS 2343
•
QMTH 2330
• COB Core Course online (MIS 3321)
MIS-Current Curricula
Pedagogies
• Some advanced level classes online
• MIS 4363 Networking II
• MIS 4380 Bus. Intelligence
• MIS 3343 Adv. Spreadsheets
• Most others are traditional courses
MIS: New Major
BS-Information Systems
• Conceived and developed as a
result of indirect assessments
• Formal meetings with multiple
employers
• Met with alumni & students
• Examined other universities
MIS: New Major
BS-Information Systems
• Companies need CS/MIS
developers
• Companies need MIS majors
• But for many roles, both have
problems
• Therefore companies need a
combination of the two
MIS: New Major
BS-IS: Curriculum
• Interdisciplinary degree between
MIS and Computer Science
• Includes a required minor in CS,
plus business/MIS courses
• BS: at UCA this requires a twocourse lab sequence in some
science (CS I and CS II)
MIS: New Major
BS-IS: Curriculum
• Requires all COB Foundation
except ACCT 2311 and MIS 2343
(choice in math/stats)
• Requires all COB Core except
MGMT 3344 and MGMT 4347
• Many tech. courses either CS or
MIS
MIS: New Major
BS-IS: Curriculum
BS-IS Course of Study
• Business Hours (non-MIS): 30
• Min/Max CS Hours: 21-36
• Min/Max MIS Hours: 9-30
MIS: New Major
BS-IS: Other Schools
• Multiple other schools have nonMIS technical degrees:
•
•
•
•
BS-Computer Science
BS-Information Technology
BS-Information Systems
Others: Comp. Engineering (UA),
SW Dev. (Harding)
MIS: New Major
BS-IS: Other Schools
•
BS-CS (8): some schools have multiple CS
degrees:
•
AR State: E-Comm., IT, Gen. Bus
•
UA-Fayetteville.: BS/BA in CS
•
UALR: CS-Game
•
BS-IT (2): AR. Tech, UA-Ft. Smith
•
BS-IS (2): UALR, AR. Tech
MIS: New Major
BS-IS: Other Schools
•
All CS degrees have 48+ hours of CS
courses; most have 10-30 hours math
•
UCA: 48 hours CS/19 hours math
•
Two BS-IT curricula have 74-75 hours CS;
not much math
•
Two BS-IS curricula have 50/62 hours CS
MIS: New Major
BS-Information Systems
• BS-IT/IS has as much or more CS
courses than BS-CS
• Most require few business hours
• BS-CS most require none
• BS-IT requires 0 or 3
• BS-IS requires 15 or 18 (this is max
for any non-MIS tech. degree
MIS: New Major
BS-IS: Value Added
•
Bottom line: this degree is unlike any
other in the state
•
It has a minimum of 40 hours of business
(including MIS courses), plus a minimum
of 21 hours of CS
MIS-Future
Where do we go from here?
•
Continue to build/maintain relationships with
employers and companies
•
We want our graduates to be their first choice
•
Helps to maintain an responsive, current and
innovative curriculum
•
Results in additional funding
•
Added 2 scholarships in last 2 years
MIS-Future
Where do we go from here?
• Upgrade labs/Add new portable lab
• BS-IS: track and manage well;
develop solid relationship with CS
MIS-Future
Where do we go from here?
• Curricula improvements?
• Include Unix/Linux
• Additional required course in
major?
• New concentration(s)? Security?
Data analysis?
MIS-Future
Where do we go from here?
• New courses this upcoming year:
• MIS 3335 Scripting Languages
(Python)
• QMTH 4341 Quant. Methods
• MIS 4339 Java II
• MIS 4364 Computer & Network
Security
MIS-Future
We want to be the best MIS program
in the state
We want our graduates ready to
assume important roles in companies
We want employers to seek out our
graduates first
MIS-Future
Questions?