As a top 4 graduate MIS program and one of the academic leaders who have Shaped the Future of IT for 35 years, it is imperative we keep our curriculum fresh and relevant to meet the demands for a well prepared 21st century workforce. Determining what these needs are, how to address them, and how to revise established curriculum is an ongoing and vital aspect of being a leader in the field.
Over the last 7-8 months we have been analyzing and reviewing the current Masters curriculum. We feel the time is right to implement a new and improved curriculum that will better meet both our students and industry workforce needs. The new curriculum will begin in Fall 2009.
Below are the highlights of the change. In addition, details of new program can be found at our website at www.mis.eller.arizona.edu/masters/programs.asp
Why did we feel it was necessary to make this change?
1. It has been over three years since we have made any changes to our Masters curriculum. With all the current changes in the industry and workforce we wanted to help our students better meet the needs of the market and make them more "marketable".
2. We want to offer our students more flexibility to pursue their professional interests
3. The new curriculum aligns with the essence of what Eller MIS is all about --- strength in the combination of technical and managerial focuses.
4. Our premier faculty members want more in-depth interaction with the MS students. Faculty members teaching this new curriculum include Dr's. Hsinchun Chen, Sudha Ram, Sue Brown, Daniel Zheng, Alexandra Durcikova, and myself.
What has changed?
1. There will be a single common core of classes for all students with the right balance of technical and managerial course, rather than three individual tracks.
2. Concentration areas have been added which allow students to customize their program and receive concentration designations. Concentrations include Security and Information Assurance (SIA), Business Intelligence and Analytics (BIA), Managing Business Operations (MBO), Innovation and Entrepreneurship (IAE). We believe these concentrations will provide students with the right preparation for jobs with increasing demand
3. Master's projects will be either a team-based, client-oriented project or an individual project both faculty supervision
4. Students without business backgrounds are still required to take 2 business requirements. However the business requirements have been changed to:
i. Required Financial Accounting course
ii. Students can choose either Marketing or Operations Management as their second business course.
I would like to thank the Master's Program team members who worked diligently and hard to make these important curriculum changes occur. The team includes Dr's. Sue Brown, Alexandra Durcikova, Pam Slaten, and Daniel Zeng.
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