College of Information Systems

Mission Statement

The mission of the College of Information Systems is to prepare its students to effectively function in the rapidly changing information technology field.  Our student-centered philosophy uniquely serves those information systems students who have traditionally been underserved due to limitations of time, distance, and/or occupation.  Using appropriate delivery systems, our degree programs emphasize the management of emerging information technologies within the social and structural interfaces of organizations.

This college is leading the way in twenty-first century education for the fields of Information Technology Management (ITM) and Computer Science (CSC). The reality of this century is that information is the dominant resource in society and is often the resource which provides competitive advantage when effectively developed, deployed and managed. The College of Information Systems provides complementary curricula which focuses on the effective management of information and associated technologies (ITM) and a curriculum which focuses on the development and deployment of cutting edge information technologies (CSC).

Information Technology Management Curriculum

Information Technology Management is a curriculum which emphasizes the reality of the twenty-first century being an information society with constant new developments in technology. Distinctive characteristics of this program are listed as follows:

• Explicit recognition that technology management is needed to support information development, storage, retrieval, dissemination and management.
  
  
• Emphasis on the intelligent and creative management of information technology which is a major issue in organizations of all sizes.
  
  
• Emphasis on the management perspective and the identification of issues and opportunities for successful use of information in organizations and society.
  
  
• Cutting edge topics include: knowledge and knowledge management, information systems security, e-commerce, web server management, network setup and management, etc.
  
  
• Emphasizes critical thinking and analytical inquiry.
  
  
• Focuses on a systems perspective: decision support, MIS, transaction processing and others.
  
  
• Internet links to cutting edge materials in information technology and management issues – students are always exposed to the most current and relevant information.

IT Management Programs include:

• Bachelor of Science in ITM
• Master of Science in ITM
• Graduate Certificate in Business Intelligence

Currently there is no Ph.D. in ITM. Students interested in a Ph.D. may apply for the Ph.D. in the College of Business Administration and write their dissertation in an ITM related area.

Computer Science Curriculum

The Computer Science curriculum has the following distinctive characteristics:

• Oriented towards viewing the computer as a processor as well as a computation tool; this is in keeping with twenty-first century trends where the computer is viewed as being process and solutions oriented.
  
  
• An organizational context rather than a mathematical context although a mathematical foundation is required.
  
  
• Web Centric – assumes the web is the network.
  
  
• Web Services – linkages of legacy systems and business to business, business to vendor, business to customer services/interaction. The use of IT in business will be dominated by information sharing and systems integration with the Web being the focal point. The TUI program is geared to this reality.
  
  
• Application Oriented – software development and underlying programming skills.
  
  
• Hands-on, people become productive quickly. Immediate productivity for applied problem solving throughout the program.
  
  
• Students learn relevant languages such as Java, C++, XML, SQL, Python, PHP and others.
  
  
• Emphasis on both critical thinking and software engineering.
  
  
• Does not emphasize systems such as MIS, AIS, DSS, production, etc. – focus is on software engineering.
  
  
• Does not emphasize the administration/management aspects of systems/technology.
  
  
• Program replete with tutorials and features learning by example and analogy.
  
  
• Powerful and relevant open source software included free of charge.
  
  
• Computer security and e-business concepts and tools included in courseware.

The CSC program offers a BS in Computer Science. There are no MS or Ph.D. program offerings at this time.