A catalyst for information systems
Often, the line between MIS degrees and other computer science degrees can be confusing. The department of Management and Information Systems (MIS) aims to teach its students how to operate information technology systems effectively and communicate these systems to organizations.
“MIS is basically just the organization of information systems for companies,” said Kyle Saunders, a student in MIS 2100. “It deals mainly with computers since that is where we keep most of our information now. A lot of what it deals with is databases and organizing a company so it works efficiently.”
Though the two fields are related, there is, in fact, a significant difference between them.
“A computer scientist is one who is very professional, but more behind closed doors,” said Robert Hayden, MIS associate director. “The MIS graduate is one who has the door open and needs to communicate with all of the stakeholders in the decision making process.”
According to MIS handouts, The MIS department provides students an applied educational setting, which allows them to become catalysts in their future careers. MIS is not only a growing major at USU, but is a leading field in today’s job force.
“Projected job growth in MIS is very strong,” said associate MIS professor Katherine Chudoba. “There are a lot of jobs available.”
MIS handouts state, “There are always jobs for MIS majors.” MIS is known for its “5-star” status and strong employment lookout with the highest wages.
According to the U.S. Government Occupational Outlook Handbook, “Employment of computer and information systems professionals is expected to grow faster than the average for all occupations,” and “excellent job prospects are expected as organizations continue to adopt increasingly sophisticated technologies.”
“This degree gives you a lot of flexibility and we have more opportunities for internships than we have students to fill them,” Chudoba said.
Hayden explained how MIS professionals are the catalyst between the decision maker and the client.
“MIS graduates can enter almost any field. We try to help our students understand they become the catalyst. Our top students would ultimately sit at the table with the CEO, CFO, customer operations manager, and top sales executives, and be able to answer questions that relate the two parts of an entity together,” Hayden said.
Previous MIS graduates have gone on to a wide spectrum of careers including database administrators, systems analysts, security specialists, project managers, webmasters, IT consultants/business intelligence analysts, e-learning managers and business owners.
MIS is a relatively new field, depending on how you look at it, Chudoba said. Programs were not available until the 1960s.
“About 10-15 years ago, MIS was one of the largest majors at Utah State,” she said. The department also had a “mission of teaching people who wanted to teach MIS classes.”
Due to concerns about off-shoring, the major’s popularity declined.
“Because there are jobs still out there, even if you are sending some jobs off-shore, you still need people in the U.S. who can contact those people,” Chudoba said.
Chudoba said MIS is an interesting field, compared to others. It has roots in accounting, economics and management and it brings those fields together.
Students from all different backgrounds become part of the MIS program.
“Less than 25 percent of our students are management or MIS undergraduates. Seventy-five percent come from communications, art, English, mathematics, computer sciences. They come from many disciplines,” Hayden said.
MIS promotes three ideas to balance the significant areas of the field and to allow undergraduate and graduate students to become more capable in each area.
Hayden said the 3 areas are: The Center for E-commerce and Business Analytics, which helps master’s students become more professionally literate; Business Intelligence, which involves extracting information from databases and is for both graduate and undergraduate students and Security, which aims to help students understand what can be a threat to their data.
The three areas allow students to choose a specific area of interest to focus on. Hayden said to become a leader in this field, USU amplifies the three “legs of the stool” to help students gain the necessary knowledge to become leaders themselves.
“Our program is on the edge of the MIS profession,” he said.
He said there is a different approach to looking at the background of potential students. They are tested on verbal and quantitative scores to show how articulate and capable they are at effective communication.
“You need people with strong communication, project management and coordination skills,” Chudoba said.
These skills are necessary as an MIS professional, but students strong in one aspect can learn the others by taking MIS courses. Students who are effective communicators can learn the technical side and those with computer technology knowledge can learn how to develop communication skills, Chudoba said.
“If you are a thinker, if you are analytical and you understand how to synthesize decisions and concepts, we will help you understand the technology. You need to be able to communicate the technological aspect that will help in the decision making process,” Hayden said.
Chudoba said there is a need for more awareness and involvement in this field. She said the National Science Foundation in Washington, D.C. has received money from congress to fund all science fields. One predominant interest for the foundation are STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) projects.
According the STEM Education Coalition website, advocates from more than 500 different groups represent the technological workforce. The site states a dedication to ensuring quality education in these fields.
– natasha.bodily@aggiemail.usu.edu