The management information systems (MIS) major in the College of Business Administration trains students to work in the information technology (IT) departments in corporations and nonprofit organizations. MIS students get a solid education in both information technology and IT management. They also get full business degrees.

Money Magazine rated software engineering (an aspect of MIS) to be the best job in the world thanks to high salaries, job variety, and other working conditions.

The MIS major is also a great double major, especially in accounting but also in finance and marketing. Computing is now pervasive in corporations, and people who are skilled in computing are very attractive to employers.

Employment

MIS has long had an excellent track record for getting its graduates good jobs. The massive failures of dot com companies in 2000 and 2001 created a temporary glut of IT workers, but the IT unemployment rate has fallen to 2.5%, and employment is now higher than it was at the peak of the dot com bubble. The offshoring of IT jobs is expected to continue but only at a moderate rate. Overall, prospects for future jobs are excellent.

Curriculum

The following table shows courses that MIS majors can take to graduate in four semesters. Note that programming (ITM 352) is only one of the IT courses that students take. The capstone course (ITM 366) is particularly interesting. Its students go as teams into real corporate IT departments to see how IT is really done in practice. Graduation in three semesters is also possible by taking ITM 354 and ITM 366 in the same semester.

Students are encouraged but not required to get job experience in IT before graduating. Obviously, paying jobs are best. However, employers also are strongly impressed by unpaid or paid internships. Although job experience is not necessarily for graduation, it greatly enhances job opportunities.

Laptop Requirement

Since the Fall of 2005, incoming MIS majors are required to have a laptop computer they can bring to class for hands-on work. If you do not have a laptop, contact the ITM Department at 956-7430 to see if we can work something out until you can get a laptop of your own.