Management and Information Systems

College of Business and Industry

Dr. Sara Freedman, Dean

Dr. Garry D. Smith, Department Head

Dr. Barbara Spencer, Graduate Coordinator

3103 McCool Hall

662-325-3928

gsb@cobilan.msstate.edu

The Department of Management and Information Systems offers the following graduate programs:

Master of Science in Information Systems

Ph.D. with a major in Information Systems

Ph.D. with a major in Management

The department also participates in the interdisciplinary Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.) program.  See the Business Administration section of this publication for M.B.A. and Ph.D. information.

Master of Science in Information Systems (M.S.I.S.)

Program Mission—The mission of the M.S.I.S. program at MSU is to prepare students to become information systems professionals who can successfully develop, acquire, and integrate information technology across levels and functions of a firm in the continually changing global business environment by:  equipping students with critical technical skills; strengthening communication skills; enhancing the students’ understanding of business functions/operations; developing professional attitudes; and enhancing the students’ understanding of the link between an organization and information technology.

Admission Criteria—The applicant for the M.S.I.S. program should hold a bachelor’s degree from a fully recognized four-year institution of higher learning that enjoys unconditional accreditation by appropriate regional accrediting agencies.  All general requirements stated in this publication must be met.

The applicant for the M.S.I.S. program must have a grade point average of 3.00/4.00 or higher over the last 60 hours of undergraduate course work and a score of 500 on the GMAT (Graduate Management Admission Test) or a combined score of 1100 using the formula (200xGPA+GMAT). When a student is deficient in one of the criteria cited, the student’s application may still be considered based on the strength of other materials contained in the student’s application.  However, reasonable minimum levels must be achieved in both the applicant’s GPA and GMAT scores.

An international applicant not holding a degree from a U.S. institution must submit with his or her application a Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) report from a test administered within the last two years.  The score must be 575 or higher in order to be considered for regular admission.

In addition, students must complete the foundation courses listed below or have equivalent undergraduate credit.  The College of Business and Industry now offers graduate survey courses in place of most undergraduate prerequisites.  These are especially designed for non-business undergraduates and may be taken before or during the MSIS program.

Foundation Course                Replaces

Survey of Accounting           Principles of Financial Acc & Principles of Managerial Acc

Survey of Statistics               Business Statistical Methods I & II

Survey of Management         Principles of Management & Production Management

Survey of Economics            Prin. of Macroeconomics & Prin. of Microeconomics

Survey of Finance                 Financial Management

Survey of Marketing             Principles of Marketing 

6 Hours                                Programming Courses

Examples of prerequisite classes that would fit the 6-hour programming requirement include BIS 1733, BIS 1753, BIS 3733, CS 1233, CS 1253, and CS 1314.  Note that these are just examples; any six hours of programming will be allowed.

Core Course Requirements—A student must complete a minimum of 30 hours of course work at the graduate level.  No more than six hours may be below the 8000 level.  The M.S.I.S. degree requires 20 hours of required BIS courses and at least one 2- or 3-hour BIS elective, plus free electives.  The M.S.I.S. program is a lock-step-sequence program, which means that students are required to take certain courses in the fall semester and certain courses in the spring semester.  Six hours of programming courses must be complete before the student can start the following:

BIS Fall Semester Required Courses:

BIS 8112       Management of Information Technology and Systems. 2 hours

BIS 8213       Adv. Systems Analysis and Design. 3 hours

BIS 8413       Decision Support and Expert Systems. 3 hours

BIS 8613       MIS Administration. 3 hours

BIS Spring Semester Required Courses:

BIS 8313       Advanced Database Design Administration. 3 hours

BIS 8513       Business Telecommunications. 3 hours

BIS 8753       Information Systems Collaborative Project. 3 hours

BIS Elective Courses:

BIS 8122       Multimedia Presentation and Communication. 2 hours

BIS 6513       Microcomputers/Networks. 3 hours

BIS 6523       Advanced Languages. 3 hours

BIS 6113       BIS Security Management. 3 hours

NOTE:  The student must take at least one but may take more than one of the above BIS electives.  The remaining hours may be selected from courses either inside or outside the College of Business and Industry with the approval of the student’s major professor.  In addition, elective hours must be approved by the student’s major professor.      

Completion Requirements—The course BIS 8753 (Information Systems Collaborative Project) is the capstone course for the MSIS program and constitutes the comprehensive exam.  A grade of B or better in this course is required for graduation.

Academic Performance—A grade of C or better is required on all undergraduate prerequisite courses. A student in any graduate degree program in the College of Business and Industry may not continue in the program with grades below B in more than six hours of core graduate course work, regardless of the overall average. Thus, any program is terminated automatically when a seventh credit hour below B is recorded on core graduate course work.  In addition, the normal MSU requirements for satisfactory progress in a graduate program will be applied.

Provisional Admission—Following University guidelines, a student who is admitted provisionally to this program must receive a 3.00 GPA on the first nine hours of graduate level courses on the program of study taken at MSU following admission to the program.  Transfer and unclassified graduate hours will not apply.  If the 3.00 is not attained, the provisional student may be dismissed from graduate study.

Graduate Courses  Management:

MGT 6990     Special Topics in Management. 1-9 hours

MGT 7000     Directed Individual Study. 3 hours

MGT 8000     Research/Thesis. 6 hours

MGT 8063     Survey of Management. 3 hours

MGT 8111     Human Resource Issues (MGT 8063 or equivalent). 1 hour

MGT 8112     Leadership Skills for Managerial Behavior (MGT 8063 or equivalent). 2 hours

MGT 8121     Strategic Management (MGT 8063 or equivalent). 1 hour

MGT 8122     Business Consulting Project (MGT 8121 or equivalent). 2 hours

MGT 8132     Project Management Field Study. 2 hours

MGT 8513     Human Resource Management. 3 hours

MGT 8613     Managing in the Global Business Environment. 3 hours

MGT 8813     Organizational Behavior. 3 hours

MGT 8823     Organization Development (MGT 3113). 3 hours

GB 8853        Policy/Strategy (Final semester of M.B.A.). 3 hours

MGT 8990     Special Topics in Management. 1-9 hours

MGT 9000     Research/Dissertation. 20 hours

MGT 9143     Development of Management Theory (MGT 3113). 3 hours

MGT 9533     Seminar in Human Resource Management Literature. 3 hours

MGT 9613     Organization Theory and Practice (MGT 3113). 3 hours

MGT 9813     Seminar in Organizational Behavior. 3 hours

MGT 9913     Seminar in Strategy Formulation (approval of instructor). 3 hours

MGT 9933     Seminar in Strategy Implementation(approval of instructor). 3 hours

Business Information Systems:

BIS 6513       Local Area Networks (BIS 3733, or any 12 hours of programming, or graduate standing). 3 hours

BIS 6523       Advanced Languages (BIS 3733, or any 12 hours of programming, or graduate standing). 3 hours

BIS 6990       Special Topics in Business Information Systems. 1-9 hours

BIS 7000       Directed Individual Study. 3 hours

BIS 8000       Research/Thesis. 6 hours

BIS 8112       Management of Information Technology and Systems. 2 hours

BIS 8122       Multimedia Communication and Presentation. 2 hours

BIS 8213       Advanced Systems Analysis and Design (6 hours programming and prerequisite or co-requisite BIS 8112). 3 hours

BIS 8313       Advanced Database Design and Administration (BIS 8213, BIS 8413, BIS 8613). 3 hours

BIS 8413       Decision Support and Expert Systems (6 hours of programming and prerequisite or co-requisite BIS 8112). 3 hours

BIS 8513       Business Telecommunications (BIS 8213, BIS 8413, BIS 8613). 3 hours

BIS 8613       MIS Administration (6 hours of programming and prerequisite or co-requisite of BIS 8112). 3 hours

BIS 8753       Information Systems Collaborative Project(BIS 8213, BIS 8413, BIS 8613; prerequisite or co-requisite BIS 8313, BIS 8513).3 hours

BIS 8990       Special Topics in Business Information Systems. 3 hours

BIS 9000       Research/Dissertation. 2 hours

BIS 9113       Management Information Systems (MIS) Seminar (BIS 8213, BIS 8313). 3 hours

BIS      9213   Advanced Topics in MIS (BIS 8213, BIS 8313). 3 hours